Homecoming talent show spotlights student musicians, crowns Adele-esque winner

A sophomore marketing major’s rendition of “Crazy For You” by Adele came in first place at last Wednesday’s Homecoming talent show. Julie Overvold received the judge’s choice and took home $100.

“I feel very good after performing,” Overvold said. “The night turned out well and I had a blast with a lot of really nice people.”

Matt LaMothe | gcsunade.com

Tori Quante, director of arts and culture for Campus Activities Board, was in charge of the talent show. Quante and her trusty team took care of the logistics for the event.

“I was hoping for things to run smoothly, but in the back of my head I kind of thought that something was going to go wrong,” Quante said. “But it was such a nice surprise when hardly anything did.”

Roughly 125 people were in the audience for the talent show. Enjoyment and anticipation filled the atmosphere throughout the entire talent show.

“During the talent show, I was working the sound board and making sure that all went smoothly,” Quante said. “I wasn’t familiar with some of the equipment on stage, so it was nice having people there that knew how to work the things that I didn’t.”

The talent show consisted of seven acts ranging from singing to the finale, which featured The Sassy Cats performing to wrap up the event.

Leading off the talent show, Devin McGinty, a senior biology major,  sang and played the guitar.

Following him, Haley Steele, junior marketing major, sang “Baggage Claim” by Miranda Lambert. Steele received the people’s choice award and took home the second place prize of $50.

“I was so excited to perform and be a part of a school event. I’ve been singing since I was young, so it was nice doing what I love,” Steele said. “I’m using the money toward a summer-long training program that I’m going to be a part of called Beach Project with Campus Outreach.”

Overvold followed with her first place performance. As she finished, the audience broke into loud applause.

“My subconscious gets a lot more nervous than my conscious does, but I perform quite often, so I’m relatively used to it,” Overvold said. “I just get a little jittery at times.”

Next in line was Julie Coppedge, a freshman business major, singing solo, followed by freshman pre-childhood education major Colleen McGlade playing the violin in a

down-South, hoedown style.

Whether waiting to perform or awaiting the judge’s results, the contestants played games and music to keep tension to a minimum.

“The atmosphere backstage was awesome,” Overvold said. “Everyone was just hanging out, so laid back, and very congratulatory of everyone else. ”

The last two acts were the bands This Town Red and Holiday Way. Madii Davis, freshman math major and Duztin Hunter, a student at Georgia Perimeter College, created This Town Red.

Holiday Way included four guys with a love for rock: Jason English, Ryan Walden, D’arius McGahee, freshman music major, and Alex Buzzell.

Jamie Colcord, junior exercise science major, said her main reason for being in the audience was to support her roommate, Overvold.

“Julie (Overvold) did an amazing job and I’m so proud of her,” Colcord said. “Everyone seemed so excited about the whole event. The audience had their favorites, but it completely changed after each student performed.”

This is the first talent show CAB has hosted in a number of years, but many believe they did a great job.

“I really believe after the success we had this year, the talent show will become a yearly event,” Quante said. “With getting this first one out of the way, I feel that we will be able to improve the show year in and year out.”

Upcoming CAB events include a comedy show, a movie event at the Wellness and Recreation Center called a “Dive In Movie” and Spring Fling.

Posted by Matt LaMothe on Feb 16 2012. Filed under Features, Lead stories. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.