For the second consecutive year at Lambert High School, DECA hosted their own school talent show fundraiser on October 26 and presented a variety of acts by artful students well-versed in music, dance and much more. The event featured a silent auction and several special education students as guest judges. The donations from the event went towards funding for the Special Olympics.
This year’s talent show spotlit an amplified-guitar player, several Indian classical and Bollywood-style dancers, a Lambert Drumline Battery percussionist, vocalist-actresses from the Acting Troupe Of Lambert (ATL), and Duck the therapy dog. Even though most performers had been honing their respective talents for years, many took intensive preparation in practicing their skills for the night.
“I’ve been preparing for this all month,” Freshman Fiza Gilani said before the show. “If we make someone cry [tears of joy], I will be very happy.”
Fiza sang a duet with her friend, Sam Plazas, who was on acoustic guitar. Fiza has been taking voice lessons since fifth-grade and is currently in the choir of ATL.
(Natalie Khegay)
“I feel like that [singing] really helped me get through quarantine and really hard times in my life,” Fiza said. “I am a little nervous to see what happens, but I haven’t been really much of a stage-fright person; I’ve been on stage all my life.”
While some students are far from their first time on stage, many take the talent show as an opportunity to perform for their first audience.
“I joined the talent show because I just wanted to put myself out there,” Freshman Uma Satpute said. “This is probably the first time that I’m performing something that I wrote in front of a lot of people, but I’m kind of excited for that, to be able to share that part of who I am.”
Uma Satpute played guitar and sang an original piece. Uma has been singing since she was young, and she began songwriting when she was in middle school as a way to express her thoughts and feelings. Now, she participates in Lambert’s musical theater course and aspires to reach stardom with her musical talents.
“I’ve been practicing all week to memorize the song; it’s around four minutes long,” Uma said. “Pursuing my dream keeps me going.”
At the end of the talent show, contemporary dancer Mia Davis was announced as the most-voted winner, and Akshitha Jagadeesan, a singer, was chosen by the judges for best act. Footage of the event is available here.
Check out a gallery of photos from the event!
