Students performed in the first annual Churchill’s Got Talent on Thursday Jan. 28, proving that their talents extend beyond the academic environment.
After hours of hard work and weeks of preparation, the 17 acts featured in the show fought for the winning title and an encore performance at the Mr. Churchill competition to be held Mar. 18. Ultimately, the band J.A.W.A.N.J.A. won, performing Carlos Santana’s “Smooth” and Stevie Wonder’s “Sir Duke.”
“It was extremely difficult to choose the winners because it is hard to compare the talents when they are so varied,” SGA sponsor Justin Ostry said. “How do you compare someone who does Chinese martial arts with a big band?”
According to Ostry, the SGA decided to plan the event in order to do something more inclusive of the entire school, unlike the annual Mr. Churchill, which is only open to junior and senior boys. Over 50 students tried out for the show, and teachers Jennifer Lubenetski, Brendan Roddy, Jeff Savett and Jennifer Poness judged the auditions and selected the top 17 contestants.
The Leadership class then spent about two to three months planning the event in order to make it a success. The week leading up to the show, the SGA and the contestants stayed after school every day to rehearse and set up the show.
Hosted by SGA president Meenu Singh and vice president Jamie Oppenheimer, the show featured a wide variety of acts ranging from Wu Shu swordplay to break dancing. Teachers Carlos Barillo, Christen Pena-Ariet and Ostry judged contestants on quality of act, enthusiasm, creativity and overall performance.
“The quality I thought was amazing,” Ostry said. “Every act was memorable and brought its own little thing.”
The show was a great success, raising over $4,000 for the Save the Children Foundation, a charity dedicated to helping needy children all over the world, including those devastated by the recent Haitian earthquake.
“We had approximately 800 people in the audience,” Ostry said. “We were actually only expecting 300 to 400 people, so we were amazed at the turnout and I think the students, teachers and administration all enjoyed the show.”
