South Coast Has Talent Results
Posted By admin on August 31, 2009
The Bandon Playhouse has concluded their first “South Coast Has Talent Show”, this last weekend with ten finalists competing for the top prize of $500 as well as three age categories with prizes of $100 each. The competition was intended to encourage South coast residents to exhibit their talents and creativity in different arts, including music composition, singing, dancing, and even acting.
The nine judges from Coos Bay and Bandon, scored participants through-out the two weekends based on overall performance (20 pts), Costume Appropriateness (10 pts), Stage Presence (10 pts), and Originality (10 pts) for a possible total of 50 Points. Based on these points a group of participants were chosen to move on to the next round. The audience also had their input recorded (Peoples Choice) each night and were allowed to save three participants each night (one from each category), from the contestants that did not receive top scores by the judges that evening. These results were tallied by a conciliator each night to ensure 100% integrity of the show and are available for the public to review, if they chose.
“Several nights we ended up with ties in both the judges’ and peoples’ choice,” said Paul Hay, the Producer. To be fair to all contestants, the South Coast Has Talent Committee decided to move on those contestants who tied during the auditions and semi-final rounds. It was a fantastic show and we had so many great talents from Coos Bay, North Bend, Myrtle Point, Langlois, and Bandon. “I’m so glad I didn’t have to judge the show, because it was very tough to pick just one overall winner. My hat is off to the judges, they had a very tough task and we really appreciate they took time out of their busy schedules to help with this show.” said Hay.
Even at the end, the talent was so close that the overall winner, Hope Hay (score of 225) of Bandon won by only one point over Alexius Harris (score of 224) of Coos Bay. After the music accompaniment did not work for Hope Hay after several tries, she was encouraged to continue to sing her song “Colors of the Wind” without any music. To be able to continue the show without any music at such a young age showed “true professionalism” according to the judges’ comments. That along with her performance eventually won her the overall competition. The other top five performers included Alyssa Birrer (220), Zeta Hay (220), and Tanya DePoalo (210).
Alexius Harris and Alyssa Birrer of North Bend tied for the “Peoples Choice” the final night. So combing both the “judges’ scores and people’s choice scores” in order to break the tie…..Alexius Harris took the “people’s choice” award for the 17 and Under age category. Tanya DePoalo of Bandon took the 18 to 50 age category, and John Kight of Bandon took 51 and over category.
“This being our first year of doing this we had a lot of bumps in the road,” said Paul Hay, producer. “We welcome anyone to send us an email with any suggestions and comments they may have to help this be a better show in the future.” Comments can be sent to info@bandonplayhouse.net. The South Coast Has Talent Committee very pleased with the turn out and support of the community. We look forward to having another fantastic talent contest next year.
Thanks for a great show
After having judged the talents 21st & 22nd I was overwhelmed with the challenge of giving fair scores! First off it takes quite a bit of nerve to be on stage in front of so many people for the first time. Anyone who attempts it should get points for trying. We had such a variety of talent and whether it was my “type” of entertainment or not I tried to keep an open mind. Things like could I understand the words if it was singing or speaking? Was it appropriate for the talented one to be doing that specific choice? This was a family audience the contestants were playing to. How did the audience react to that specific person? Did they dress appropriately and really get into the character of what they were performing? It was quite a delightful experience but a difficult one since there were so many that were original, well done, and deserving of high scores! The judges for the next weekend had their work cut out for them as did the returning talents! I’m sure that next years will be better with more and some return talents! Don’t be afraid to try! It was a great experience for me and I hope the contestants had a good time also! Remember all those in charge of putting this together, their time, efforts and graciousness! Applause to all involved!