On  Mar. 15 at seven in the evening, the 2019 Talent Show took place in the Performing Arts Center at TOHS.

19 students exhibited their many musical skills in front of hundreds of people. The grade levels ranged from freshmen to seniors.

The show was split into two acts, the first part with nine performers, and the second with the last ten. The performances included singing, dancing and playing instruments.

The annual talent show is a good way to raise money for ASB to fund student ran activities, like rallies and homecoming, as well as show their peers skills that they don’t often share with others.
Nick Ditto was a participant in the talent show, performing “I Know a Little” by Lynyrd Skynyrd on the guitar. Ditto has played guitar for six years, and currently plays in a local band named The Reserve, performing often at venues all around Ventura County.

But even for playing in a band regularly, often in front of strangers, being in a talent show isn’t any easier.

“I never do as well as I really hoped I would,” said Ditto, “It was a little more nerve-wracking because I’m playing in front of all my friends that I see everyday, but it wasn’t too bad.”

Matthew Rodriguez was another participant in this year’s talent show, playing “Through the Valley” by Shawn James on the guitar. He has been playing for four years, and performing for less than two. Matthew was looking to get on stage practice to keep his skills sharp.

“I wanted to perform for something, because I hadn’t in a while,” said Rodriguez.

One more student participating in the show was Parker Snyder, playing piano and singing the song “I’m Gonna Find Another You” by John Mayer. He decided to perform in the talent show, despite being sick during the show.

“I was nervous about it because I was really sick,” said Snyder, “I played it a lot before so I wasn’t too nervous about playing it, but the singing part I was nervous about because I was still coughing.”

ASB is behind everything about the talent show, from admitting participants to operating the stage during the show.

The two people in charge of this year’s talent show are Lauren Melvin and Kiara Benioff. Both have been active for two years in ASB.

Both Lauren and Kiara planned last year’s talent show with success, and this one was no different.

“This year went really well because it was a diverse group of people and a lot of performers who wouldn’t normally put themselves out there,” said Melvin, “It’s usually only ASB kids that do it.”

Even though planning the show was fairly straightforward, there were many different obstacles that ASB had to work around to get things to run smoothly.

“When it came to putting on the show, it was a little less organized,” said Melvin, “we had only done it one year before.”

Even with Lauren and Kiara in charge of planning and running the talent show, there was still a group effort in making the talent show great.

“It was definitely really stressful,” said Benioff, “[Lauren and I] had a lot of help from other ASB kids.”

Talent shows are a great way to raise money for ASB to keep rallies happening, fund annual homecoming games and are always a fun opportunity to let fellow students show to others the skills they have practiced for years.