On Friday, January 26, Ward Melville students had the opportunity to showcase their unique talents in the Ward Melville’s Got Talent show, hosted by the Tri-M Music Honor Society. In 18 amazing performances, ranging from jazz bands to singing, Ward Melville students competed for a first place prize of $250 dollars.

The M.C. of the event was junior Renee Clairvoyant, and three judges- Mr. Eaton, Ms. Kane, and Dr. Baum- ranked each performance on a scale of 1 to 10. There were several memorable performances that night. Singer Luciana Ragolia left the audience and judges awestruck with her take on “At Last” by Etta James, and Nicole Acquavella went above and beyond with her performance of Adele’s “Make You Feel My Love.” Music was performed by jazz groups such as Mint (featuring Ben Fogarty, Jay Sangwan, Matt Broadbent, Aidan Hopkins, and Varun Jindal) and Jam (featuring Jared Gozinsky, Max Lieberman, Jake Zimmerman, and Andrew Cavese). Students Joe Stimmel and Abe Hannigan won several laughs from the audience through stand-up comedy. Noah Mond and Marielle Leiboff arranged a heartwarming duet of “If I Loved You” from Carousel, and Brian Dealmeida performed his original song “One Girl”. Greyson Nekrutman demonstrated his amazing drumming skills in his own self-composed drum solo, and Julia Duffy shocked spectators in balancing a full-sized ladder on her chin!

The top 3 performances which were given the highest scores by the judges were named finalists: Nicole Acquavella, Luciana Ragolia, and the jazz group Jam. The official winner of the show was chosen through a system similar to a clap-o-meter. The audience was asked to applaud for whichever act they felt was the best as each act was announced individually. Whichever act received the “loudest” or greatest amount of applause would be announced the winner. After listening to applause by the audience, the judges made a collective decision on who the winner would be. The audience waited in anticipation, as Renee took a piece of paper from the judges and announced the winner of the talent show: Luciana Ragolia!

The talent show was an overall fun night, and a great way for Ward Melville students who attended to relax and to be entertained, especially after a stressful week of midterms. If you missed out on the talent show this year, make sure to attend this amazing night of performances next January!