Simon Cowell may not have been there to crush any poor young souls, and the judges may not have been too rough, but Monday night's performances at the Student Union Theatre bore striking resemblances to Fox's "American Idol" series.
The auditorium was abuzz with song, dance and comedy as Leaders SA's Second Annual UB Star Search took place Monday night.
Around 100 students were in attendance to watch the competition that featured different student acts competing against one another for cash prizes. Three judges evaluated each act, with "Idol"-style comments and grading on a scale of one to five stars.
Cool Under Fire, an all-freshman rock band, played a catchy, jazzy song and guitarist Chris Oliver thrilled the audience when he lifted his guitar behind his head during a solo and continued without missing a beat.
"This is the first time we plugged in and played for a big audience. We usually play on the weekends but to small crowds. This was fun," said lead singer and sociology student Matt Larson.
Another talented band that ended up tying with Cool Under Fire for best vocals/instrumentals was The Cardholders, led by senior English major Nicholas Mendola. With amazing vocals and solid instrumentals, the group ended with a perfect score. Mendola had one judge, John Lee, Jr., laughing, saying that his gyrating dance movements reminded him of a Levi's commercial.
Junior computer engineering and theater major, Alaa "Zak" Noweihed performed a stand-up comedy routine that included jokes about chemistry, super seniors and why foreigners change their name when they come to America.
"I didn't want to win, I just wanted to prove I could get the laughs and prove I could do stand-up. It was scary, though," said Noweihed afterwards.
"Big" Nick Devries was another comic, who had a different style. With the traditional confidence and inflection of a seasoned comedian, impressions of Elmo from "Sesame Street" and Gollum of "The Lord of the Rings" teaching high school sex education were hilarious.
Devries' critical flaw was his cancer joke. He claimed that he bought his girlfriend chemotherapy as a present and that she knitted him a sweater from her hair. No laughs were heard. Had Devries taken this out, his act could have been a huge success. This was an especially inappropriate routine, considering that proceeds from the event went to Gilda's Club, a cancer charity. Its poor taste was reflected in his score.
The only dance performer, and winner of that category, mathematics major Nicholas Boucounis dazzled as he did a modern dance with multiple, large flags to Britney Spears' "Toxic." He was impressive and extremely entertaining, as when he threw one of the large flags in the air and caught it with his leg.
Mixed Nuts, UB's male and female a cappella group, gave an enthralling performance of three songs. Their performance of Bryan Adams' "Heaven" was particularly impressive, as the members started the song out as a sweet ballad, and then turned it into a techno remix. When the group received one point less than a perfect score, the audience obviously disagreed, booing the judges. The reason given for the less than perfect score was that on "It's the End of the World" by REM, the soloist briefly stopped. Other than that, however, he completely mastered the difficult song.
"We messed up a tiny bit. Our soloist rushed here and left, immediately and it's a fast song," said Kathleen Kittleson, a first-year pharmacy student.
The overall winner of the night, sophomore biomedical/political science major Francisco Baiocchi, won a prize of $200 for his high-energy musical comedy routine. Wearing a powder blue suit coat, he sang about quirky incidents from his freshmen year, such as a cheating girlfriend and odd roommate. Baiocchi's confidence and commanding presence set him apart, as he instructed the judges to avoid using the letter "e" while criticizing him.
"I never performed outside of a prison setting," said Baiocchi joking about the experience.
Editor's Note: Nicholas Mendola is the Senior Life & Arts Editor for the Spectrum.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
