Diversity is alive and well — maybe not in the halls of Biglaw, but in the ranks of submissions to Above the Law’s 2017 Law Revue Video Contest. The inspirations for the six fabulous finalists came from popular music, television, musical theater, and film. You might find picking a favorite this year to be difficult — not just because of the high quality of the entries, but because of how different they all are.

This year, your reviewers will be David Lat, Staci Zaretsky, Joe Patrice, and Kathryn Rubino. (Elie Mystal is away covering the big NALP conference). As in years past, our comments are non-binding; you, the voters, decide the winner.

Who will go down in law school history as the winner of this year’s competition? Behold the six finalists, listed in alphabetical order by school.

Voting will close one week from now, on THURSDAY, APRIL 27, at 11:59 PM. So don’t delay, and get out the vote!

1. Columbia Law School — WestLaw Story

LAT: The premise — taking West Side Story, a musical about warring teenage street gangs, and turning it into WestLaw Story, a musical about warring legal research companies — is genius. I’m surprised it hasn’t been done before (but it hasn’t — at least as far as I can recall, having reviewed almost a decade of these). And the execution was excellent too — no surprise coming from CLS, the only two-time winner in the contest’s history.

STACI: This was great. The woman who played the Maria part blew everyone else’s singing out of the water. What a talent! If you don’t want to work as an attorney after you graduate, you have a bright future ahead of you in musical theater.

JOE: What else can I say. I actually applauded the end of this West Side Story medley as if I were seated in a real Broadway audience. Poor Bloomberg.

KATHRYN: Do you not think the battling legal research tools’ rivalry has resulted in some shed blood? These people are serious — deadly serious — about what site you should use for legal research. Choose wisely, the consequences may be more dire than just citing an overturned case.

2. NYU School of Law — Drunk in Law

LAT: Another perennial powerhouse, NYU appeals to legal nerds like me with this homage to Beyoncé’s Drunk in Love. Shout-outs to Dean Erwin Chemerinsky and Judge Alex Kozinski in the first minute? Be still my heart!

STACI: I’m a proud member of the Beyhive and you got me when you subbed in “Supreme Court” for “surfboardt.” Plus, what law student or lawyer can’t identify with lyrics like this? “Listin’ every problem when we’re all watching SVU / It’s Friday night, Friday night / My friends say stop it, shut up, f**k you / They’re impressed inside.” Excellent work!

JOE: I’m still convinced NYU deserved to win for last year’s Hamilton tribute, so I’m pleased they didn’t suffer any hangover from that disappointment and delivered another fantastic outing. Lat hinted at it with his Chemerinsky and Kozinski point — everyone can joke about how it sucks to be a law student, but there’s a higher degree of difficulty in making and landing substantive legal jokes. From International Shoe to Justice White, we’ve got law jokes all over this video without losing the focus on… how it sucks to be a law student.

KATHRYN: Yeah, I like Drunk in Love as much as anyone, but that’s not what makes this video clutch. It’s really about how law school can turn you into a douchebag. But don’t get too bummed out about it — as long as you are making MoneyLaw bucks and throwing out Whizzer White football references, you’ll always have friends.

3. University of Pennsylvania Law School — Mean Gunners

LAT: Like Columbia’s offering, this entry from U. Penn. — its first foray into our contest — had a great premise, to wit, a parody of Mean Girls. What is law school, after all, but high school with more debt? (Also, nice cameo by Professor Kermit Roosevelt — we love cameos by good-natured professors and deans.)

STACI: Like a virgin, touched for the very first time. This is Penn’s first try at law revue, but they totally nailed it. “Stop trying to make Magic Circle happen, it’s never going to happen. Some of those firms are barely even Biglaw.” Whoever came up with that line, I love you forever. This was a hilarious skit — and we almost never get skits that we actually like.

JOE: Historically, I’m the sucker on this panel for non-musical entries (see WUSTL’s SportsCenter parody, which is still one of my favorites). Honestly this isn’t the greatest skit I’ve ever seen, but for a first-time participant it deserves a lot of credit with a good concept and jokes that generally land.

KATHRYN: Ugh, gunners are the worst. They think you’re obsessed with them but nothing could be further from the truth. At last, a skit that brings their overinflated egos down to size.

(Flip to the next page to see the rest of the entries and to vote for your favorite.)