With all eyes on him, the lone performer starts to play his piece. Mesmerized, the audience watches in silence as he sings and plays his instrument perfectly. When he finishes, the crowd erupts in a loud cheer. Judges look down at their score pads and jot down scores as he starts to walk off the stage.

The West Sierra League Talent Show begins on Feb. 2 with 14 students from seven different schools compete for cash prizes and a chance to exhibit their talents.

“The students come from Riverdale, Caruthers, Liberty, Fowler, Firebaugh, Mendota and Fresno Christian,” Josh Tosland, student leadership adviser, said. “The prizes for the talent show will be presented at Fresno Christian.”

Five students tried out for the talent show at the campus, but only Nic Westburg, ’05, and Christof Schnur, ’06, made it through the tryouts to represent our campus at the talent show.

“This is my first year trying out for the WSL Talent Show,” Westburg said. “I was very excited that I did well in the tryouts.”

Westburg plans to perform a guitar and vocal solo for the talent show. He has been playing the guitar for four years.

“The song I am going to play is by the greatest rock band of all time, Foo Fighters,” Westburg said. “I am very confident, but I don’t care if I win because I enjoy playing my guitar.”

Schnur will play “Preludium in C Major” by Bach on his accordion. He has been playing the accordion for nine years and seemed calm during the preliminary round.

“The tryouts were pretty easy, even though it was my first time trying out for a talent show,” Schnur said. “I just went and played in front of a group of teachers.”

“My friends made me try out for the talent show, so I hope I will do well in the talent show. But I am not really nervous because I am performing just for fun.”

Judges from each school give a score for each student, except for those who are from their own school. The 14 students will perform at Firebaugh and Mendota on Feb. 2, Riverdale and Carathurs on Feb. 9, Liberty and Fowler on Feb. 16 and at Fresno Christian on Feb. 24.

For more information on the talent show or other student events, contact Tosland at [email protected].