This article was written by Vanessa Ryals, class of 2018.
From singers and guitar-players to pianists and cloggers, the second annual Student Government Association (SGA) Student Talent Show showcased a variety of hidden skills on campus. SGA co-president senior Tiffany Sanchez and senior class president Camila Ayala introduced the 14 featured acts, with contestants vying for a top prize of $100.
Parents, teachers and students alike filled the proscenium seats as the theater lights dimmed at 7 p.m. Feb. 9, and senior Alyssa Herzbrun took the stage to begin the night with her clogging solo. Seniors Lorena Sanchez, Ava Loomar and Jeremy Ramanathan took the stage next to sing and play guitar to “Hotel California” by the Eagles. Following their performance was freshman Chris Chen who played the Exodus Theme on piano.
The night included 10 separate singing acts, one of them being “Nessun Dormaan,” an aria from Giacomo Puccini’s opera “Turandot,” performed by sophomore Yasmeen Altaji. Of the 28 performers, eighth grader Jacob Reese Thornton stood out as the only student in junior high and the only student to perform a surprise piece (though only his first song, “Pride and Joy” by Stevie Ray Vaughan, was used for judging).
“I performed last year, too, and it was awesome,” Thornton said. “Everybody here is so talented, and it’s cool to meet other people who like to make music and dance.”
Three judges, Mrs. Alexandra Rollins (junior high SGA advisor and English teacher), Dr. Melissa Torres (Spanish teacher and adviser for First Priority and BETCHA) and English teacher Mrs. Jessica Burns (freshman class sponsor) sat front and center to score the performers.
“We were really looking for creativity, originality, overall performance and audience interaction,” Mrs. Rollins said. “At the end, it all comes down to what we hear from the crowd.”
Though senior Vivian Liu’s performance of “Million Reasons” by Lady Gaga roused the crowd to use their phones as flashlights in the audience, in the end only eighth grader Jacob Reese Thornton, A Capella and Company and sophomores Eduardo Giralt, Thomas Lovegren and Maxwell Mahan’s, were called to center stage.
“It’s always extremely challenging [to judge] because all of the students are extremely talented,” Torres said. “Two groups scored the same, but they wouldn’t allow us to have a tie for third place.”
In the end, it was the eleven members of A Capella and Company who brought home the first place title and $100 check. Second place went to Thornton, and third went to Giralt, Lovegren and Mahan.
“It definitely was a success,” Sanchez said. “There were lots of great performers and acts which was exciting, and we raised about $900 for Out of the Darkness, an organization that promotes suicide awareness.”
SGA is responsible for planning many events such as Homecoming, the freshman mixer and open forums with administrators. For those interested in joining, meetings are held every other Thursday in room 7104.
