For the 10th consecutive year, on Saturday, May 2, The Crown Complex Ballroom will feature hit pop, rock, and Broadway music, accompanied by high-energy choreography, creative costumes, and plenty of fun for all ages. For two performances, the Ultimate Lip Sync Showdown will bring down the house as groups compete for prizes, all to benefit the Child Advocacy Center of Fayetteville.
Like the hit TV show, Lip Sync Showdown, people from our community will compete by performing lip-synced music of all styles. Audiences will enjoy the high-energy, fun-filled night of unique entertainment by their friends and neighbors. All the fun is for a great cause.
The Child Advocacy Center of Fayetteville serves the youngest and most vulnerable in our community. Their primary work is to conduct interviews to be used as evidence in legal cases, working with children who have been victims of child abuse and exploitation or have witnessed a crime. The goal of these interviews is to work to ensure that children only have to tell their story and relive their trauma once.
They also work to provide follow-up care to these children, in the form of counseling and connecting them and their families with other support resources. The CAC also does tremendous work in raising awareness to prevent child abuse and exploitation. They partner with schools, social services, and law enforcement in Fayetteville and Cumberland County to provide training and support to those who work closely with children of all ages.
While the work of the Child Advocacy Center is serious, the Lip Sync Showdown is all about fun. There are two performances on May 2: the matinee kicks off at 1 p.m., and the evening performance is at 7 p.m.
Both performances are family-friendly; the difference is who is onstage. The matinee features groups with performers under 18; the folks onstage in the evening performance are all over 18.
Fayetteville Academy is this year’s presenting sponsor and will have groups performing at both shows. The matinee will present a group of students, while the evening show will feature Academy teachers and staff.
In the matinee performance, a group of students from E.E. Smith High School will perform a piece from their recent production of The SpongeBob Musical. There will be a group of performers who are often seen on the Cape Fear Regional Theatre stage and a group of dancers from The Firehouse dance studio in Eastover.
A group of local homeschool students is performing for the first time, as well as Angela’s Musical Troupe, a group of young performers from Sampson and Harnett Counties led by Angela Martin. This is just a sampling of the line-up for the 1 p.m. performance.
The evening performance will feature a collection of adults from our community who you might not expect to see onstage but will nonetheless knock your socks off with their energy and their talent. Groups and organizations represented include Cape Fear Regional Theatre, Keller-Williams Realty, Rainbow Pediatrics, and Stephanie Kegler with Dancing Without Sin Fitness, who was last year’s winner.
Even the Child Advocacy Center staff will come out from behind the scenes and get onstage this year! Both performances promise to provide a high-energy, joyful night of entertainment and fun.
There are several different prizes awarded. In addition to the overall prize for the best performance, there are awards given for best choreography, best costumes, and best stage presence, among others. The overall winner from each performance walks away with a $500 cash prize.
On average, past Ultimate Lip Sync Showdown productions have raised around $40,000. Money is raised in several different ways for this event. First, performing groups have an entry fee ($25 for the matinee, $50 for the evening), and then they work to raise additional funds leading up to the event. Each group’s total fundraising amount factors into their score, though it is not the only determining factor of who wins.
There is an admission cost for the performances. Tickets to the matinee performance are $25, and the evening performance is $75 per person. Along with your seat at the performance, admission also comes with some treats.
The matinee performance will feature a dessert buffet at intermission, with treats donated by local bakeries. The evening performance will offer heavy hors d'oeuvres before the show begins and the dessert buffet at intermission.
There is a 50/50 raffle. Half of the amount raised in the raffle will go to the Child Advocacy Center, and the other half will go to the raffle winner. The amount that a person can win will depend on how many tickets are sold, but in years past, raffle winners have taken home over $1000 in cash. You do not have to be present to win the cash prize, as long as the staff has your contact information, which you give when you purchase tickets. Each performance group has raffle tickets to sell, or they can be purchased from the Child Advocacy Center office. They will also be available at the performances.
During each performance, there will be a People’s Choice Award, where the audience votes with their dollars for who they think is the best out of the lineup. As Karen Tisdale, event coordinator, says: “We will take your money in so many different ways.”
But that money is going to help do such important work in our community. The money raised at the Ultimate Lip Sync Showdown is “integral to the general operations budget” of The Child Advocacy Center. As a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, the Child Advocacy Center relies heavily on charitable donations and fundraising to ensure that they can continue to do their important work in Fayetteville and Cumberland County. What a great opportunity to enjoy an evening of unique entertainment while helping support the work of a critical organization.
To purchase tickets in advance, go to cacfaync.org and click on Upcoming Events. The big day is Saturday, May 2, at 1 p.m. (under-18 performers, tickets cost $25) and at 7 p.m. (grown-up performers, tickets cost $75), all at the Crown Coliseum Ballroom.

(Photo: The judges from the 2025 Ultimate Lip Sync Showdown from left to right: Michael Thrash, El'Ja, Ray Thomas, Nicki Hart, Michael Daughtry and Dominique Womack. The judging panel in 2025 are all creative voices in the Cumberland County and Sandhills region. Photo courtesy of Melissa Jane and the Child Advocacy Center of Fayetteville)