Nov. 9, in the Miller Theater of the Bicknell Family Center for the Arts, students took the stage to show off 11 performances during the Gorilla Talent Show, hosted by the Gorilla Activities Board. The night included a wide range of acts, from dancing to singing and instrumental performances, in front of peers and community members.
Elise Covell, a sophomore majoring in finance and business management, said it was better than expected.
“Everyone had such different talents; it was really cool.” Covell said. “It went better than I was expecting, so that was great.”
Some highlights included Oscar Crespo with a blues improvisation on the piano, Mellisa Sollner playing her electric guitar to “Viva La Vida” by Coldplay, and Mark Ziegler singing “My Way” by Frank Sinatra.
The show ended with Braden Seiwert’s rendition of “Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You” by Frankie Valli, which included audience participation in rhythmic clapping, earning him first place. Eva Dotson placed second for her dance solo to “Highs and lows” by Chance Peña, and Sollner placed third for her guitar playing.
Michael Woodrum, the assistant director of campus visits, served on the panel as one of the judges for the event. He said that the performances were impressive for both the judges and the audience.
“I thought it was amazing,” Woodrum said. “It was so much fun to see students put their talents on display, and the audience was very encouraging to each performer.”
Woodrum said that the judging process was not easy because of the variety of tasks at hand.
“It was tough in some ways, because it can be hard to compare a singing act, a dance act, and playing an instrument,” Woodrum said. “However, it was very helpful to hear the audience reactions, and that helped to judge how well the act connected with the audience.”
Woodrum said that each had its own strength, making it hard to choose a favorite.
“This may seem like a cop-out, but they all did great in their own way,” Woodrum said. “I really appreciated each performer putting themselves out there and sharing their talents with the audience.”
Woodrum said that the experience reminded him of the campus community’s value.
“Sometimes it’s nice to take the time to gather and just enjoy an evening of your fellow students and campus members sharing some time together around a positive activity like this,” Woodrum said. “I hope the performers got encouragement from the audience to continue to share their talents, and I hope the audience was encouraged to share theirs when they get an opportunity.”
Bella Nadeau, a sophomore majoring in elementary education who helped organize the event with GAB, said that the group spent two months planning the show.
“We had to first recruit people to audition and then find teachers and professors who would be willing to judge,” Nadeau said. “It also took time for us to plan a script as well as the score sheet for judges.”
Nadeau said that she was very pleased with the performances and the audience’s spirit throughout the night.
“The goal of the talent show was to bring students together to appreciate one another’s talent, creativity and hard work while promoting a positive and inclusive environment,” Nadeau said.
While there are no more talent shows anticipated for the rest of the year, Nadeau added that GAB hopes to make this event an annual tradition.
“Yes, they have held talent shows before, and we wanted to bring it back,” Nadeau said. “We hope to continue doing this every year, and now that students know what to expect, our hope is that more students will want to either perform or come watch the talent that we have here at Pitt State.”
Woodrum said he shares that same hope.
“Absolutely,” Woodrum said. “I hope this is the start of a series of talent shows, maybe once a semester or more. Huge kudos to all of the performers, I enjoyed every one of them, and it was such a difficult job to judge, but that’s what makes it so great.”