On Wednesday May 18th at 7:00 pm, Holyoke High students showcased their talents at the annual talent show. With performances ranging from yo-yoing to singing to magic and more, HHS students proved to have a wide variety of talents to share.

Jose Perez Alvarez started off the show by performing the National Anthem on his trumpet. The show’s hosts were Christina Rojas ’17 & Darian Gonzalez ’17. They were an excellently chosen pair who used humor to engage the audience and keep the show moving along.

Margarita Velazco Garcia was the first act of the evening. She serenaded her audience with a great performance of Make You Feel My Love by Adele. Margarita was not the only one who shared her lovely voice with the audience. Other singers in the talent show included Joshua Fernandez, Joshua Ortiz, Genesis Vazquez, Alora Machuca who also played the piano, Juan Garcia, Linoshka Hernandez, Audriana Cruz, and Nanette Mendietta & Tim Soto who also played the ukulele.

A crowd favorite of the evening was Kevin Perez. Performing as the 6th act of the night, Kevin entertained his audience with his yo-yo skills. After the crowd having chanted for Kevin multiple times after his performance, he even made an encore appearance with the talent show hosts. Kevin demonstrated “walking” a yo-yo and did a few more tricks for his intrigued audience.

There was also a wide variety of dance acts in the talent show. Amber Lempke danced to the song Mother May I, Roshay and his group performed their own dance act along with an original rap, and Olga Rodriguez and Isaiah Rodriguez performed a dance combo as did Rya and Natalie.

Other acts in the talent show included Karyann Cruz who played the piano and dedicated her performance to the late Erick Matos, Imperfect Heros who performed a rap, Jonathan Dochod who played The Phantom Of The Opera on the piano, the band Bread Basket, and Dylan Lasante who did a magic act.

Lasante shocked his audience when he used fire to make his tie appear, when he showed his audience 14 ways to make the number 63 in a matter of seconds, and when he ripped up a newspaper and put it back together. These were only a few of the many surprises Dylan brought to the stage during his magic act.

This year’s honored judges of the the show included Mrs. Todd, Mr. Berchard, Mr. Rose, and Mrs. Bedford. Though all the acts were were very good, prizes were awarded for the judges’ top five. For fifth place they chose Margarita Velazco Garcia for her performance of Make You Feel My Love by Adele. Fourth place was given to Joshua Ortiz for his performance of A Change Is Gonna Come by Sam Cooke. Coming in at third place was Roshay. Second place was given to Genesis Vazquez for her performance of Nightingale by Demi Lovato, which she dedicated to her best friend who recently lost her father. Lastly, coming in at first place for Holyoke High’s 2016 talent show was Audriana Cruz for her jaw-dropping performance of Something’s Got A Hold On Me by Etta James.

“I thought this year we had a wide array of talent and very good talent. I think everybody had a great time. I was very impressed with the results,” said Mr. Todd, the director of the talent show.

Congratulations to all the winners and performers of this year’s talent show from The Herald!