Dancers, musicians, hula-hoopers and poets helped transform the International Center’s Crossroads Food Court into a concert hall at 8 p.m. Saturday for the annual Showtyme @ MSU talent show.
Fifteen acts — out of the 76 that auditioned this past November for the opportunity to perform — competed in Saturday’s show, which was hosted by the University Activities Board, or UAB, and the MLK Celebration Planning Committee. These MSU talents battled for the chance to win a prize of their choice valued at up to $600.
The winners were decided by three faculty judges, including academic specialist in the College of Engineering Craig Gunn, Residential and Hospitality Services’ auxiliary resources communication manager Kat Cooper and international student adviser Amber Cordell, who evaluated the acts in the categories of performance, audience response and overall score.
Glow-sticker Evan Stemmer, a supply chain management sophomore, and Indian dance group MSU Bhangra tied for first place, while a capella group Spartan Sur received third place.
Because her group normally travels around the country for performances, finance sophomore and MSU Bhangra member Navmeet Dhillon said she enjoyed being able to dance closer to home so friends could attend the event.
“It was nice to perform (here) because it’s at State,” Dhillon said. “You don’t have people there to support you (when you perform in other cities).”
But Dhillon’s friends were hardly the only ones in attendance — about 270 people came to watch the show.
“This is a for-the-students, by-the-students type of show,” UAB’s multicultural director and political science and general management junior Michelle Cooper, who helped organize Saturday’s event, said.
Cooper said this show was different than others held by UAB because of the diversity of talent and how the event was organized.
“There were some talents I didn’t even know existed,” social relations and policy sophomore Nicole Jackson said. “It was nice to see the amount of creativity on campus.”
Another attendee, graduate student and Brody Complex assistant hall director Amanda Martinez, said she never expected the performers to be so good.
“I’d love to see a good portion of the performers by themselves in shows,” Martinez said.
Jazz studies junior Endea Owens, who performed upright bass as a part of the Endea Owens Quartet, said she was disappointed in not placing in the show and doesn’t know if she would participate again.
“(It’s) an unexpected setback,” Owens said.
Still, most participants and audience members seemed to enjoy the show.
“I think it was very high quality,” said Martinez. “(The performers are) just very talented and very practiced.”
Cooper said that while the audience was smaller than last year, she believes the event was a success.
“It came together great,” Cooper said.
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