Columbia’s biggest mouths are set to take a different stage and face brand new competition for the Campus Clash on May 5 at Metro, 3730 N. Clark St.

In December, the Student Programming Board began brainstorming ideas to create a talent competition showcasing students from Columbia, DePaul University and Roosevelt University.

“We wanted to do something bigger than Biggest Mouth, so we decided on a Campus Clash, where we brought schools in the area together,” said Ashley Brown, marketing and communications coordinator of the SPB.

Once SPB approached DePaul’s and Roosevelt’s student programming boards, the plan really took off.

“They were really excited about the idea and jumped right in and started planning,” Brown said.

The top five acts from each college will compete for the top three spots. Acts will be judged by a panel of industry professionals including Scott Schaefer of Bloodshot Records, Ben Telzrow of Biz 3, Sandi Cikanek of LiveNation and Joe Carsello, Metro’s talent buyer.

“We’re really excited to get this talent up on a professional stage and give them the opportunity to perform in front of their peers and people in the industry,” said Sharod Smith, Columbia’s programming coordinator.

Columbia is sending the top five Big Mouth acts to Campus Clash. Because DePaul and Roosevelt do not have anything similar to Big Mouth on their campuses, they had to take a different approach to gathering talent.

Roosevelt held a battle of the bands and had open auditions to find their five acts for Campus Clash. DePaul’s SPB took submissions and demo tapes to narrow down their acts.

Columbia’s performing acts will include Walrus, JMT Music, 345, B.I.G. H.E.A.D. and Bullet.

Campus Clash is especially significant for Smith, who created the first Biggest Mouth Event while attending Columbia as a student.

“During my senior year in 2004, being on campus and being involved, we saw that there was all of this talent and not one big place to showcase it. So that’s how Biggest Mouth started,” Smith said. “Now, as an adviser, it’s really great to sit back and watch these kids continue the idea, make it grow and produce these really great shows on their own.”

Smith said when Biggest Mouth began, it was housed in the Hokin Annex in the Wabash Campus Building, 623 S. Wabash Ave., and has gradually expanded to the Conaway Center in the 1104 Center, 1104 S. Wabash Ave.

“The event has doubled, even tripled in size,” Smith said. “We have over 100 acts auditioning a semester.”

The SPB is hoping to sell out the Metro event on May 5.

“At our last Biggest Mouth we had around 550 students,” Brown said. “So with two more colleges involved, we’re telling people to get there early if they want in.”

The show is free and open to the public, but is 18-and-over due to curfew laws. Doors open at 6 p.m., and the show begins at 6:30 p.m.

“It is going to be a really fun night,” Brown said. “We’re hoping this becomes tradition, like this is our first annual Campus Clash.”

The 15 chosen acts will compete for a grand prize of $3,000, a $100 Epic Burger gift card, an equipment package from Shure Microphones and an opening slot at an upcoming Metro show. Second and third place winners will also receive packages from Shure that include microphones, headphones and other equipment.