As pop culture goes, here’s what drew the most eyes and earsduring the past 10 days:

TELEVISION1. Dancing With the Stars, ABC2. American Idol (Wednesday),Fox3. American Idol (Thursday), Fox4. NCIS, CBS5. Dancing With the Stars: TheResults, ABC

ALBUMS1. 21, Adele2. Hot Sauce Committee PartTwo, Beastie Boys3. Now That’s What I CallMusic! 38, various artists4. Helplessness Blues, FleetFoxes5. Love? Jennifer Lopez

SINGLES1. Rolling in the Deep, Adele2. E.T., Katy Perry featuringKanye West3. On the Floor, Jennifer Lopezfeaturing Pitbull4. Just Can’t Get Enough, theBlack Eyed Peas5. The Lazy Song, Bruno Mars

COUNTRY SONGS1. A Little Bit Stronger, SaraEvans

2. Heart Like Mine, MirandaLambert3. Old Alabama, Brad Paisleyfeaturing Alabama4. I Won’t Let Go, Rascal Flatts5. Live a Little, Kenny Chesney

DVD SALES1. The Green Hornet2. Harry Potter and the DeathlyHallows: Part 13. The Dilemma4. Tangled5. The King’s Speech

Sources: Nielsen Media Research,Billboard, Rentrak

THE TOP FIVE

He’s the leader of the BestDamn Band in the Land, thereason that Buckeyes fansleave their tailgates to fill Ohio

Stadium 20 minutes before kickoff.When the drum major struts down

the ramp and onto the field, impossiblystretching the plume of his white hatbackward to the 35-yard line, 105,000people cheer as if the quarterback justthrew a game-winning touchdown.

Jason Stuckert had prepared for therole nearly half his life, tossing thebaton he received for his 12th birthdaybetween trees in his front yard until thegrass turned to mud.

He sobbed with happiness when histime came last year. Named drummajor as a freshman, he received hun-dreds of Facebook “friend” requestsfrom students who suddenly knew himnot personally but as an Ohio Stateicon.

Then, on Tuesday, the title and

prestige given only to Stuckert for thepast 12 months went up for grabs againduring the annual high-pressuretryouts.

The position of drum major must beearned — past accomplishments aside— by the person who performs best onthat day, in that moment.

And his competitors had trained forthe past year — and, in most cases,throughout high school — for thechance to become the 58th OSU drummajor, continuing a 91-year-oldtradition that predates the Horseshoeitself.

As official members of the marchingband, prospective drum majors — like

See DRUM MAJOR Page D4

Annual tryouts for OSU drum majoran intensely competitive processBy Amy Saunders THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

YOU TELL US� Besides the drum major, whatdo you like most about the march-ing band? Share your thoughts atDispatch.com/youtellus.

ERIC ALBRECHT DISPATCH PHOTOSIn a traditional entrance for the drum major, Jason Stuckert hurries down the south ramp of Ohio Stadium toward the marching band at a fall game.

The battle for the baton

RIGHT: With his firstyear as drum major

behind him, JasonStuckert becomes

just anothercompetitor again at

tryouts to win the jobfor the 2011-12

season.

The position ofdrum major mustbe earned — pastaccomplishments

aside — by theperson who

performs best onthat day, in that

moment.

05-13-2011 PAGE D1

DLIFE&ARTS�

FRIDAYMAY 13, 2011

Dispatch.com/multimedia

Online

ST. TIMOTHY HAIR-A-THONStanford entrepreneurs

Coming Saturday

‘FACEBOOK CLASS’Reviews of three films out today �D3, D8

New at theaters

CRITICS’ CHOICESEach week, we consultMetacritic.com to compile aggregateopinions, converted to numbers,based on reviews from printed andonline sources. Each movie is rankedby its “Metascore,” an average ratingfrom zero (terrible) to 100(outstanding).

— Nick Chordasnchordas@dispatch.com

Wedding-party samplerMOVIE .................................SCOREBridesmaids (2011) 77

The Best Man (1999) 61

27 Dresses (2008) 47

American Wedding (2003) 43

Made of Honor (2008) 37

Will Ferrell summer flicksMOVIE .................................SCORETalladega Nights: The Ballad ofRicky Bobby (2006)

66

The Other Guys (2010) 64

Everything Must Go (2011) 63

Bewitched (2005) 34

Land of the Lost (2009) 32

As a guy who has watched fromthe sidelines as female friendsparticipated in a seemingly end-less series of afternoon partiesbefore purchasing expensivedresses unlikely to be worn twice,I can only trust that Bridesmaidsgets the details correct.

