The crowd of a half-full Diddle Arena erupted into cheers when the headlining acts of the Winter Jam Concert took the stage Friday night, after waiting through two hours of opening acts.

Ray J, Soulja Boy and Yo Gotti performed after seven opening acts, which included the Bowling Green group Star Squad Boyz.

The long list of opening acts led many concertgoers to wonder what the delay was, but Zach Boog, who co-hosted the event for the promotion group Fly Magic, said the long list of opening acts were normal for a concert like this.

“That’s how concerts go,” he said. “Every concert, no matter where you go, whether it’s a Michael Jackson concert or whatever, there will always be a lot of opening acts.”

Ray J was the first headliner to take the stage and he performed past hits such as “One Wish” and “Sexy Can I.”

Soulja Boy performed next with a set that included “Turn My Swag On,” “Gucci Bandana” and “All the Way Turnt Up.”

He was interactive with the audience, often jumping off the stage and running into the crowd. At one point during his performance of “All the Way Turnt Up,” he threw money off the stage and into the audience, which caused a frenzy among fans and security guards.

Yo Gotti performed last with the longest set which included “5 Star Chick” and “All White Everything.”

University of Kentucky freshman Parker Ball said that he has been a Yo Gotti fan since he heard his “Back 2 Da Basics” album and it had always wanted to see him in concert.

“It was amazing,” he said. “It’s always been my dream to see Yo Gotti. I thought all the supporting acts were good. I liked how they switched it up and brought the girls on stage. Overall, it was a great show.”

Owensboro junior Abbey Hein said she enjoyed Ray J’s performance the best, just because out of the three he was her favorite. She expressed disappointment over Soulja Boy’s performance.

“I was kinda disappointed in Soulja Boy because he didn’t do any of his more popular songs like ‘Kiss Me Through the Phone’ or ‘Crank That,'” she said.

Jeff Younglove, director of Campus and Community Events, said he didn’t understand the slow start to the show, but ultimately everything ran smoothly.

“Things got started a little late, but overall everything went well,” he said. “There were no issues.”

Check Tuesday’s Herald for more on this story.