I agree with UofI AXO, serenades at Illinois are awesome! There is a lot of practicing usually leading up to the serenade weeks. Lots of costumes and dances, roses, candy, Pokey Sticks from Gumby's pizza, etc... for the big show though. Basically, each sorority/fraternity house tries to out "wow" the other for the next social semester. I've seen the *NSYNC themes, Brittany Spears (from fraternities.
)Blue Man Group, Saturday Night Live, "The Perfect Fraternity," rock bands,...you name it!
Sadly, this is my first year as an alumna, and I miss the craziness of it all. The voting part was a bit stressful like UofI AXO said, but I loved the entire process of serenades! Every one usually brings their homework to their house and it's almost a given that none of it will get done as the shows go on all night as the houses arrive. So fun!