On Friday, Jan. 30, Sonoma State let students showcase their array of talent with the opportunity to perform on the Student Center Ballroom stage in “Seawolves Got Talent,” much to the delight of peers alike.
Starting at 7:30 p.m., “Seawolves Got Talent” took reign of the Student Center Ballrooms as an awe-filled, free event aiming to “promote spirit, community, and tradition,” says Mo Phillips, one of the coordinators of the event. Fortunately, this night not only helped students show their talent, but helped three students go home with some extra cash. While the first prize winner won $250, second place won $150 and third place received $50. The event had four student female judges.
While many students were openly excited to be in attendance for the performances, some remained clueless of what they should expect, while others did not. Some had seen the show years prior, and had enjoyed it enough to want to come back and take in more. John, a second- year Political Science major at Sonoma State, said that, “(Last year) was a ton of fun and it’s a good event that brings out a lot of people. It’s just something cool to do on a Friday night.”
As John was one of the few that knew exactly what to look forward to, another student that had a sense for what to expect was Allison Zanatta. In working alongside ASP (Associated Student Productions) Zanatta had partnered up with Student Involvement, “To plan this event for students and just to get everybody out here and to join as one,” she said.
Certainly, as Zanatta honestly outlines the main goal of the event, it was not simply a showcase for judging people by their talent, but a space to allow students to come together as one by sharing time and one another’s talents.
The first contestant was Gray Todd, playing the harmonica hung around their neck and also playing the keyboard at the same time. Singing and performing a song called the “piano man” while making the performance a bit theatrical and humorous, Todd had the crowd readily engaged. The second contestant was Anthony Flores, performing an abundance of impersonations, such as characters from Mickey Mouse Club House, Lion King, Transformers, IT, The Joker, Lilo and Stitch and many more.
A senior at SSU also joined the talented students, bringing attention to his spin on music by singing two songs; one of them being his own. While the student named the song “Sing in Harmony,” he dedicated the song to the act of singing with a girl in harmony, wondering if that was all they ever needed. Erika González was the fourth contestant, performing vivid dance moves for the audience. While the Showhost had mentioned that Gonzalez dances in pure adrenaline and has been dancing for 11 years, she showed her talent conceivably well, coming off the stage out of breath in letting the audience know that she gave it her all.
Varun Thakur is an international student from India who had amazing energy, dancing around the entire room, simply making people openly joyous and full of electric cheers. His dance was a traditional dance from India, giving the crowd his take on what India has to offer. While Thakur’s performance was much to the crowd’s delight, the audience seemed to particularly enjoy his overflow of enthusiasm imbedded throughout.
Last to perform, Mathew Sarenana played “Dream On” by Aerosmith on his electric guitar, making the crowd pull out its phones and start waving hands across the air. Sarenana made it evident that he came from a musical background with respect to his clear-cut sense for technique, talent, and passion while performing.
Overall, the winners of the night were Gonzalez, winning $50, Todd, winning $150, and Thakur, coming in first place and winning $250.
Thakur, who came to SSU in the Fall of 2019, said, “It’s amazing out here. It’s a little different experience being in Western culture, and I’m from the Eastern side, so it took me a lot of time to adapt, but now I feel like I’m a part of this world too.” Nevertheless, Thakur also wanted to show SSU his cultural roots and what makes him different from others, saying,“For me, this show was more about giving my culture to the wider audience rather than, you know, just winning the show. So, it was much more about winning the crowd, than winning the show.”
Seawolves Got Talent is an event that is organized to entertain, meet, and gather students to continue growing the landscape of student involvement at SSU. For students who are looking to enjoy the performances of their talented peers and have a fun night with friends in the process, Seawolves Got Talent is the place to be.