Being a part of a traditional

wedding party is undoubtedly anhonor, yet the ladies have it a tadtougher than their male counter-parts — who tend to rent atuxedo and show up.

Bridesmaids, a bawdy-but-sweet comedy produced bymaster of such things JuddApatow (The 40-Year-Old Virgin,Knocked Up), stars the inherently

MOVIE REVIEW BRIDESMAIDS

Not too borrowed, blueBy Nick ChordasTHE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

See MAIDS Page D2

UNIVERSAL PICTURES

Shopping for the big day, from left: Lillian (Maya Rudolph), Annie(Kristen Wiig) and Becca (Ellie Kemper)

05-13-2011 PAGE D4

D4 � LifeTHE COLUMBUS DISPATCH FRIDAY, MAY 13, 2011 BREAKING NEWS: DISPATCH.COM

the musicians — wear uniforms onthe football field but share little ofthe glory.

They make up the band’s D-Rowsection, practicing twirling skillsdaily alongside the musicians and,on game days, helping with neces-sary but unglamorous tasks.

They’re the ones literally at thebottom of the ladder, holding it asthe director conducts the band;the ones carrying the drum major’sequipment bag or watching hisperformance through the view-finder of a video camera.

Next year, that will be me, eachof them thinks.

Then come the tryouts, whereeach gets all of four minutes to liveup to that promise.

‘In the uniform and on the field’In the opening of his valedic-

torian speech, David Pettitthanked God, school officials andhis band director for havingappointed him the PortsmouthHigh School drum major.

“I’ve had many wonderfulmemories here being a drummajor,” he told the Class of 2010,“and I hope to create a few more atthe Ohio State University.”

He looked up from the podiumwith a huge, knowing grin as theaudience whooped and burst intoapplause.

During the two years that Pettitwas drum major, the high school’sfirst in four decades, football fanswore T-shirts spelling out “GoDavid.” The archrivals fromWheelersburg gave him a standingovation when he performed onenemy turf.

Pettit basked in the attention.This is the kid who, to play thechurch organ, added Swarovskicrystals to his shoes in case thevideo camera focused on his feet.He’d dramatically throw his handsin the air at the end of a hymn.

The Horseshoe would be hisultimate stage.

At Ohio State, though, the aspir-ing drum major’s first year entailedlittle recognition and, aside fromone basketball halftime show, noperforming.

Now, his game-day tasks in-volved giving a shoulder massageto drum major Stuckert, the 19-year-old D-Row boss with thepower to punish the others withpush-ups or order them to fetchhim ice cream at lunchtime.

During the first game of theseason, Stuckert led the 225 bandmembers and 650 alumni joiningthem on the field. D-Row mem-bers, starting five hours beforekickoff, served as water boys, run-ning among the musicians in themidday September heat.

Heading into the “skull session”pep rally, Stuckert marched onsidewalks lined with cheering fans,their cellphone cameras aimed inhis direction.

D-Row, relegated to the back ofthe formation, lugged coolers andbags of equipment.

On breaks from water and trashduty, they watched from a cornerof St. John Arena as Stuckerttwirled the baton behind his backand between his legs, the crowdcheering his every trick.

Outside the arena, whereStuckert’s friends routinelyshielded him from cameras and

autograph seekers, the mother of aD-Row member photographed herson in front of the 4-foot coolerhe’d been carrying.

D-Row members didn’t com-plain. For the first time, they werepart of the band that some hadidolized much of their lives.

Pettit had been attending gamessince he was 3, more interested inthe band than the football.

In middle school, future D-Rowmember Shayna Half registered anemail address starting withosumb2b.

“Yeah, we’re just holding ladders,but we’re in the uniform and onthe field,” she said. “It’s basically adream come true — part of it,anyway.”

‘You should be proud’Feet out of step, a toss flying out

of reach, a baton slipping througha sweaty hand and onto the prac-tice field.

For four 90-degree days inAugust, Stuckert and MattBerndsen, the graduating assistantdrum major, watched for thetryout mistakes that would sepa-rate half of the D-Row candidatesfrom the other.

Only six of the 11 to auditionwould earn a spot on the practicesquad; even fewer would everbecome head drum major orassistant.

