Prom Night

This dance is just different. You’ve buttoned yourself into a tux or slipped into your ultimate dream-night dress. You’ve got the limo, the corsage, the garter, and the gang — all to mark the end of your illustrious high-school career. And now you’ve got the tunes, with LMFAO’s crazy-times launch pad “Party Rock Anthem (feat. Lauren Bennett & GoonRock)” and Avril Lavigne’s distinctive brand of punk-pop commencement address “What the Hell.” It’s the hour to let your senior peeps know just how you feel to Miley Cyrus and the slow-dance tribute “When I Look At You,” while happily submitting to dance-floor diva Jennifer Lopez as she lays down the evening’s supreme get-loose command, “On the Floor (feat. Pitbull).”

Big Time Rush knows it’s a “Big Night,” so keep the Prom Night tunes coming in Next Steps.

Country crooners Thompson Square have got a lot on their minds with the big question “Are You Gonna Kiss Me or Not.” But we say, “Chill, guys — it’s all good.” After all, this one’s about celebrating together, so turn up the heat with Hot Chelle Rae’s “Tonight Tonight,” while Ke$sha makes her senior-class stand with “We R Who We R,” and P!nk declares the scene to be “F**kin’ Perfect.” The Ready Set aren’t worried about the times to come on their future-fun hip-shaker “Young Forever,” so when it comes to that kiss, heed the wise words of Justin Bieber (and Jaden Smith) and “Never Say Never.”

Why would you ever want it to end? It doesn’t have to, in Deep Cuts.

So prom night’s swingin’, and the sight of the whole class gettin’ down is, as Katy Perry puts it, a true blue “Teenage Dream.” Enjoy it while you can, because before you know it, the curtain’s gonna close on your high-school daze, and Florence + The Machine’s retro-pop proclamation “Dog Days Are Over” will have a whole new meaning. Take this one-night opportunity to let the Pussycat Dolls worry about “When I Grow Up,” so you can let it loose to the explosive sounds of Taio Cruz’s “Dynamite,” and enlist Matt & Kim to keep this best, last party going strong until “Daylight.”

It’s here at last, the night you’ve wondered about and dreamed of since middle school. It’s prom night, and it’s time for everyone — the star QB and the head cheerleader, the mathlete and the band babe — to celebrate the culmination of four years of high-school servitude. This momentous occasion calls for something special, so ladies, don your fabulous formal, and gentlemen, do your level best to pin your date’s corsage on straight (awkward!) before you give yourselves over to Neon Trees and the alt-rock swoon of “Your Surrender,” and Britney Spears’ friends-forever groover “Till the World Ends.” Tonight, you’re all one big, happy class, so “Raise Your Glass” with P!nk and your pals, then let Travie McCoy help you pay tribute to the bright times ahead with the sweet pop promise of “We’ll Be Alright.”