By Rachel Lutz, Assistant Editorial Editor
It goes without saying that the participants in this year's Hofstra's Got Talent competition, held at the John Cranford Adams Playhouse this Friday, September 24, were the most talented that Hofstra University had to offer.
Freshman Julie Fernandez walked away the champion, after her powerhouse performance of the Broadway musical Wicked's "The Wizard and I." She had the most comfortable stage presence and she definitely blew the crowd away with her pipes. The song is definitely a tough one to sing- after all, it was originally Idina Menzel's.
Kristen Maldonado performed Broadway musical Aida's "Easy as Life" as the first act. This might have contributed a bit to her nerves, but as an original Broadway song, it was easy to convince the audience of other emotions.
The piano version of Lady Gaga's "Poker Face" was sung by Kira Kazantsev. While this song was an interesting choice due to the nature of the lyrics, the act was greeted with enthusiastic applause at its closing.
Thomas Provine hobbled onto the stage on crutches for his stand-up sit down comedy routine. His pseudo-Spanish was hysterical and impressive, and he had improved routine from the previous night, where he also opened for the Upright Citizens Brigade's improve show.
The one-man band that is Michael Tedesco covered Billy Joel's "Piano Man." Tedesco was the only male of the night to sing, and it was impressive. The piano and harmonica were expertly played, and the vocals were right on target.
The only original song of the night, "When Do You Stop Loving Someone?" was written and performed by Emily Schiel. It was a quick, sweet, acoustic song with some impressive high notes.
Zachery Leipert's act was announced as "mad beats son" which was comprised entirely of beat boxing, taking the audience on a ride complete with sound effects of a dialing radio, songs we would hear today, and some laughs in between.
"To Make You Feel My Love" was performed acoustically by Melody Hall. The song consisted primarily of high notes, but Hall handled them with ease.
Nikki De Rosa made Beyonce's "If I Were a Boy" her own. She took the already powerful message and added her own runs into the song and embraced the audience's excitement to hear a well-done cover of this song.
The last performance of the night was Alicia Keys' already-difficult song to perform, "If I Ain't Got You" by Maggie Doherty. The audience was impressed by the power of her vocal chords as well as the rest of the performances.
During their three-day stay at the Summer Orientation sessions, first-year students competed for a spot in the Welcome Week auditions. Upper-class students also had a try-out on September 14 for anyone who wanted to compete in this past Friday's event. Five students were selected from the first-year pool, and five were selected from the upper-classmen.
The emcee of the night was Dennis Foley, from WRHU. He was funny and provided the stage crew with an easy way to stall between acts as they were setting up and breaking down the stage. The judges were Brendan Caputo, Christina King, Susan McNeilly, and Vanessa Parent.
Julie Fernandez, winner of Hofstra's Got Talent (Rachel Lutz/ The Chronicle)