BAS talent show draws large crowd

With clapping and catcalls, praise and performances of their own, the standing-room-only… With clapping and catcalls, praise and performances of their own, the standing-room-only crowd cheered on the performers who showcased their abilities as part of Black Action Society’s annual talent show. Nine student acts, ranging from singers to dancers to poets, took the stage Tuesday night in front of nearly 350 audience members.

The 90-minute talent showcase, which was free to all, was the culmination of nearly 1 1/2 months of rigorous preparation by both performers and event planners. After auditions in late October, performers had only a few weeks in which to polish their acts.

Talent show coordinator Konita Jude and four other BAS members selected the final nine acts from the 15 auditioned. Jude said the acts were selected on a number of criteria including quality of voice, stage presence and originality. She added groups were asked to keep instances of profanity to a minimum.

“There will be cursing, but we really tended to limit it,” she said. “We had a limit of cursing and offensive words and derogatory comments toward other groups and we said, ‘don’t do it.'”

Hosted by Penny Semaia and Charis Jones, the talent show was part of BAS’s traditional Black Month. The event was formerly Black Week, but because of problems in reserving rooms for events, the group was forced to spread out their activities in November. This year’s Black Month theme involves black creative expression.

BAS Programming Chairperson Lauren Williams said the talent show was a “celebration of being black in Pittsburgh and America.”

“We decided to have programs that let people express themselves in many types of ways,” she said.

Williams noted how the talent show was one of few places where students could display their talent.

“As far as marketing yourself, this is the only time you can do something like that,” she said. “This is a way [students] can express themselves through writing and dancing.”

While the evening flowed smoothly, there were a few unscripted moments in which the audience was taken aback.

As God’s Chosen, a gospel choir, was beginning a hymn, a few rowdy audience members shouted catcalls, causing the group to stop.

“We’re just trying to sing here,” one member said.

After a few moments, the group regained its composure and delivered their performance.

Later in the evening, after the lyrical styling of Pitt-bullies, an unknown person in the back of the audience took the microphone and delivered an impromptu, profanity-laden freestyle.

“That wasn’t part of the act but give them a round of applause anyway,” Semaia said to the confused crowd.

One of the other acts was a dance routine by the group Raw Talent. Donning airbrushed T-shirts with the group’s name on the front and the dancer’s names on the back, Raw Talent received a standing ovation from the audience.

After all of the acts had taken the stage and the boisterous crowd regained its composure, judges Adolph Sims, Vice Provost for Undergraduate Studies and Dean of Students Jack Daniel, and associate professor of Africana studies Vernell Lillie tallied their votes and the winners were announced.

Dance group Raw Talent took first place, earning a $100 gift certificate to the Campus Bookstore and free admission to the upcoming BAS fashion show for its efforts.

Second place went to Nathan James who delivered an original poem that he wrote, while the singing group 2 Deep, featuring dancer Dakiya Lambert, took home third prize. The performers won $50 and $25 gift certificates respectively to the Campus Bookstore and tickets to BAS’s Spoken Word contest.

Williams said the prizes were funded by the BAS gift account. She added that gift certificates to the Campus Bookstore were awarded instead of money because BAS wished to aid students in buying materials for class.

“We want to benefit our students,” she said. “So that’s why we wanted to give them something academically by providing them money to go get books, which we all know cost a lot.”