Judith La-Deana Olivia Ingram sings at the WCC’s Got Talent show. Lily Meritt | Washtenaw Voice
By Kevin Gerych
Staff Writer
The Towsley Auditorium buzzed with the sights and sounds of music, dance and even magic on Thursday night at this year’s “WCC’s Got Talent” show.
The contestants were judged by a panel consisting of WCC alumna Christina Wallag, Matt Lucas, director of WCC sports, and Ali Kurmasha, who is a current WCC student studying chemistry. The first place prize—$150 in campus bookstore credit and the title of honor—went to Tyler Scott for his entertaining and at times, unnerving Russian roulette-like magic act, which involved brown paper bags and a metal spike.
One contestant, Andy Xiao, performed a cover of “As Long as You Love Me” by Justin Bieber.
“Justin Bieber is one of my favorite artists, he just has a very good voice and it’s my type of music,” said Xiao, a nursing student with intentions to transfer to the University of Michigan in the summer.
Xiao said his performance was not without a good dose of first-time butterflies.
“I was very nervous, shaky and excited all around,” said Xiao. “It was my first time ever performing in front of a crowd.”
The performers all came from various walks of life and put on a wide variety of acts. From the smooth and fluid dance routines put on by Breonna Watts, the energetic soul demonstrated by Tailen Toliver and even a rendition of the classic Disney show-tune “Tale as Old as Time” from Beauty and the Beast by Emily Giedzinski, the show had something to offer for everyone.
While the Towsley Auditorium was nowhere near maximum capacity, the audience gave a warm and particularly enthusiastic reception to every single performer.
“I had seen an email about it and thought it would be really cool to come and check everyone out,” said Basheer Samara, an audience member and liberal arts major. “I really enjoyed the Beauty and the Beast song.”
The event was organized by the Office of Student Activities.
