SAC showcases student talent

On Friday, April 22, Hope College’s Student Activities Committee (SAC) hosted one of its most popular events of the year: The Really Big Talent Show. Every year, students audition to showcase their talents to the entire campus community.

SAC kept the same Masters of Ceremony, but compared to last year, there was a greater variety in the acts. Most of the acts were art and music related, but the varying styles of both music and presentation kept audience members engaged. Additionally, the setup of the show split up the acts so that the musical groups would be separated by different types of performances.

Like last year, the comedy duo Dakaboom played the part of host for the evening. The two originally hail from New York City and Los Angeles, but these long time best friends compose Dakaboom, a musical-comedy hybrid commonly described as a “postmodern vaudeville.” While the participants of various acts prepared the stage for their respective performances, Dakaboom kept audiences engaged with their own original acts, as well as providing commentary on the acts that had already performed. Their original works have biting sarcasm that made the time between acts fly by.

The first band that performed was The Band Formerly Known as Sons of Five who had a quite unique interpretation of the classic song “Love Shack.” Their quirky, off-kilter presentation did exactly what their band is known to do: make audience members laugh while putting on a show, which earned the band third place.

After The Band Formerly Known as Sons of Five, Hope’s resident Hawaiian Camelia Witt did a presentation of hula dancing. She took hula lessons and taught the dance back home, and she wanted to share her talents with the campus. It provided a nice change of pace with its calm music and simplicity.

Following Witt, the Too XC Boys, consisting of cross country runners Matt Rolain and Tim Simon, came on stage in short shorts and tie-dye tank tops, which made quite the impression. They sang an original song that kept spectators laughing, and the way they played off of each other was unique and entertaining.

As a complete change of pace, Dustin and the Crew took over with a parkour act. They jumped off of walls, a tire and even each other, until they called three audience members to the stage and jumped over them. Those watching were definitely on the edge of their seats.

As a way to calm down, the singing/guitar-playing duo known as Ivan and Hania sang a cover of “Dream a Little Dream of Me” with Hania on vocals and Ivan playing the guitar. Audience members were obviously pleased with the talent, and the duo took second over all.

Following Ivan and Hania, Five Dollar Fine took over, performing an original song, and one could tell that they were a campus favorite, despite the fact that they were hard to hear.

To close the show, freshman Alex Pasker come onto the stage with a tap dancing routine full of talent and sass. It was no surprise when Pasker took first place in the show. The audience was very vocal the entire time he was on stage, and the cheering continued even after his routine was finished.

The events aren’t over yet. SAC will conclude their season with another campus favorite event: Spring Fling on Friday, April 29, starting at 3 p.m. in the Pine Grove.