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Phi Delta Psi Talent Show

By Haley Webb- Staff Writer

On Thursday, April 9, the Pub was absolutely packed with students for SNHU fraternity Phi Delta Psi's annual Talent Show competition.

Featuring nine performers with a variety of talents, including a great deal of singing and a couple of patriotically themed acts, the Talent Show brought in a huge crowd. Many students came in support of their peers who had signed up to perform. This was the fourth year that Phi Delta Psi has hosted its Talent Show. In addition to the performances, Phi Delta Psi also gave away various raffle prizes throughout the night; the first raffle prize was a front row seat for the show.

The show was judged by SNHU faculty members Bryan Bouchard, who works as the Business Tutoring Coordinator in The Learning Center and is also a finance and accounting professor here at SNHU, Micheline Anstey, a marketing instructor, and Jared Gabrey, the Resident Director of New Castle residence hall.

The first performance of the night was a battle between a few of the Phi Delta Psi brothers, Kyle Webber and Mike Young. They started off the night strong, each showing off their musical skills in drums accompanied by Adam Young and Rob Keller. While the judges did not explicitly score their performance, they were asked to choose a winner between the two drummers, and Mike Young was decided as the winner.

The duo of Kara Gershman and Ethan Lapierre performed Rihanna's "Take a Bow," with Gershman singing and Lapierre playing guitar and doing backup vocals. Their performance was a crowd favorite, with the audience remaining quiet throughout the entire song until their large applause at the conclusion. The judges enjoyed the performance as well, scoring the pair with a 27, bringing them into the lead.

Perhaps the most hysterical of all the acts, the sixth performance of the night was an accurate and entertaining imitation of the Saturday Night Live skit "The Spartan Cheerleaders" originally featuring Will Ferrell and Cheri Oteri, but performed at the Talent Show by sophomore Jilene Marr and freshman Brittneylyn Fitzpatrick. As any audience member who had seen the routine would tell you, the two performed it perfectly. Their appeal even reached the students in the audience who had never heard of the Spartans. The girls ended up with a total score of 27, which put them in a tie for first place with Gershman and Lapierre.

The ninth and final performance of the night was SNHU softball player Karissa Bettencourt, who had a very original talent. Bettencourt titled her talent a "miniature Ode to the United States," which included her recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance, all fifty states, as well as the entire Gettysburg Address in less than one minute. Bettencourt's performance could have rivaled any advertisement fast talker. She completed the entire performance in 54 seconds, impressing both the audience and the judges. Bettencourt wound up with a score of 27, bringing her into the first place tie.
At the completion of all the performances, the judges were forced to deliberate to break the three-way tie for first place. After reviewing their notes, third place was awarded to Karissa Bettencourt, second place was awarded to Kara Gershman and Ethan Lapierre, and the comedic performance by Jilene Marr and Brittneylyn Fitzpatrick was given first place.

Other participants in the Talent Show included Zach Poldoian, Cassi Couillard, Becky Scalera, Kelly Nash, and Paulson Edum.  Each performed admirably and thoroughly entertained the crowd; however, they were not able to displace the winners of the night.

 Overall, the event was a success, ensuring that next year's performance will have just as large an audience.