“You just tried out for the mostprestigious college marching bandin the country,” Stuckert told themsolemnly at the end. “Whateverhappens tonight, you should beproud.”

At 9:30 that evening, the candi-dates — men in ties, women indresses — entered the band centerfor “Make the Band Night.”Parents waited outside in dark-ness, cameras ready to documentthe moment their childrenemerged as members.

Jon Woods, the band director,asked 400 nervous musicians tostand for the reading of only 225

majors in Ohio State history, Halfwould be only the third female. Asa sophomore in high school, thelongtime OSU fan had asked theBexley band director to reinstate a drum-major program just forher.

Claudia Dome thought she mustnot have heard her name.

The married 28-year-old hadtaken time off from her audiologistjob for the tryouts, having re-discovered her high-school twirl-ing hobby as a graduate student.

The idea of becoming the OSUdrum major had seemed, at first, aquarter-life crisis: She lost 50pounds and started hanging outwith people a decade younger.

It had turned into reality theprevious year, when she madeD-Row and the band that becameunexpectedly meaningful to her.

“It’s one of the most amazingthings I have done — will do — inmy life,” she said. “Once you knowwhat it’s like, you want to be a partof it again.”

Now, despite her best tryoutperformance, she no longer hadthe opportunity.

At the end of the night, Domeheld back her own tears to consolethe musician next to her. Shehadn’t met him before, but, afterbeing cut from the band, he wassobbing uncontrollably.

‘It was like a calling’The sounds of drums and brass

instruments carried all the wayfrom Ohio Stadium to the Oval,where Nate MacMaster stopped inhis tracks and started following themusic.

A 15-minute walk led him to theband practice field near the ’Shoe— where he sat in the grass andwatched a rehearsal of the bandhe’d always admired. Captivated byseeing a drum major up close, allhe could think about was learningto twirl.

“Something just clicked; it’s hardfor me to even explain,” he said.

“It was like a calling.” In the fall of 2009, with a new

goal he hadn’t previously imag-ined, MacMaster began learninghow to hold the baton at a timewhen his eventual peers on D-Rowcould jump or do cartwheels whilecatching it.

He pored over biographies ofpast drum majors, who seemedlike celebrities, and twirled on thepractice field for up to five hoursdaily, gazing at the Horseshoe forinspiration.

When he then made D-Row as asophomore, MacMaster joinedothers who had started workingtoward their Ohio State dreammuch earlier.

As drum majors for their highschools, most of the D-Row mem-bers had already trained at OSU,where alumni drum majors makerecruiting visits and, every winterand summer, offer free, twice-weekly lessons to students.

Stuckert began practicing therein middle school, before his three-year stint as the Avon Lake HighSchool drum major.

The training opportunities makedrum majoring like a varsity sport— a year-round activity. One cur-rent hopeful, an eighth-grader,already quit baseball to focus onprivate twirling lessons and attendthe OSU sessions, as he has forthree years.

After the exposure to the OhioState program, some trainees —hoping to join D-Row — neverapply to another school.

“I couldn’t see myself anywhereelse, wearing purple and white or— God forbid — maize and blue,”said J.D. Johnson, who startedpracticing at OSU as a GahannaLincoln sophomore. “I think it’sjust something you have in you oryou don’t.”

But, even after making D-Row,the difficult path to becomingdrum major is still just beginning.

ERIC ALBRECHT DISPATCH PHOTOSBefore the spring tryout, drum-major hopeful Nate MacMaster rehearses a jump catch on the practice field.

DRUM MAJORFROM PAGE D1

After the halftime performance at the Penn State game, drum major Jason Stuckert, right, gets a back rub from David Pettit.

See DRUM MAJOR Page D5

ON THE WEB� To see an audio slide showabout the quest to becomethe Ohio State Universitydrum major, visit Dispatch.

com/multimedia.

names and positions, plus theeight D-Row members. The drum-major hopefuls joined hands astheir names were called — startingwith Stuckert and Berndsen,chosen the previous spring, andfollowed by the rest of D-Row,listed in order of performancerank.

D3: Nate MacMaster. He haddecided to take up twirling onlymonths earlier, his skills yearsbehind those who had learned inhigh school. MacMaster, a sopho-more amid all freshmen, hadn’teven been a part of the Reynolds-burg High band.

D4: Josh Robinson. Robinson, anaspiring professional French hornplayer from Dublin Scioto, hadalso recently taken up the craft,seeking a more individualistic wayto perform.

