Eleven student poets took the stage. Four—seniors Sam Lai, Ben Tolkin and Chris Nguyen as well as sophomore Andie Berry—left as Washington University’s nominees to advance to the National Slam Poetry Competition in August after winning this year’s Grand Slam.

Sharing stories of angry security guards and cracking jokes about ex-girlfriends, Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter Mary Lambert hosted WU-SLam’s Grand Slam on Friday in a Graham Chapel filled to capacity. Lambert, a former slam-poet herself, performed several of her songs in conjunction with her own poetry before the start of the competition.

After many long weeks of writing and practicing, 10 performers will take to the stage this Friday in the largest and most competitive poetry slam on campus: The Grand Slam.

Judith Ohikuare follows the 10 poets who participated in the 2011 Grand Slam as they prepare for and perform at the event.

Host George Watsky performs an original poem Friday night to open the third annual Grand Slam in Edison Theatre. The event, hosted by WU-SLam, packed the 627 seats of the Edison and drew over 1800 live viewers around the world, according to Kuumba.tv, which hosted an online broadcast of the slam.