As an Editor-in-Chief, I have a vested interest and passion for The Valhalla. In my spare time, I found myself scrolling through the archives and clicking on whatever articles caught my attention. What interested me the most were a few articles mentioning something that hasn’t left my mind since I first saw it: LSHS used to host a talent show.
According to Jason Billingsley, who was the Leadership advisor from 2016 to 2020, LSHS held a talent show during his tenure every spring like they had in years prior. Auditions were held after school and 10-15 acts were then chosen to perform at the show. The talent show included around four teachers as judges, and then the top one to three winners performed at the spring assembly.
The annual talent show stopped due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but now that schools have been running normally for a couple years, and events like assemblies, concerts and school dances are back in full swing, why not revive this old tradition?
Hosting a talent show could give students an opportunity to share their talents with their peers.
As someone who doesn’t get to use all of my skills and talents at school, I’d love to give others a place to showcase their own special talents.
“I feel like, not only is it like a community building thing, but I feel like so many people have talents that no one knows about. Like, there could be someone walking around, I don’t know, and you could never know that they could shred “Free Bird” on an electric guitar like that. Like, I want to see this kind of talent, please,” Senior Serena Caine, President of the Natural Highs Network club said.
By sharing hobbies and talents, students could also feel more appreciated and included in the student body. Being able to share what they love to do could make students feel like they truly are seen and known on a deeper level by their peers.
A talent show could also introduce students to things they never would have known about, possibly giving them a new hobby. They might even reach out to the person who introduced them to it and gain a new friend.
A 2023 article reflecting on an elementary school talent show explains how talent shows are also a terrific display of the diversity present in schools and can encourage students to give each other genuine support, whether it’s congratulations on their successes or encouragement after mistakes.
“I feel like it’s just a good way, like I said, to bring people together, allow people to share their talents that they love, whatever that might be, and then just something people can come watch for fun,” Caine said.
Lastly, a talent show could also be a way to raise money through ticket sales; either for school events, like how 2016’s show funded the next year’s Veteran’s Day breakfast, or for local charities.
However, with a hypothetical talent show being such a large and intimidating project, there are a few reasons people might not want to put one together.
The talent show would most likely be run by ASB, and one could argue that it would put too much stress on them on top of all the other projects they work on. If that is the case, then the talent show could be student-run, similar to Drama Club’s winter cabaret. The LSHS choir also hosts an entirely student-ran performance every May, where students manage sound and lights, host the show and are the acts themselves. It’s possible for the talent show to function the same way as well.
The talent show could also act as a “replacement” of sorts for the winter dance, an event that hasn’t been the most successful in recent years. This means that instead of adding another event for ASB to plan, they would simply be swapping it out for a potentially more successful and profitable opportunity.
Some may say it might not be worth the time and money, because no one is interested and no one will show up. The truth is, no one knows that for sure.
“Really?…That seems fun. I mean, I don’t think a lot of people will sign up, just unfortunately, because people are very shy,” junior Casper Reveles said.
Caine also shared that she did not know about the previously held talent shows.
If no one knows about these long-forgotten talent shows, who’s to say that no one would want to bring them back?
If LSHS ends up hosting a talent show in the future, consider taking a chance to audition. Our mission statement this year is “All in, all together,” and what better way to convey that than an event that allows us to connect with our peers by proudly displaying what we put our whole heart into?
