GCC revealed its hidden talents in the Plaza Vaquero for the second annual Talent Show on Thursday.

The event sponsored by ASGCC attracted a crowd of about 200 students and faculty, who eagerly watched 10 GCC students demonstrate their talents.
The winners were Tiana DeBell, 19, dance and psychology major, and Robert Malone, 20, dance and business major, who performed a classical dance number together.

“It was very beautiful and romantic. I just loved it,” said spectator Hirano Enami, 19, undecided major.

“God placed this dance in our heart,” said Malone, of the performance. The $100 first-place prize will either be donated to a church or will go to the dance club, said the dancers.

Taking second place was Alex `Unique’ Stephanyan, 22, graphic design, who rapped to his original “GCC Talent Show Song.”

Stephanyan said that he wrote and rehearsed the rap number in only three days.

“I got a beat and decided to write a song that fits this atmosphere,” said Stephanyan. With the $50 prize money, “I will pay off a parking ticket,” he said.

In third was Paul Lumibano, 19, communications major, accompanied by guitar player Ian Pelchlin, 20, theater major, who performed the acoustic version of “I’ll Be Edwin McCain.”

“I was a little nervous,” said Lumibano. ” There was a lot of good competition.” The two friends will split the third place prize of $25.
“Maybe we’ll go out to lunch to celebrate,” said Lumibano.

The three talent show judges were Sue Brinkmeyer, Title V director, Alen Andreassian, student activities coordinator and Scot Spicer, associate dean of instruction.

“It was a really interesting event. The variety made it tough to judge because we had no idea what would come next,” said Brinkmeyer. “I was impressed at the turnout. It was nice to see so many students supporting each and every one of the performers right through the technical glitches.”

Guillermo Medina, 25, media production major, said, “On three or four of the numbers they had technical difficulties. I think they should put someone there who knows how to operate the soundboard. Maybe someone from one of the music or sound classes that we have at the college could do it and get extra credit.”

“So many of them deserved to win. It was a shame that we could only recognize three of them,” said Brinkmeyer.

“It’s pretty amazing the variety of talents our students demonstrated, from juggling to belly dancing to classical dance,” said Spicer. “I think the classical dancers deserved to win, but my favorite performer was the rapper. He was very original,” said Spicer.

Washington Espinosa, 21, architecture major, said, “I didn’t go to class so I could watch the Talent Show. I rally enjoyed it, but I think the rapper should have gotten first place.”

Vice President of Campus Activities, Hala Shamas, 19, business major said, “I though it was really good. We had a big turnout.”

The ASGCC Activities Committee had planned the event for two months. Auditions were held in the student center.

“Try-outs were really hard because there were 14-15 really talented people, but we had only 10 spots. The activities committee chose those ten because we wanted variety. We looked for originality and just talent.”