Students show their skills at Homecoming Talent Show

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Patrick Hirsch

The SU ballroom was packed Wednesday night for the annual homecoming talent show. Students from all organizations came to support their favorite performer as they competed for the chance to take home the grand prize of $100 on their All Card.

The show included 11 acts, including singers, musicians, two students who performed spoken word and one who did a praise dance, a type of dance that is used as an expression of worship.

The audience was welcomed by the host of the show, Danielle Polion, who started out by welcoming everyone and then got the crowd going by having a yelling contest between each side of the room.

Polion, sophomore electronic media broadcasting major, said the one house rule of the night was “when you see something you love, stand up, clap and show some love,” and the crowd did not disappoint.

Taytum Akers, senior criminal justice major representing Phi Sigma Sigma, started the show with an acoustic version of “Creep” by Radiohead. Akers said it was nerve racking, but the feeling of getting up on that stage was different. She said the last time she performed like that was three years ago in high school theater. 

As the night went on, the crowd stayed true to the house rules and continued to clap and make noises for their favorite performers. Even during intermissions, everyone was up, dancing and sharing laughs with one another. 

“I am a little biased because Makayla is in the same sorority as me, and she is just incredibly talented, so of course I am rooting for her, but outside of that I have to be biased toward Jontay. He’s phenomenal and I work with him, and he’s an RA in my building. His performance was beautiful,” first time talent show attendee, Casey Williams said.

At the end of the show, Polion announced the winners. Third place was a singing performance by Hannah Hartman, Mitchell Douglas and Jackson Sora, representing Kappa Delta and Alpha Tau Omega. Second place was a singing performance by Jontay Brown, representing Phi Beta Sigma. The grand prize winner was a singing performance by Tayshawn Elliott, representing Black Student Union and Anointed Voices of Gospel Choir.

“I feel overwhelmed, this is my second time doing [the homecoming talent show] and I’ve done other talent shows before. The closest I’ve ever come to winning is second place, but it was kind of surreal hearing my name for first place, but I was excited,” Elliot said. 

Brown encourages anyone that wants to perform to “just do it.”

“The experience is something that you would never get back and you don’t ever want to go through life wondering what if. If you’re ever wondering what if then just do something. No regrets,” Brown said.

For anyone who is interested in joining the homecoming committee, Mandy Woll, director of the homecoming committee, said the application for all homecoming committees can be found on MyEngagement.

“We have three committees, so we see which one you’d fit into best. If you like planning committees and planning events, if not it’s fine. If you have a good idea you can share that’s good too. Just someone with a creative mind and an open mindset,” Woll said.

Homecoming activities continue Thursday with the first men’s basketball game at 7 p.m., where announcements for homecoming king and queen will take place. Friday features a penny war at 10 a.m., and on Saturday the homecoming men’s basketball game is at 7 p.m.