LIHU‘E — With a bevy of performances, including an Elvis impersonation, an eye-popping guitar rendition, and even a bamboo instrumental, it came down to the dancers on Wednesday night at the Kiwanis Club of Kauai’s Shower of Stars talent competition,
LIHU‘E — With a bevy of performances, including an Elvis impersonation, an eye-popping guitar rendition, and even a bamboo instrumental, it came down to the dancers on Wednesday night at the Kiwanis Club of Kauai’s Shower of Stars talent competition, held at the Kaua‘i War Memorial Convention Hall.
Samantha Sasan took home the top prize in the 18-and-over division with a hula/Tahitian performance, and Kiana and Dominique Pascua got the first-place nod with a retroactive dance interpretation from the award-winning movie, “Chicago.”
The evening started off with host Frank Alfred and emcee Eduardo Valenciana getting the crowd ready for the opening act, performed by Kapa‘a’s Michelle Sanchez, who sang Mariah Carey’s “Hero.”
The 17-and-under contestants set the stage for the entire program, with Kapa‘a’s Manasseh Israel doing splendid work with his guitar. The Street Kids from Waimea Canyon School came up next, and danced their way into third place. After an Elvis impersonation by Cameron Cox, Kapa‘a’s Marin Johnson gave the second performance of the night from the movie “Chicago.” Anonymous in Plaid, who were all dressed in plaid, sang Monica’s “Angel of Mine.” Then, the second-place winner, Daphne Sanchez, impressed the judges with her version of, “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” and Leina Fune was the final performer for the 17-and-under crew. After a 25-minute intermission, Valenciana, who was the emcee at last year’s event, gave away a prize package to anyone who remembered the Spanish word he taught last year’s crowd to remember. The word a young man in the audience guessed was, “Chanclas,” which means “slippers” in English, and the individual took home a pair of slippers, along with a Selena DVD and CD. The 18-and-over competition started with Rock and Ron, who gave the audience their version of “Amazing Grace.” Mrs. Sgt. First Class Mangum made the evening patriotic with a great performance of the, “Star-Spangled Banner,” which was very appropriate, as Mr. Sgt. First Class Mangum was just deployed to Iraq.
Ethan Ford, the third-place finisher, followed with the most unique performance of the night, as he played songs with his hand-made bamboo instruments. Pita Nialleka Lalahi softened the mood with his piano, and pulled out smooth-sounding, rhythm-and-blues vocals. Michelle Walker and Kalin Meir continued the great pace of the evening with their version of, “Killing Me Softly,” and last year’s 17-and-under winner, Natalie Capino, mirrored Etta James’ sound with her version of, “At Last.”
Duane Shimogawa, sports editor, may be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 257) or kauaisports@pulitzer.net
