Put those cell phones on silent and grab your pamphlets, the show is about to begin! After three years in hiatus, the class of 2023 hosted the long-awaited and highly anticipated event of the year, Terrace Got Talent. Round one took place on April 14 and round two on April 27. Both rounds were hosted by school icon and everyone’s favorite voice on the intercom, senior Ryan Daly.
Round One: FIGHT!
Round one included eight performances, ranging from classic rock to early 2000s Justin Timberlake rediscovered. Talk about variety!
The night was kicked off with Ethan Baquiring performing the sultry pop song “She was Mine” by AJ Rafael. While it was his first time performing in front of the school, Baquiring is not new to the music scene. In fact, he’s acquired a following of nearly 6,000 monthly listeners on Spotify under the stage name “bxchii,” having released two albums and multiple singles, presenting himself as somewhat of a veteran performer on stage.
That performance was followed up by the band American Cheddar playing an indie rock song titled “Sweater Song” by Phoneboy, not the one by Weezer. The band featured Hans Bahm as lead vocalist and pianist, Davis Gonzaga with backup vocals, ukulele and guitar, Nathaniel Ballard switching between guitar and bass, and Josiah Lee on drums. It’s safe to say the song was done justice, with it feeling like a scene from a coming of age movie, driving with your friends on a warm summer night.
That relaxed feeling was quickly replaced when Wendall Barnes walked onto stage to perform next, quickly being replaced by a feeling of “YEOWWW,” with the crowd erupting into cheers as he sang “Nothin’ But a Good Time” by Poison. With his captivatingly energized stage presence and hairflips, the audience definitely had nothing but a good time.
“Wendall’s fun to watch in day-to-day life, and he did better than I thought he would,” senior Tomislav Pavlovic said. “I was impressed by him, he has stage charisma.”
The fourth performance of the night featured Dustin Ledbetter performing grunge classic “Lithium” by Nirvana, a small band you may have heard of. Ledbetter carried the performance with his powerful vocals and accompaniment of his guitar, seeming straight out of Guitar Hero.
“My favorite act was probably Dustin Ledbetter’s Nirvana performance. It was, like, so good it blew my mind,” sophomore Halleluia Alemayehu said. “I was really cheering him on over there.”
The audience was once again put through a sudden genre change with Jazzma Pennerman’s soulful a cappella rendition of “Someone Like You” by Adele. Pennerman captivated the audience with her soothing vocals, a tear or two may or may not have been wiped away using our pamphlets.
Remember how we mentioned Guitar Hero? Well imagine this next performance as that again, but this time it’s the final boss that takes every bit of your blood, sweat and tears to defeat. Juan Edgar Alvarez Hernandez is that final boss. With his electric guitar cover of “Tornado of Souls” by Megadeth, Alvarez Hernandez turned the theater upside down, inside out, sideways, just every direction in general. One could say a tornado hit it. While shredding on his guitar, he had a nonchalant look on his face the whole time, as if he were standing in line at the DMV.
“I was considering just skipping this to go to sleep. I don’t know, I still might do that actually,” Alvarez Hernandez said when learning he would advance to the next round.
Following Alvarez Hernandez’s performance came Quinn Sonne, performing “Rich Girl” by Down With Webster. Sonne came out dressed for the occasion, sporting white sunglasses hooked on the front pocket of his skinny jeans, paired with a string zip up hoodie and his windswept hair. He looked straight out of the early 2000s, and with his added choreography (jumping up and down) and Justin Timberlake-esque swagger, he had everyone in the audience clapping along in sync and screaming, and it didn’t stop even after he sauntered off stage.
“Wow,” host Daly said after his performance.
Now came the final performance, with Davis Gonzaga returning to the stage to perform a slow, intimate cover of “No One” by Alicia Keys. Yes, you read that right, Gonzaga performed for a second time that night, following his earlier performance with American Cheddar. With his Tumblr-esque, boy next door vocals and mint green guitar, he had an audience member calling out, “I love you!” clearly overtaken by the emotion he evoked within them.
The night was coming to an end, but before audience members could think to get up and leave, Daly came back out on stage and informed them that the judges’ decision of which five acts would advance to the next round would soon be announced. In the meantime, Daly kept the crowd entertained by introducing his own surprise talent, joking back and forth with the crowd and getting peer pressured into doing a split jump.
After the short intermission, all of the acts from the night returned to the stage arm in arm. With a drumroll from the audience, it was announced that Alvarez Hernandez, Barnes, American Cheddar, Pennerman and Gonzaga would be going onto round two.
The whole show left the audience in awe of all of the performers’ talent, excited for the upcoming finale.
“Eh,” Pavlovic said.
Round Two: LOVE!
Eventually, the night for round two finally arrived. This time, each act performed twice to fully show their talent.
The acts had some interesting highlights throughout the night, most completely unforeseen.
Barnes, right before he was set to start performing, decided that his act was the perfect opportunity for a promposal, dedicating the performance to a special someone in the audience!
“If this goes well, you owe me a date to prom,” Barnes said.
American Cheddar brought on the second surprise of the night by introducing a new member of the band, Dominic Olivar. Mind you, nobody, including backstage, knew he was in the performance until he walked out on stage.
The surprises didn’t end there, however, as lead vocalist Bahm’s microphone failed to work. Still, they played on and salvaged the performance.
The night also consisted of Pennerman and Gonzaga both doing slow, calming songs, with Alvarez Hernandez ending the night off with a cover of the exciting “Goofy Goober Rock” from the infamous “Spongebob Squarepants Movie,” even going as far as to recite an entire monologue from the movie to kick off his performance.
After the judges’ deliberation, in third place came Jazzma Pennerman, second place American Cheddar, and first place Juan Edgar Alvarez Hernandez
