When UW-Eau Claire a cappella group “Fifth Element” heard that singer-songwriter Ben Folds was producing a college a cappella album, they jumped at the chance to be a part of it.

Seniors Nels Urtel and Anthony Meehl, juniors Frank Moran, Alex Collie and Pete Elkin, sophomore Joe Holtan and freshman Tim Mattson make up “Fifth Element” and all wanted an opportunity to record for Folds.

“An alumnus of the group saw that Ben Folds was doing this and thought it would be a great opportunity for us, even if we didn’t make it,” said Urtel.

“We cut it a little close because we had about three weeks before the deadline to arrange a song and send it in,” he said.

But the late arrival didn’t hinder their performance, it only helped them.

“Because we were so late, we got to check out the competition and see what kind of songs they were submitting.”

The group chose “Fair” off of Folds’ album, “Whatever and Ever Amen,” because it was off the radar, Urtel said.

“A lot of people were doing The Luckiest and we just wanted to be different,” Urtel said.

“We thought it was a great song to really show off our voices,” Collie said.

After recording “Fair,” they put the song on YouTube and within days Folds himself was contacting “Fifth Element.” Out of the 200 groups that submitted a song to Folds, 18 were chosen, “Fifth Element” being one of them.

“He said he really liked it and would be in contact, so that was pretty cool,” Urtel said.

A few weeks later, Folds and his manager contacted “Fifth Element” and told them to go ahead and start recording “Fair” for the album, but were told they were still going to be cutting songs later.

“Fifth Element” recorded the song at the Masters Recording Institute in Edina, Minn. The studio was once owned by R&B producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. Janet Jackson, Michael Jackson, Usher and Brian McKnight have all previously recorded in the same studio.

“It was really exciting being in that studio,” Holtan said.

“The microphone Tony used was the same one Janet Jackson used for one of her albums, I wasn’t nervous but I thought it was so cool being there.”

Though Folds himself couldn’t be there for the recording, the group knew what he was looking for.

“He wants a real live recording, no big editing or anything done so we had to do it as perfect as we could in one take,” Urtel said.

Now “Fifth Element” has to play the waiting game, as Folds has made no decisions as to who will make the cut. Currently, there are 18 other a cappella groups waiting for 12 spots.

“I definitely checked out the competition,” Collie said. “They are all pretty good, but honestly, I think we are better.”

Other college a cappella groups on Folds’ list of 18 includes, Ohio University’s “Leading Tones,” Princeton’s “Nassoons” and Florida State’s “All Night Yahtzee.”

“I think we have a great advantage over these other groups because not only are we small, we come from a small school, so I think we really stand out,” Holtan said.

Urtel knows they have a good shot at getting on this album.

“Talking with Ben and his manager before, they said we were unique and small and that we are nailing these parts” Urtel said. “The arrangement Joe created is fantastic that they really want to get us on the album.”

To listen to “Fifth Element’s” competition check out www.benfolds.com/acappella.