By Kristen Shepard
Staff Writer
On Monday and Tuesday night, the Coppell High School auditorium curtains unveiled two hours of laughs, smiles and sheer talent in this year’s senior talent show, Days of our Coppell Lives.
Even before the show, the audience bubbled with anticipation for the night’s acts, as the auditorium filled up with a primarily student audience.
“I can’t wait for the show tonight. I’m so excited to see Lesli Adkins, Zane Zoda, Clayton Dalrymple and all my other senior friends,” junior Keaton Looney said. “Next year I look forward to maybe being an MC; they really look like they’re having a blast.”
When the curtains finally opened, Scooby and the Gang kicked off the show with an upbeat, original song. Their lead singer sophomore Genevieve Greenia performed a solo later in the show, flawlessly singing Demi Lovato’s “Skyscraper.” Greenia took her shot at fame auditioning for popular television show The X Factor earlier this year.
The first half of the show was full of talented singers and musicians, many of whom were saying goodbye to the auditorium stage as they prepare for graduation in the fall. From dancing to singing to playing instruments, students with a plethora of talents took to the stage.
“There is only one talent show a year, and just to be a part of that and to be memorable was a really cool thing,” senior Zane Zoda said. “Leaving the high school being an MC was a great experience.”
As if the 12 talent acts in the show didn’t take the cake, it was the MCs who really stole the show. From a “Know Your Stars” short to a song solely about Cats, the MCs kept the audience on their toes, with new jokes and topics at every break.
Most noticeable were the spins on social media trends such as the recent Twitter and Pinterest obsessions spreading throughout CHS. The 13 MCs for the evening hit on many infamous Coppell trends, such as wearing Nike shorts with Ugg brand boots and the ever-rowdy courtside student section.
The combination of the talent and the MC humor was flawless, with several performers unveiling their talent for the first time. Among these performance “newbies” was the show’s overall winner, senior Priya Gupta. Gupta performed a classical Indian dance that was unlike anything else seen throughout the show. Hours of work were put into choreographing and practicing the dance, and Gupta is glad her work can be recognized.
“I’ve never imagined that I would perform my passion on stage like that,” Gupta said. “It was something I had been working hard on and I am so glad I finally gathered up the courage to perform my senior year. I was shocked that I won. I am so very honored.”
Other acts included crowd-pleasers, “Taylor the Latte Boy”, performed by seniors Lesli Adkins and Grant Akerly, and a Disney mash-up performed by a group of Vivace! boys known as Treble in Paradise. Without a doubt, this year’s talent show left a lasting impression on both the performers and the audience, which was exactly what the seniors intended.
“For advice, I would tell [underclassmen] to be open-minded about performing, and be funny if you can; there’s nothing like making people laugh” Zoda said. “That’s pretty much what I want to leave behind.”
