Magicians, Singers, Baton Twirlers and More at UPC’s Second Annual Frostburg’s Got Talent

Frostburg State’s University Programming Council held its second annual Frostburg’s Got Talent on Tuesday, March 31 at 7 p.m. The top ten acts were picked and consisted of students with a wide range of talents from stepping to magic.

The ten students put their talents on display in front of the judge panel, which consisted of Kathi Perkins, Alpha Sigma Tau and Student Government Association advisor; Dr. Jeffrey Graham, Assistant Vice President of Student Affairs; Hassan Bangurah, Phi Beta Sigma’s president; and Jhaneal Stoute, last year’s winner. All of the contestants fought for the judges’ favor in order to win first prize, which was 25 free grande Starbucks beverages, 10 free value meals from Moe’s, and performance space at Springfest. Second and third place would receive spots for Tunes@Nite.

The night began with a magic performance by senior and business administration major, Robert Newton. Newton’s performance involved a lot of audience participation, and he even brought up Dr. Graham. Perkins said she was “blown away,” and Graham said the performance left him “wanting more.”

The next performance was by singer Anthony Andrews with his creative take on The Neighborhood’s “Sweater Weather.” Bangurah made sure to point out that Andrews definitely made the song his own.

Next up was a spoken word performance by House. This performance left the crowd speechless and Perkins said it was a “really powerful performance.”

Dancers RJ and Ryan followed this performance with a fun-filled dance to “Throw Sum Mo” by Rae Sremmurd and “Mind Right” by Tk N Cash. Bangurah loved that the duo “utilized the entire stage.”

Baton Twirler, Alyssa Bockman, amazed the crowd with her talents. Perkins could “tell she worked hard” and Graham liked that her performance “brought a different skill” to the talent show.

Before the second half of the show continued, Stoute performed spoken word that dealt with homosexuality. The performance was extremely emotional and it reminded the crowd why Stoute had won the competition last year.

The second half of the performances kicked off with singer Danielle Talley, a social work major. Talley sang “I’m Goin’ Down” by Mary J. Blige and captivated the audience with her incredible voice.

Lauren Beazer followed with a beautiful dance performance to “What is Love” by V Bozeman. Perkins loved how emotional and graceful the performance was.

Next up was David Amaya who sang his own song “Summer Love” in both English and Spanish. Bangurah said, “honestly, I didn’t want the song to end,” and Stoute was reminded of “Sunday Morning” by Maroon 5.

Steppers Jasmine and Raven were up next and brought a new level of intensity to the show. One brother from the Kappas and one brother from the Sigmas came up on stage and joined the duo. The performance was thoroughly entertaining and engaging.

The last performance was beatboxing and rapper duo Quentin and Femi. With a mix of comedy and rapping, they kept the crowd so engaged that they did not even realized the performance had ended.

While the judges deliberated, the Frostburg Strutters Dance Team showed their variety of talent in what was probably the audience’s favorite performance of the night. Following their performance, the raffle prize was picked and the winner received complimentary tickets to UPC’s Murder Mystery Dinner.

Finally, the winners were announced. Third place went to Amaya, second place was House, and first place was Robert Newton.

Congratulations to all of the wonderful performers and the winners. For more information on UPC events coming up, visit their Facebook page.