Sanderson and Hiles win Talent Wars, which nets $1300 for two causes

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Attendees of last year’s Talent for Change should have been very impressed when they entered the school last Saturday for Talent Wars. Not only were several students dressed up in Star Wars costumes, but also there was a “red carpet” and theme appropriate decorations. This year, the entire show, hosted as usual by L-S Model United Nations, was centered around Star Wars, hence the title: Talent Wars: The Pioneers Strike Back.
Mr. Adam Titter, Alexander Williams, and Benjamin Pontz served as masters of ceremony for the event
At 7 pm, Darth Vader, voiced by David Johnson playing Darth Vader, warned the audience that anyone with a cell phone out during the show would be vaporized. At that point, a phone in the front row levitated to the ceiling.
The emcees for the were sophomore Alexander "Al" Williams; and senior Ben Pontz. Although they had note cards with information on each performer, much of their hilarious bantering was improvised. At one point, club advisor Mr. Adam Titter, who also helped emcee the show, told bad cow jokes.
Gymnasts Mylie Heiser, Addison Bare, and Natalie Holland
took second place in the K-8 division
While in the past, the talent show had been a lot of singing and dancing, a lot of new talents graced the stage on Saturday to provide an overall really impressive display of abilities. Among the Kindergarten through Eighth Grade division, there were several music performances, various types of dances, and also simulatenous pogo sticking and baton twirling and yo-yoing. In this division, the winner was eighth grader Gabe Sanderson, who displayed some amazing yo-yo skills. Second place went to Hans Herr students Mylie Heiser, Addison Bare, and Natalie Holland for a gymnastics act, and third place went to first grader Jaiden Suarez & the Wolfpack (i.e. his uncles) for a breakdancing routine, after the latter of which Pontz quipped, "We [Al and I] thought about doing an impersonation of that act, but we checked, and the district doesn't have enough insurance."
"Hello from the dark side" followed by Cole Hiles' performance
Members of the audience were able to vote for the winners electronically during the intermission. Interspersed between the acts were various Star Wars themed skits acted out by members of MUN. This included auditions for the “Galactic Voice” in which Mr. Titter, Pontz, and Williams played the judges and sat facing away from a Star Wars character singing and dancing behind them. While this was initially confusing, the “Galactic Voice” became funnier as Darth Vader sang “Hello from the Dark Side” and Mr. Titter’s son wore a trashcan to be R2D2.
Connor Brown sings "Hallelujah" to open the second half of the show
The second division, which was made up of high school acts, featured mostly singing and dancing. Two performers -- Esther Landis and Joey Shiffer -- sang original songs. The winner in the second division was Cole Hiles, a freshman who performed a hip hop dance routine. Emma Bender, Sam Ingram, and Celia Yost took second with their rendition of “One Voice”. Connor Brown placed third for playing piano and singing “Hallelujah.”
The entire event took a lot of work for volunteers, and overall was a lot of fun for everyone. The most important aspect, however, is how it was able to benefit the community. This year, the MUN Talent Wars raised money for Doctors without Border and the L-S Community Closet. They were able to raise $1,000 for Doctors Without Borders and $300 for the L-S Community Closet in order to benefit our local and international communities.

 Check out a full playlist of 31 videos from acts, skits, and results of the Talent Show
Check out a gallery of 118 photos via Google Photos

 --Alyssa Van Lenten, LSNews.org Local Editor; Photos by Lauren Mast, LSNews.org Director of Sports Photography; Video by Kelly Harnish, LSNews.org Videographer

 Edited: BP

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