Students gathered in Walker Lounge Wednesday evening as residents of Pomona College’s North Campus competed for a chance to perform in the annual Pomona’s Got Talent show during Family Weekend in February. Participants were judged by a panel of two students and Campus Life Coordinator Jacqueline DuBose.
Due to last-minute cancellations, only two acts performed. The first performance was a piano rendition of the Pirates of the Caribbean theme song performed by Roger Sheu PO ’14, who finished second in Pomona’s Got Talent last year.
“I think it allows me to expand my creativity in my music,” Sheu, who has been playing piano since age four, said of performing in the competition. “This provides me an opportunity to demonstrate what I’ve been working on.”
The other act of the night was a stand-up comedy routine by Pedro Salinas PO ’13, who introduced his set by declaring, “Stand up is not a talent. It’s a mistake.”
Salinas offered his humorously cynical perspective on everyday issues including his “unnecessary” stature, his unwavering dedication to the DARE program as an elementary school student and the loners, like himself, who populate Boston Market franchises across the nation. Salinas ended his act talking about the disparity between his first name and his Caucasian ethnicity, asking the audience, “Have you ever introduced yourself to someone and they disagree?”
After a short deliberation among the judges, it was announced that both Sheu and Salinas would move on to the school-wide competition in February.
“I thought Roger had a lot of talent and that Pedro was really funny,” Seanna Cade PO ’13 said. “I look forward to seeing them both in the talent show come February.”
The North talent show was one of several taking place to determine participation in Pomona’s Got Talent, which will occur this year in Little Bridges instead of Edmunds Ballroom, where it has been held in past years. Winners of the school-wide competition will receive prizes in addition to bragging rights.
An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that all three judges in the North Campus auditions for Pomona’s Got Talent were students. The panel was composed of two students and Campus Life Coordinator Jacqueline DuBose. The article also incorrectly implied that more than one member of the panel learned talent-judging skills from television shows. Only one of the judges mentioned learning from these shows. We regret these errors.