By Kyle Khatchadourian
Staff writer
From singing to tap dancing to aerial arts, Costa students once again showed off their unique and amazing talents at the annual Mira Costa Talent Show, which was held in the auditorium on Feb. 2.
The group Shhh!, consisting of senior Charlie Sevy and juniors Mckenzie Becker and Danielle Kay, came in first place in this year’s Talent Show, “The Mira Costa Factor.” The group performed a unique tap dancing routine.
“We had a blast dancing together, and we can’t wait to perform next year,” Becker said. “We were so excited when we found out that we placed first.”
Put on by the Associated Student Body, the event included 28 performances from students of all grades.
Along with the first-place tap dance routine, Steppin’ With Attitude, seniors Briauna Fletcher, Sabrina Yates, Irene Hilton, Jasmine Johnson, Ca’Che Jones, Leah Nunn and Brittany Ray, and juniors Sasha Anderson, Taylor Glover, Nia Taylor from the Black Scholars Union placed second.
The Mira Costa Chinatown Chamber Quartet came in third place for its performance of “Toxic.” The quartet consisted of Carina Chong, Erick Chong, Kirk La and Kohnosuke Shoda.
“There was a wide variety of different acts,” senior Matt Thornton said. “Singers, musicians, dancers and other performances that required amazing strength came together to prove that this school is filled with very talented students. I hope that the following years have the chance to see great shows like the one I had the opportunity to attend.”
The Shhh! trio has been dancing together since the group members were three years old. This is their second time placing first in a school event this year, after winning the annual Lip Sync with their “Single Ladies” dance.
The trio’s experienced dance teacher, Anna Rubin, choreographed their Talent Show number for them, and they have performed this dance many times before in competitions. Although the girls’ dance was choreographed for a larger group of dancers the Shhh! girls were able to pull off a spot-on performance.
“Winning the Lip Sync was quite an honor,” Kay said. “We were so stoked when we found out we won the talent show also. I never would have thought that we would get a chance to win both school competitions, especially in the same year. We’ll just have to top it off next year.”
The show’s entertainment was not all just in the acts, but the MC’s of the night added humor while introducing each performance. Senior class vice-president Michael Diaz, secretary/treasurer Kelly Nutten and Stampede coordinator Alec Weaver added their own flare to the the evening’s festivities with unique skits to introduce each group of performers.
“The show required a lot of preparation, but in the end it was all worth the effort,” Nutten said. “I was hesitant at first to host the show but decided to be an MC two days before, and I’m so glad I did. It was a blast! Overall the 2012 Talent Show was a really great success.”
Tickets for the talent show were sold for $5 at the door and $3 dollars on pre-sale. The money made from the show will fund other ASB events throughout the year. The performances are not only gauged by the students’ response, but are also judged by a panel of Mira Costa teachers and staff.
No longer a mere popularity contest among the students, performers had to win over the unbiased staff members.
The judging panel included science lab assistant Karen Cunningham, English teacher Stephanie Owen, biology teacher Trevor Oystrick and AP art history teacher Valerie Park.
“Earlier in the year I was privileged enough to have judged the Lip Sync competition for Costa, which was a great experience,” Park said.
With such an array of remarkable performances and talents, there is no doubt that this year’s competition proved to be a challenge to choose a winner.
Each of the acts that surfaced at the Talent Show provided its own distinctiveness, demonstrating that Costa has talent.
“For me, the Talent Show was harder to judge this year because there was such a wide variety of acts that were amazing in their own way,” Park said. “It was really hard to compare them all to each other. I would totally do it again; it was so great to be a part of something like this.”
The next Mira Costa Talent Show will be held next year in the spring of 2013.
“There was so much talent this year, everyone was amazing,” Sevy said. “I’m so proud and happy about placing first. Just being in the Talent Show was a fun experience and having our teachers and all of our friends come and support us during our performance was exciting as well.”
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