romeroj3@lopers.unk.edu
Loper Programming Activities Committee hosted their annual talent show. The FAME talent show is an opportunity for students to showcase their talents in front of their peers and a panel of judges, with the opportunity to win cash prizes.
The event was hosted live with limited audience space; it was also live-streamed on LPAC’s social media outlets.
This year’s show was jam-packed with performances ranging from swing dancing to acapella singing. Over 18 acts were performed before the judge’s panel.
Contestants competed in two categories for group acts and individual acts. Six acts performed in the group category and 12 individuals competed against each other in the individual category.
As co-presidents of LPAC, Olivia Koenig and Bailey Gittler hosted the event. Tim Danube, assistant director of the Student Union and student engagement coordinated with LPAC in order to organize the event.
“I couldn’t be prouder of all the students; you know they accepted different roles,” Danube said. “They follow through with their role, they do it with a great attitude and so I’m just really thankful to be able to work with a great group.”
The judge’s panel was composed of two UNK faculty members, Krista Fritson and Samuel Doubet, and UNK student body president Max Beal.
The contestants were judged on their showmanship, staging, crowd response and talent. The group category offered a grand prize of $300, followed up by a $200 price for second place and a $100 price for third place. The individual category had a grand prize of $200, a second-place cash prize of $150 and a third-place cash prize of $100.
The night kicked off with two individual performances. Micah Sessions performed a song and Luke Rollie Rogers played one of his original songs on the guitar. Students performed a swing dance routine for the judges following this.
Blake Welch was the next to perform, playing the keys to “Piano Man” by Billy Joel while playing the harmonica. Welch received first place in the individual category.
Emily Saadi and Laura Konz performed the Glee version of Lady Gaga’s pop single “Poker Face.”
“We picked to do the Glee version because we felt like it showcased our voices better,” Saadi said.
“The Glee version had some harmonies built-in and that was something we wanted to pull out,” Konz said.
Saadi and Konz received the third-place prize for their performance.
Noah Wynn and Chloe Craig followed the group performances with their own individual performances. Wynn’s talent included balancing large objects on his chin while Craig performed a song.
Keyaki, a student-led dance group, performed a dance routine that they had previously showcased at the annual UNK Japanese Festival.
“We had a lot of fun to practice the song and performing it before [at the Japanese Festival], so we chose it again,” said Chinatsu Kunisada, a member of Keyaki.
The group won first place for their performance at the end of the night.
The group performance was followed by more individual performances, most notably Jashna Samuel’s performance, which earned her the third-place spot in the individual category. Samuel wore traditional Indian apparel since the song she performed was in Telugu, one of the many languages spoken in India.
“I chose a Telugu song,” Samuel said. “Telugu is one of the many languages spoken in India, and this song is my favorite. It just made sense to wear an Indian attire because I’m singing Indian songs.”
Three more groups and four more individuals showcased their talent.
In the end, Konz and Saadi received third place for the group category, Duo “Pitch Perfect (ish)” took second place and the grand prize went to Keyaki. In the individual category, Samuel placed third overall, Cassie Brown placed in second after her performance of “Crazy on You” by Heart and the grand prize was awarded to Welch after his “Piano Man” performance. In total, the LPAC paid out $1000 in prizes to UNK students from all walks of life.
