At the annual Talent Show, students throughout the West Sierra and West Sequoia Leagues had an opportunity to demonstrate their abilities.

After performing at various schools in the league, the Talent Show presented its final performance on campus in Ground Zero, Feb. 17.

Representatives from West Sierra League schools Firebaugh, Mendota and Tranquillity, as well as West Sequoia League schools Caruthers, Fowler, Parlier and FC, competed to place among the top three acts in each league.

The winners in both leagues will receive cash prizes — $100 for first place, $75 for second and $50 for third place.

After 14 performances, winners from both leagues were announced. In the Sequoia competition, FC junior Brady Lee, who presented a magic act, took first place. Stephanie Sandoval from Caruthers placed second with her vocal and guitar performance of “Beautiful, Beautiful,” and Stephanie Ann Obeso of Fowler won third place singing “Ave Maria.”

Among the Sierra competitors, Maria Llamas of Firebaugh took home the prize of first place with a dance solo. Second place went to the band Gods of Thunder, performing “Rock and Roll All Nite,” from Mendota. Finally, the band Backwards Honey from Tranquillity placed third with their performance of “Beast and the Harlot.”

Winners’ preparation, expectations

When it came to preparation, Llamas put together her dance medley of three songs a week prior to the show. Despite only practicing the dance for a total of three hours, she received encouragement from her friends to audition for the Talent Show.

Since Llamas aimed to gain audience involvement, she won the spectacle of her viewers when she made her way into the crowd and pulled junior Josh Grinage up to join her dancing.

Although Llamas did not expect to win, she took the top prize for her league.

“I made up the medley of three songs on my own,” Llamas said. “The first is popping, the second is slow, the third gets the crowd going, and the dance is freestyle. I was surprised to win because I thought Gods of Thunder would win.”

In their performance, the Gods of Thunder strived to live up to the band Kiss through rock and roll, according to member Rene Martinez.

“Well, basically with Kiss, I wanted to do this thing, and I just told everyone, ‘You know, let’s do this,'” Martinez said. “It takes about an hour or maybe more to get it on, so it’s a long process. But I just said, ‘Let’s do this and let’s wear leather, ’cause it just says “rock,” and let’s do it.'”

Campus participants reflect

Among the performers, eight FC students brought talents to the stage. Junior Josh Hopper sang Switchfoot’s “Hello Hurricane,” senior Danny Ibarra and freshman John Teixeira presented a ukulele and guitar medley, and Lee showcased his set of illusions.

Although they did not compete, senior Rachel Wilhelm, junior Dana King and sophomores Katherine Bennett and Stefi Peck made up the band Undefined and sang A Fine Frenzy’s “Near to You.”

Since Ibarra and Teixeira were among the final presentations in the Talent Show, they built up anxiety throughout their wait. Although watching the other contenders highlighted their strong competition, he was still entertained with the show, Teixeira says.

“I was nervous because other bands seemed much better than us,” Teixeira said. “It was one of the most nervous of the performances that we’ve done. We messed up a few times, but it went well. I thought Brady was the best, but the other bands were cool.”

Those competing were assessed by a panel consisting of English teacher Brianne Vogt and secretaries Lisa Dooley and Brenda Warkentin. The judges sought impressive acts which gained enthusiasm from the audience.

After viewing a total of 14 routines, Warkentin praised the students’ abilities and confidence. Drawing evaluation from her experience of watching bands perform at festivals, she recognized areas where the students could improve.

“I thought they were really good for high schoolers; they did a great job,” Warkentin said. “Their stage presence was pretty good, but some of them need a little more work. I’ve seen a lot of bands because I do some Christian music festivals, so I have a tiny bit of experience in viewing them.”

Student leadership organizes show

The student body, who made up the audience, left seventh and eighth period classes to watch the Talent Show, which started around 1:40 p.m

According to senior Kelsey Gunner, a skilled array of performers made the show a compelling event. She appreciated the chance to see the abilities of students from other schools.

“It was very cool, because it was interesting to see people that we don’t really know doing interesting things, such as singing and dancing,” Gunner said. “My favorite act was Brady’s because it changes and wasn’t the same thing. Everyone was really talented, so I didn’t know who would win and be the best.”

Student body president Justin Wilson, ’11, and fellow senior Andrew Evans acted as emcees for the event, which followed the theme “Talent Around the World.” Like Gunner, Wilson was impressed with the variety of the acts. However, he felt that some styles did not capture the audience’s attention.

“I though the Talent Show went great this year,” Wilson said. “There were a lot of great acts and one act bamboozled me. It was really fun, and I was excited to emcee this year, so it was really good. I think the bands had talent, but some of them were a little too hard core for people to understand, but I think they have talent and did a pretty good job.”

For Wilson, the Talent Show was not only an experience of entertainment, but also one of planning and organization in the student leadership class.

“We’ve been making signs all week; everyone has been working hard,” Wilson said. “We spent pretty much the whole day setting up, so none of us went to class, because we have all been busy. Everyone just contributed a lot today.”

For past coverage of the Talent Show, read the Feb. 25, 2010 article, Talent show crowns WSL champions.

Nick Avery, Danielle St. Marie, Ashley Ward and Austin Ward also contributed to this article.

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