After tryouts with a number of cuts, the contenders went through two weeks of hard work and late rehearsals. It all paid off leaving the 2013 Best of West Talent Show a night to remember with Melissa Vaneslow and Eli Krause taking third place, a tie for second place with break dancer, Mike Lee and Guitar player, Dylan Rowinski.  Finally, the winner of the Best of West Talent Show was Rainie Briski who sang “Counting Stars” by One Republic.

Senior Forensics captain, Dominick Ropella, decided the theme of the Talent Show. He called it a “Knight” to Remember.  Decorations fit the theme well.  Ropella and sophomore, Natalie Sims, hosted the talent show with clear enthusiasm and lighthearted jokes between each performance.

Early on in the Talent Show seventh grader, Tamiye Sinjakovic performed a hula dance to the song “He Mele No Lilo.”  The audience chimed in, clapping to the beat of the music, enjoying the young lady as she showcased an important part of her culture.

Eli Krause and Melissa Vanselow preformed “Someone Like You” by Adele.  Krause in a crisp suit calmly played the piano with elegance while Vanselow’s voice gave the audience shivers.  Having asked Vanselow and Krause prior to their performance if they changed much in the song they replied, “some things but for the most part not really.”  This held true in their performance.  Obviously the judges felt strongly about their performance, awarding them third place.

Seventh graders Evan McKenzie and Sam Ferguson performed an originally composed lyric and music song “Breaking Free.”  These young adults had a genuine performance that made it hard for the audience not to clap along to the soft, sweet and confident singing and melody of the piano.

Each act had gotten the audience involved, however eight grader, Karlee Anderson and ninth grader, Tiara Perkins clearly had the audience’s undivided attention as they sang and played the acoustic guitar to “Bruises” by Train.  These talented young ladies preformed a wonderful harmony.  Perkins confident, strong tone blended beautifully with Anderson’s mature, soft melody creating a wonderful performance for the audience.  When interviewed before the show they both agreed that being up on stage with someone else was much more comforting than riding solo with no one to fall back on.

After a ten minute intermission, the crowd was quickly snapped back to attention by the performance of Senior, Mike Lee.  Lee danced to his own choreography to a compilation of songs.  Confidence radiated off of Lee as he had the crowd clapping before he even started his moves on the stage.  Impressive tricks such as handstands and fluid spins on the floor had the crowd going wild.  The judges recognized the involvement from the crowd and awarded him second place.

Eighth grader, Rainie Briski, performed “Counting Stars” by One Republic.  The judges awarded this talented young lady first place for New Berlin West’s 2013 Talent Show.  Her clear enjoyment for preforming for an audience was shown while she sang and played the guitar.

The other award of second place went to sophomore, Dylan Rowinski.  Wrapping up the Talent Show, Rowinski played the guitar for the audience.  He has been playing the guitar for almost six years and his stage presence clearly has shown that he loves to play for an audience.

The judges of New Berlin West’s 2013 Talent Show consisted of Joe Garza, who currently serves as the Superintendent of the School District of New Berlin.  Garza has a background with the theater, as he was a former performer and music educator.  Our next judge was a professional musician in the Milwaukee area, her name is Jayme Dawicki.  Our final judge was Kelli Kwiatkowski. She is new to New Berlin this year.  She is the Director of Curriculum for the School District of New Berlin.  Kwiatkowski has a pom and dance background in addition to having grown up playing the saxophone.

One aspect to the night that brought the attention of many was the performance by high school English teacher, Ms. Amy Stenzel.  She sang, “Rumor Has It” by Adele.  With Sims and Ropella as her back up dancers, she clearly wowed the audience leaving them pleasantly surprised.  Many people were shocked to discover Stenzel’s beautiful ability to sing.

Ropella kept the attention of the audience by preforming his traditional “Single Ladies” dance by Beyoncé.  He worked the stage with wholehearted cheers from the audience.

The Best of West Talent Show allowed for students to showcase their talents to the school.  This opportunity may inspire students to go the extra mile; some may even make a career out of their talent.