Light the lights and come on down! This was SKC’s turn to uncover hidden talent!

The College’s third annual talent showcase was undoubtedly the highlight of this year’s Arts Week, when over 200 students, parents and teachers flocked to the Music Centre on the final Friday night to watch ten talented student acts compete for the coveted titles. The finalists were selected by the students themselves after a number of auditions leading up to the night.

Arts Council members, Matt Ellwood and Rosie Longstaff did a superb job as continuity presenters introducing each finalist and keeping the evening flowing. In a new development this year, the Council did some fantastic work preparing an ‘intro’ video clip of each performer from the audition phase – in much the same way as the popular TV counterpart.

A panel of Performing Arts teachers were called on as judges for the evening. Mr Kristian Holmes, representing music, Ms Emma Bishop for Drama and Miss Claire Jennings for Dance. It didn’t take the performers long to discover that Mr Holmes had been set up in the ‘Simon Cowell’ role – drawing boos from the student audience when they felt he’d overstepped the mark!

The audience was wowed with talents ranging from singing to instrumental solo, drama and dance with some surprises along the way. Most of the students were from the Senior School but one surprise performance came from Sam Waldin, a confident Year 7 who gave a hilarious performance of Roald Dahl’s ‘The Pig.’ This is a young man we’re sure to see a lot more of!

Whist not a winner, another highlight was Lili Taylor’s superb performance of her own original song. Ms Bishop remarked that with a full backing band, her performance would have been even more amazing.

Whilst the judges deliberated, the Boys’ Barbershop Quartet (Manase Latu, Jamie Hofer, Sam Downes and Jack Muirhead) entertained followed by a powerful soliloquy from talented actor, Lloyd David.

Winner for the evening was one of the two dance performers. Jasmine Mexted was declared highlight of the night by two of the judges for a strong, beautifully executed jazz routine. Songstress, Brodie MacDonald won second place, with the cheeky performance from young Sam Waldin in third. People’s Choice winner was another surprise act. Amorangi Malesala proved she had a powerful, soulful blues voice that brought thunderous applause from the student audience. The judge’s final, most important comment was, ‘Let the audience be part of your performance.’

The night was a huge success and was enjoyed by all involved. The finalists were a strong cross section of the range of talent amongst our College students and deserve to be proud of their fantastic performances. Our thanks to the Arts Council for all their work to make this happen.

Finalists:
1st Jasmine Mexted
2nd Brodie MacDonald
3rd Sam Waldin

People’s Choice Amorangi Malesala                       

Other finalists: Fraser Hamilton, Michelle Zhou, Lili Taylor, The 3 D’s (Alex Waimora, Wesley Tameifuna, Jerry Samania) Elise Hinemoto and Kellie Crighton.

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