Students Entertained at Frostburg’s Got Talent

On Tuesday, November 29th, the University Programming Council held the third annual Frostburg’s Got Talent. At 8:00 p. m. the doors opened for the free event and the Alice R Manicur Assembly Hall (ARMAH) filled with students.

Ten Frostburg students performed that evening and were judged by four judges–Sean Jones, Lawren Hill, Jennifer Schofield, and Maame Aygekum–as well as the audience. The charming MCs Miquella “Zee” Mollon and Alana James kept the performances flowing throughout the event.

Each performer had about four to five minutes to display their talents. Frostburg students played guitar, sang, danced, and rapped for their performances.

David Toro started off the night by plugging in his acoustic-electric guitar and singing an original called “Livin’ Down by the Sea.” He was accompanied by his seeing-eye dog which received a positive reaction from the audience, as did his remarkable singing.

Derek Lee followed with an original rap and with his words implored for everyone “love organically.” Aden Cornett recited a moving poem titled “Birthday” by award winning poet and activist Andrea Gibson. Sean Francis then began his act with an original rap which ended with a beat change and he broke out into a dance. After, a dancer that goes by the name of Cali danced to a mash up of popular songs such as “Panda” by Desiigner.

The halftime show consisted of an on campus acapella group, the Xenharmonics, performed Taylor Swift’s “Out of Style.” They produced beautiful melodies along with the MC Zee, who is also part of the group, beatboxing with the tune.

A member of the Xenharmonics, Gabby, Stayed on stage to perform a solo. She hit all the high notes in Ariana Grande’s “Jason’s Song” and wowed the crowd. Going by the name Poetic Dre, Andre started with his own freestyle with no beat and transitioned into an original rap accompanied with music. Nelson amazed everyone in the audience with his dance routine. He had a mash up of songs for his performance but at the end he surprised the crowd by playing the “Beans Green Potatoes Tomatoes” rap remix that has been taking social media by storm. His dance style consisted of popping, locking, and a lot of skill.

Next up was David Oddis who started off doing an original rap titled “Stand Together.” The music stopped to buffer, which he commented, “you all Frostburg’s Wi-Fi.” He improvised and started free styling and then transitioned into rapping the rest of his rap from memory without music. Zee walked back on stage and began beatboxing to give him a beat to rap to. They really showed creativity on the spot. The last act was a performance by the Belle Tones, an all-female acapella group. They performed a heartfelt rendition of Rachael Platten’s “Stand by You.”

The students in the audience were asked to vote via snapchat with a snapcode that was provided at the beginning of the event. While the votes were tallied and the judges deliberated the brothers of Phi Beta Sigma took the stage to display their talents. Sean, a sigma brother, recited a poem titled, “Hello Earth.” Another brother took the stage to play his violin to the tunes of popular songs such as “Black Beatles,” by Rae Sremmurd and “Black and Yellow” by Wiz Khalifa.
Aden Cornett received was awarded third place and David Toro received second place. The first place winner of the evening was Nelson with his incredible dancing. Nelson also won the opportunity to perform at spring fest next semester.