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Performers showcase talents during yearly event
Many of them sang. Others played musical instruments. A few more danced or simply hammed it up on stage.
On Friday, individuals as well as small groups of performers took the stage at Mountain Home High School to showcase their abilities during a community talent show.
This year's lineup included 12 acts with more than two dozen performers from across the community. All of them were setting their sights on earning top honors and a portion of the $175 cash prize.
"It was so great to see a variety of talents as well as age groups. It was very entertaining and inspiring," said Brenda Raub, one of this year's judges.
"I love judging the talent show. Our school and community is filled with so much creativity, and I'm glad these talented people are brave enough to showcase their work on stage," added Taunya Page, who runs the high school's theatrics department. "It was difficult to judge the variety of acts and age groups against each other, but I think it was a good experience for everyone overall."
Strumming on her guitar, Janelle Worrick opened the evening's entertainment with an acoustic version of Imagine Dragons' chart-topping hit, "Radioactive." Worrick, who goes by the stage name Janelle Christine, started singing when she was eight years old with her mom serving as her vocal coach during those early years.
A saxophone player with the high school band, Worrick continues to explore the world of music by writing her own songs. In fact, she recently released a CD containing three of her original songs.
Worrick, who finished third during this year's talent show, has no worries being on stage.
"That's my home. That's where I'm most human and connected with myself," she said. "I know myself the best when I'm on stage."
The talent showcase highlighted the singing abilities of other students. Lytiasia Sirmans sang John Legend's "All of Me" while Leslie Gomez kicked up the Latino beat as she performed Selena's "Como La Flor." Meanwhile, Isaac Gunderson sang a song he wrote titled "Sentiment."
The evening's entertainment continued as Haydon Draper teamed up with Aubree, Taylor and Lexi Ogaard to perform various dances through time. They started with the zombie dance from the Michael Jackson video presentation of "Thriller" before they went back to the sock hop era of the 1950s and then showcased their hip hop moves.
The talent show's largest performance included members from the Mountain Home Music School's string ensemble, who performed Johann Pachelbel's "Canon In D." While a fairly easy piece to perform, the group selected the composition because it's one everyone knows and loves, said Alissa Wakefield, who runs the local music store.
The string group, who finished second overall during Friday's talent show, started with just seven musicians and is setting its sights on growing into a full orchestra. In fact, their youngest student joined the string group just a couple of months ago.
While pleased that her group finished in the top three, Wakefield was secretly rooting for some of the other acts since they are also members of the local music school.
Among those performers were Russel and Emma Frampton, who performed the Star Wars theme on violin and keyboard. They started practicing on their own about three months ago before they spent the past month refining their act.
Both children admitted they are devoted "Star Wars maniacs," which is why they specifically selected that number for their act.
"Star Wars is my favorite thing of all time," Emma Frampton said.
Staying true to the universe of a galaxy far, far away, they completed their act with a light saber battle. Their father jokingly considered the duel, "a battle over creative differences."
While each group earned their fair share of applause that evening, it was Katie Young and Veronica Cooke that brought down the house with their award-winning act. They showcased their acting talents as they brought to life a modern version of the classic Cinderella fairy tale.
It was a performance both teens admitted was one that almost didn't happen. Originally looking at performing excerpts from Peter Pan, they changed their plans just a week before the show.
That was just the first in a series of challenges they had to overcome. In addition to having to memorize their script, both of them had to take on the personas of several characters, which is no small feat, according to Cooke.
To make things believable, each character needed their own unique voice, accent and mannerisms, whether it was the snobbish aristocrats, the chain-smoking fairy godmother or the nerdy prince.
Their greatest challenge was making the characters interesting.
"You have to put a little something into each character," Cooke said. "If a character isn't interesting, you can lose the audience and you can't get them back."
With the show less than 24 hours away, both students admitted they were still nowhere close to bringing the world of Cinderella to life.
"We were unsure if we could do it," Young said. "We felt so lost."
Undeterred, they put all of their focus into the play, and it paid off, Cooke said.
Friday's show marked the third straight year that Cooke had placed in the top three during the talent show competition. In 2013, the high school senior finished third when she sang a duet with fellow classmate Corbett Stempley.
Both teens already had plans on what they planned to do with their shares of the top prize.
"We're going to Disneyland," Cooke joked.