Jan. 28 for some was much different than just a regular night; it was a night to show the school who they really are. Friday night was the night of our annual Talentpalooza.

First off, if you didn’t go see it, you missed out on some pretty good performances. Some acts were better than others, but after going to the past two talent shows, this one was probably my favorite one to see. I’m pretty sure this year had the most students participate in showing off their talent. The performances consisted of things varying from bands to solos to comedy to spinning poi to duets, and there wasn’t really a dull moment at all throughout the night.

Between every act, sophomore Andrew Henke and senior Malcolm Switzer came out and got the crowed excited for the next act; they honestly were really good at it too, especially when they had their own “unplanned” lip-syncing duet during the middle of the night.

All of the performances were very unique in their own way, but basically if you weren’t there, I’ll sum it up for you:

Sophomores Nick Jones and Ryan Silver played the guitar while Jones sang their original song “Jenny,” which at first when I read “original song” from my program, I wasn’t sure what to expect, but as they performed, I realized their song was kinda catchy in the chorus and was okay.

Junior Melissa Mossinghoff sang the song “The Wizard and I” from Wicked, and let me tell you, this girl can sing. I’ve seen her perform in a handful of talent shows and a variety of productions, and she has such a loud and distinctive voice. Her last note that held out for a long time definitely was powerful, and I can promise you that no one in that room could sing those notes like she did.

Freshman JerNay Williams was kind of interesting, she sang “Not Anymore” by Latoya Luckett, and I had never heard that song before in my life. I’m not really sure if the background music was actually supposed to have someone else singing in it though, it kind of made it hard to actually hear Williams, so it seemed more like karaoke or someone just singing along to a song. I think it would have been better if I could have heard her singing, and not the background music as much.

The band 220 Freedom, featuring seniors Travis Sunderland, Brendan Kinnison and John Gee, was really good. I’m glad they did a song I actually knew, “Hot N’ Cold” by Katy Perry. They covered the song very well, and I would definitely like to hear more of their music in the future.

Senior Mike McPartland is always one of my favorite acts to see. He’s been in the last two Talentpalooza’s,and is probably one of the funniest people out there and can definitely make people laugh. Between jokes about fire drills to cheerleaders, he made the crowd go wild Friday.

Junior Jordan Wills sang and played guitar to “When You’re Gone” by Avril Lavigne. Wills has won the Talentpalooza the past two years; her freshman year she was accompanied by Margaret Borgmeyer, but her sophomore year she did a solo. Wills, like Mossinghoff, has a very strong voice. She is able to bust out the lyrics so well, and you can definitely see the passion she has for music when she performs.

The band According to You, featuring freshmen Logan Slone and Logan Mohler and senior Jordan Slone, was very good. I had only heard of their band a few times prior to seeing them play tonight, and it was a good experience.

Seniors Ethan Steller and Adam Wojciehowski showed the crowd something different when compared to the large amount of music performances; they spun poi. I had no idea what this even was when I had read it in the program, but once I saw it, it was actually pretty cool to see. The auditorium was pitch black and they each had a glowing ball in each hand and spun them around like crazy to music. It made it seem like we were at a rave, and was very unique to see!

Seniors Chelsea Curtright and James Nash sang a duet of “A Little Priest” from “Sweeney Todd” and somewhat incorporated acting into their performance. It was one of the more original performances because they interacted with the audience during a portion of the song, and although I’ve never actually seen “Sweeney Todd,” I think they sang it very well.

Freshman Charlie Grant did stand-up comedy, and was kind of goofy, but I think that’s what made him funny. Between talking about yelling things in German to being a nerd, he was overall pretty good and made the crowd laugh a lot.

Senior Alyson Martin sang and played guitar to “Everywhere” by Michelle Branch. She sang it so well, it just made my friends and I love that song even more than we already did. She’s got a really talented voice, that’s for sure.

Seniors Sue Redican and Ryan Lakeman performed “Jar of Hearts” by Christina Perri; Redican did vocals, while Lakeman played piano. I think that both of them were really good, and they performed the song really well.

Junior Victoria Walker probably had one of the more original performances of the night, she sang “Love Destiny” by Ayumni Hamasaki, but not in English….in Japanese! That’s crazy, but just shows how good she is at singing if she can take it to the next level by singing it in another language. She’s got such a great voice and was so good.

The band Downcast, featuring juniors Drew Andersron, Curtis Reed, Brad Goldman and Tyler Jones and alumnus Brett Barry played tonight, and compared to last year, they were much better! With three of them on guitars, one on drums and one doing vocals, they all were very good.

Alright, well, that’s everyone who performed, and if you weren’t there, shame on you because you missed out. While first place went to Grant, second went to Martin and third went to Downcast, everyone did a really awesome job this year. I agree that all three of these winners were really good, but I also kind of think a few others should have been recognized for their good performances, such as Jordan Wills, 220 Freedom, and Mike McPartland. It was probably the biggest Talentpalooza we’ve had at our school, both performers and audience-wise. I hope next year’s is just as good, or even better!