A traditional Indian dance group and a yo-yo artist were this year’s winners at the 31st annual Family Weekend Talent Show. The Stix: Rass Team won first place for the group competition and Miguel Correa won first place for individual.
Sowmya Rao, a Stix member, said the group didn’t even know that it had won first place until the crowd started leaving. One of the presenters had mistakenly called them the first runner-up instead of the winners.
The Stix is a student organization that started last November. It mixes traditional Indian dance with contemporary moves.
Miguel Correa won $400 for his yo-yo act. Correa has been yo-yoing for the past seven years. He even won the free hand style at the 2003 yo-yo nationals competition. “Yo-yoing was a great way to meet people. I didn’t have a coach. A group of us would meet and just teach each other,” Correa said. He also said most of his yo-yo skills were learned from reading books, watching movies and the Internet. The Talent Show was great practice for Correa, who has nationals in three weeks in California.
Kappa Alpha Theta’s ‘A Cappella Group’ won first runner-up for its singing of “Seasons of Love.” Voices of Inspiration, a Gospel choir group, received second runner-up.
For the individual acts, singing was a common theme. Jamie Bramble was first runner-up for his original song, “American Dreamer.” The crowd cheered when he not only sang but also played the guitar and the harmonica.
Hunter James took second runner up for his song “Idols of Exile.” He not only wrote the lyrics but also played the guitar.
The talent show had 15 acts, eight groups and seven individual. The talent show is one of the most popular events during the Family Weekend. Student Foundation, an organization on campus whose main goal is to strengthen student leadership and build a community on the SMU campus, runs it. The talent show is the biggest income of all Student Foundation events. It helps pay for other programs including Celebration of the Lights, Mane Event and Homecoming.
Hayley Collins, who is the vice chair for family weekend said the event is “a great way for students and their families to see how much talent is within the school.”
Unlike Sing Song, which is Greek only, anyone who has talent can show up and participate.
There is an audition process for acts to earn a spot in the show because the head officials only have two hours to put on a show. The judges also vote on the winner.
Student Foundations has severalcorporate sponsors. These sponsors are offered a spot as a judge during the competition. Other judges are professors and faculty members.
“The only rule we really have on judges is no students. It is so competitive that you want to be fair and not have any biased opinions,” Collins said.
The only big hiccup in the show was when Abigail Hoak, chair of Family Weekend, mistakenly told the audience, “Go Bearkats.” Luckily the football team did not follow her advice.
