A talent show was held for the first time this month by the new Students in Action Club.
“Socastee’s Got Talent” was held on Friday March 22.
“There were around 13 to 14 performers, and the auditorium was pretty packed,” SIA President Hailey Panza said. The winning act was performed by Ella Jones, who sang “Born to Fly” by Sara Evans and Vandal.
Second place winners were Lara Regolf and Giovanna Bertaggua Giocomeli, who performed “Talking to the Moon” by Bruno Mars.
Junior Delanie Williams placed 3rd. She performed on the piano and sang “Control” by Zoe Wees. Originally, Delanie could not make a decision of what song she should perform, so she listened to her Apple Music playlist and chose one from there.
“Pretty much a couple days before, I picked up playing the piano again, and I just picked the song and went with it,” she said.
Despite it being last minute, she has years of prior experience. Delanie started playing on the piano at 7 years old and started classical training when she was 10. After turning 14, Delanie started playing piano cords and singing.
In addition to contributing her talent, Delanie helped organize the talent show and is very involved in SIA. The club was initially formed as a leadership-based club focused on fundraising efforts for beloved basketball coach and guidance counselor Coach Derrick Hilton, who was diagnosed with cancer in October 2022. The club decided to continue after Coach Hilton’s passing last summer.
It chooses a community service project every year and funds a certain organization. This year, they chose to support Sea Haven for Youth, which provides emergency stabilization and long-term services to runaway or homeless teens.
“We chose Sea Haven because a lot of teenagers are very in need but not always looked after,” Hailey said. “A lot of time people’s donations and attention goes to younger kids or adults.”
Victor Roberts, who won honorable mention for his talent show performance, a guitar medley of jazz and rock songs, said the event was memorable.
“There were a few people backstage that made me feel super comfortable, and it was my first time performing,” he said. His close friend, Samuel Shaner and his sister were the ones that inspired him to participate in the show. His advice for those that want to participate in a talent show is to add a lot of creativity and it never hurts to try because you may win.
SIA member Maya Adi also was part of the talent show by showcasing her skills in volleyball. She performed the “popcorn” drill and set the ball. Although she did not win any awards, she said the show was fun.
“I had a good time,” she said.
