For the second year, students in the West Sierra League were given a chance to display their talents in the finals of the annual WSL talent show on Feb. 19 with Chelsea Myers, ’02, finishing third.

Preliminary competition for the show was held on campus Feb. 1. Student leadership and Eunie McEntee, leadership adviser, were the preliminary judges. Many students also helped McEntee to coordinate the show.

The process of determining who finished in the top three included every performer repeating their act at each of the participating schools: Tranquility, Mendota, Fowler, Caruthers, Firebaugh, Laton, and FC. A different panel of judges viewed the acts at each school. The scores were averaged to determine the overall standing of each performer.

There were 65 students that tried out overall for the competition, but only six from campus. The finalists performed for the judges in round two for the grand prize of $100. Out of the many that tried out, two students were chosen to represent FC–Brian Maldonado,’02, and Myers.

After making it through the preliminaries, Maldonado was excited about the way he presented.

“It’s really cool, and lots of fun. I wish I could have the opportunity to do it again next year but I am a senior,” Maldonado said. “The song I sang reached a lot of people because they are not allowed to hear that kind of music at their school. I am glad that I tried out for the talent show because it gave me a new perspective on what it means to be a Christian going out witnessing to other people. I also got to know Myers better.”

Maldonado sang the song, ” Lord Move Me”. This is a spiritual that he previously performed in church. Maldonado has been performing since the age of four and he also plays piano. This is the first time that he had sung this song in a competition.

Myers has been performing for The Fresno Ballet since she was 11years old. She danced for Senior Dance for four years. McEntee convinced Myers to perform at the talent show where she improvised her performance to, “Spanish Variation in Nut Cracker.”

“Participating in the WSL talent show has been a truly unique experience for me,” Myers said. “It has reminded me of how different our school is from public school. It was fun performing in front of everyone but I was sure nervous.”

The talent show was a culture shock for her because of how sensually some of the other students were dancing. That made her feel uncomfortable around them. Often times, people forget what school is like outside of private schools. Visiting other schools such as Mendota and Tranquility has reaffirmed Myers Christian beliefs.

“Traveling to different schools was interesting,” McEntee said. “When we left Tranquility, I noticed there were only ten cars in the student parking lot. Another thing that marked our separation from public schools was that the student focus was on pop music. Yet, Maldonado chose a spiritual song for his act.”

Myers received $50 for finishing third. Carlos Martinez, ’05, from Tranquility won $75 in second place. Grand prize went to a band Skadtum Funk from Fowler.

After the announcement Myers felt very good and surprised with the results. Myers was happy for the first and second place winners. She was grateful for the opportunity, if she was not a senior she would be glad to perform again next year.

During a phone interview Martinez said he felt pretty good with his performance. Martinez has been rapping for about four years. Martinez entered the competion because he thought it would be exciting.

“I was getting everyone entertained,” Martinez said. “I was nervous because I didn’t know everybody. All kinds of people were looking at me. I am relieved that it is over.”

Students interested in performing in next years’ talent show should contact McEntee for more information.