D5: Shawn Wiler-Martin. As thedrum major in Streetsboro, Wiler-Martin used to drive 140 milesfrom northeastern Ohio to OSU forhigh-school drum-major practicesattended by mostly central Ohioresidents.

D6: J.D. Johnson. Rejected fromthe main campus, the GahannaLincoln drum major instead en-rolled at the Newark branch topursue his goal. The head drum-major position would afford John-son, who is paying his own tuition,a full scholarship.

D7: David Pettit. With neighborscalling him a shoo-in and askinghim for football tickets, Pettit feltpressure from not only himself butalso his community to becomesouthern Ohio’s first OSU drummajor.

D8: Shayna Half. Of the 58 drum

THE BATTLE FOR THE BATON

waiting hands of Stuckert, who,whether doing cartwheels or backflips, can almost always corral it —and with a theatrical show ofexcitement.

“Yes!” he exclaimed uponmaking his final catch, ending histryout on Tuesday without amistake — just as he did last year.

Stuckert bowed to the fewhundred spectators cheering onthe football practice field, thenturned to do the same for the bandmembers giving him a standingovation.

The D-Row members on thesidelines rushed to shower himwith compliments, practicallyadmitting their defeat.

With Stuckert having elected toaudition first, the nine others hadto follow him in the three-parttryout — consisting of the pre-game ramp entrance, a twirlingroutine set to a song played by theband and a series of five hightosses.

The winner of the assistantdrum-major position wouldn’t bedecided as easily, with each candi-date experiencing both successesand failures in front of the 17alumni grading the performances.

Having received six stitches inhis dominant hand from a batonaccident two days earlier, JoshRobinson made some, but not all, of the catches he tried left-handed.

Friends of David Pettit yelled, “Ilove you, David!” and, as they didin Portsmouth, wore T-shirts bear-ing his name. Yet their charismaticstar ended his routine with twomistakes.

Kyle West dared to perform twocartwheels after making one tossand a back handspring afteranother, but he missed the batonboth times.

The candidates continued tostretch and practice even aftertheir auditions, having heard thatthe competition might have beenclose enough to force a tiebreaker.Several thought they had a shot atthe position that could turn aD-Row servant into a leader.

They lined up in the center ofthe field, smiling nervously whilethe band director addressed thecrowd.

“This was certainly one of thebest competitions we’ve had,”Woods said. “It was tough goingfor the judges. They had to splithairs.”

Gathering the hopefuls in ahuddle, Woods gave them a fewmoments to absorb the news thatwould then be announced to theaudience.

Stuckert won a second year asdrum major; and Kyle West, whothroughout the band season waspracticing a sousaphone instead ofa baton, surpassed the D-Rowmembers to become the assistant.

While West posed for photos,with judges talking of his talentsand upcoming performances,David Pettit quietly walked off thefield, faced with the prospect ofanother year holding ladders.

Friends offered condolences andhugs, rubbing his back sympa-thetically.

Later, Pettit sat talking to hisparents when Stuckert walked paston the way to celebrate.

“Hey, man, I better see you nextyear,” Stuckert told him, as if Pettitmight give up on his goal after somuch work and no payoff.

Yet Pettit and other D-Rowmembers recognize that the yearof preparation marked only one ofmany to come.

As long as he’s a Buckeye, Pettitvows, he will keep trying out, evenif his chances of winning remainlow each time.

Without hesitation, he told thedrum major: “I’ll be here.”

asaunders@dispatch.com

Throughout the recent footballseason, the squad members en-dured preseason two-a-days, 12-hour game days and weather sohot that they were cooled off witha hose and so freezing that theirnumb hands could hardly graspthe cold metal batons.

The commitment to drummajoring didn’t always allow themto study or socialize like typicalcollege students.

Johnson didn’t make new friendswhile living at home and com-muting to Newark. Honors studentShawn Wiler-Martin, a high-schoolvaledictorian, failed calculus andphysics during the time-consuming football season.

Besides practicing drum-majorskills, they had more work to do:running to improve fitness andendurance, weight training to gainstrength for hurling the baton,yoga postures to mold bodies intothe all-important backbend.

Like others on the squad,Shayna Half consistently sufferedfrom injuries, her legs tapedthroughout the season.

Shinsplints and stress fracturesare common from strutting — inwhich legs are stretched to capac-ity, then pounded onto the field.

