Bethany's Got Talent

OCTOBER 26, 2022 By CAT TOERBER

LINDSBORG, KS- Last week Bethany College hosted their annual Homecoming. Throughout the week, Student Government hosted different activities to boost school spirit and get students excited for the Homecoming Coronation and athletic events on Saturday. One of the main events of the week was the Student Talent Show on Friday Night. Many students were in attendance not only to witness the Homecoming coronation afterwards, but also to support their fellow students that performed. From flute trios to magicians, the Bethany Talent Show was nothing short of a success.

The show opened with Donnie Johnson Jr. playing a heartfelt melody on the piano. This act had the attention of the audience in no time. The crowd enjoyed the performance and could not wait to see the rest of the acts. Johnson’s act was followed by three very talented singers. River Weaverling, Treyton Sutton, and Rebecca Sawer each performed solo acts and continued to impress the audience. However, the results of the Talent Show revealed that the “favorites” of the show were none other than Enoch Ojo, Jakub Brown, and Willian Figueroa.

Placing third overall, Enoch Ojo played the piano and sang “When I Was Your Man,” by Bruno Mars. Ojo stunned the audience not only with his singing talent, but also with his ability to simultaneously play the piano. The audience could feel the emotion that Ojo put into his performance, and he was easily one of the crowd favorites. Capturing the second-place title was Jakub Brown, otherwise known as “the kid with the card tricks.” Brown has impressed numerous students around campus with his impressive card tricks, but his performance was a little bit

different Friday night. Yes, he still shocked many with his magic skills, but his trick didn’t include cards or a bunny coming out of a hat. Instead, it included salt. Brown manipulated a jar of salt and used optical illusions to make the salt disappear and reappear. The audience was truly shocked, and no one could figure out the trick behind his magic. While Brown’s act was impressive, he was not able to top Willian Figueroa. As soon as Figueroa stepped foot on stage, he stole the show.

The crowd instantly fell in love with Willian Figueroa and could not wait for him to reveal his talent. Figueroa sang “Si Nos Quedara Poco,” by Chayanne. Figueroa had an impeccable stage presence and truly captured the vote of many audience members. His performance was so well liked that the audience was chanting for an encore after he finished. Figueroa did not just randomly select his song, in fact, he had a strategy behind his choice. “Chayanne is one of my favorite artists and I thought that this song specifically translated to English well. I decided to perform a ‘Spanglish” version of the song so that I could win votes from the Anglo-Saxon public.” Figueroa’s strategy worked exceptionally well and was easily a crowd favorite.

Following the conclusion of the acts, the 2022 Homecoming candidates were invited to the stage for the coronation. While the audience voted for the talent show winners, Zach Willard and Avery Dauer were crowned Homecoming Kind and Queen. However, the excitement of the night would not conclude there. After the coronation Willian Figueroa, Jakub Brown, and Enoch Ojo received a standing ovation as they placed first, second and third in the 2022 Bethany College Talent Show.