Welcome Days serve to get new SF State students acquainted with the campus, but only SF State’s Got Talent yields a fast track to on-campus fame.
With everything from kung fu to beatboxing, the 2012 SF State’s Got Talent showcase gave first-time students a taste of their peers’ artistic abilities. An audience of 700 people filled McKenna Theatre Aug. 24 and the acts kept them cheering until the very end.
“I think (incoming students) love it. Students like to be engaged,” said dean of students Joseph D. Greenwell, who has helped this event expand over six years. “I just want to make it an amazing show.”
Though the audience relished unique acts like Fei “Leon” Liu’s kung fu routine and adored the huge voices from freshmen like Asha Hirsi, old favorites conquered in the end.
By measure of applause, returning performer and senior Francisco “Frisco” Romero was voted the winner for his beatboxing. Though he holds the high title of First United States Beatbox Champion, Romero couldn’t pass up another chance to impress his fellow students.
“It’s a good way for artists to spread their name and show the upcoming students the kind of talent that’s here on campus and just spreading entertainment,” he said.
Other returning performers like Improv Nation have a similar outlook, taking this showcase as an opportunity to network as well as have fun.
“We’ve traditionally gotten a lot of new recruits because they’ve seen us at Welcome Days,” said Improv Nation president Molly Sanchez, who hopes to see their membership numbers double this semester.
This year’s show left an impression on the performers, as well as the audience. Freshman Zach Morrissey, who came to SF State with on-stage experience already under his belt, was impressed by the caliber of his fellow performers.
Students will be likely to catch their favorite performers again later in the semester, as SF State is set to host more talent competitions this fall.
“I met some really cool people; that show was a lot of fun,” Morrissey said. “Usually talent shows have a lot of bad acts and just a couple of good ones.”