In Half’s mind, though, the big-ger challenge was mental: being an18-year-old with the confidence toperform in front of 105,000 peoplewaiting to see the caught baton.

The mistakes of drum majorsbecome legendary.

“You’re leading the Best DamnBand in the Land, and you have tolive up to the expectations of 57other drum majors who have comebefore you,” she said.

“There’s so much pressure. Withthe drum major, it’s just you. It’syou out there, alone.”

‘It’s just you and yourself’As the May tryouts grew closer,

Josh Robinson asked the reigningdrum major for the tips he hadgiven D-Row throughout the year.

“I’m sorry, Josh,” Stuckertresponded, “but I’m at the pointwhere I can’t tell you that.”

The end of football season alsomeant the conclusion of regulargroup practices and social dinners.Friends who had spent every day together were now tryoutcompetitors — and helping oneanother would be like aiding theenemy.

“When people ask me howsomething looks, I tell them, ‘Oh,that looks good,’” said Pettit, hisvoice becoming falsely positive. “Imean, it looks OK; but I’m notgoing to say, ‘Do this differently tomake it 100 times better.’ That’d bestupid.”

In the final weeks, the candi-dates trained alone for hours eachday and in private lessons withalumni, perfecting details andplotting the twirling routines thatwould highlight their showman-ship and individuality.

Stuckert’s audition last year was,by many accounts, flawless. Out ofdozens of tricks performed at eachfootball game, he dropped thebaton usually just once or twice —making him widely expected, evenin the views of his competitors, towin a second year.

Still, starting in March, hecrossed each day off his calendar,counting down to the time whenhe’d have to defend his title.

“Jason’s the most talented per-son I’ve ever seen; he might be thebest in the world,” said AlexNeffenger, the 2005 drum majorwho helps with training. “But if hedrops the baton, he’s out.”

Competing against Stuckertwere a record nine people: the sixD-Row members and three otherswho, though not in the band thisyear, were eligible because theywere at one time.

Many give up after being cut orspending the maximum two yearson D-Row, tiring of the time com-

mitment and losing faith in thegoal.

But Claudia Dome, beforefinishing grad school next year, feltdetermined to try out for the finaltime, as did junior EverettBingham, who auditioned the pasttwo years without winning a posi-tion.

Sophomore Kyle West thoughthe still posed a challenge toStuckert even though, throughoutfootball season, he chose to playsousaphone in the band ratherthan practice twirling on D-Row.

“Really, drum-major tryouts aremade in the time after the bandseason is over,” said West, a three-year drum major at Lake-wood High School in Hebron. “It’sjust you and yourself: how muchyou practice, how well you prac-tice.”

Twirling tricks are the same,more or less. Tryouts are won andlost on perfection and presenta-tion — how Stuckert did a back flipto start his routine last year, theway he yelled “Boom!” whilecatching a dramatic high toss.

Starting in the summer, DavidPettit took gymnastics lessons inhopes of matching Stuckert’s skillswith a back handspring.

Nate MacMaster, preparing toperform for only the second timein his life, practiced making ani-mated facial expressions in front ofhis dorm-room mirror.

One candidate would win thespot of assistant drum major, giv-ing him or her the opportunity totwirl at events and lead a secondScript Ohio on the field.

But no one hopes for a consola-tion prize. Everyone prepares, andexpects, to become drum major.

“This year, the field is so close interms of their talent,” said Jona-than Waters, assistant band direc-tor. “I think any one of them couldprobably get the position.”

‘I better see you next year’The baton flew above the

stadium lights, high enough tomake the crowd gasp in fear that itcouldn’t possibly be caught.

Falling back toward the earth,though, it landed safely in the

Stuckert gets a celebratory hug from his mother, Marcia Lowe,after auditioning to retain his position.

ERIC ALBRECHT DISPATCH PHOTOSDrum-major hopeful Kyle West performs his routine at the August tryouts for the D-Row training squad.

Drum-major candidates — from left: David Pettit, Kishan Patel, Shayna Half, Claudia Dome and Josh Robinson — relocate a soccer goalduring tryouts for the squad that supports the drum major and his assistant.

DRUM MAJORFROM PAGE D4

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� D5LifeTHE COLUMBUS DISPATCH FRIDAY, MAY 13, 2011BREAKING NEWS: DISPATCH.COM

THE BATTLE FOR THE BATON