
Tessa Jilson
Staff Writer
The FSU Dance Team sponsored “Framingham’s Got Talent” Tuesday night, where seven acts performed on the DPAC stage to show the crowd what they’ve got.
Hosted by dance team members, Sammie Florino and Erin MansHeld, the show featured a range of varied acts, which included dancing, singing, baton twirling and retrogressing.
Resident Director Jay Hurtubise, Assistant Director of Undergraduate Admissions Meri Amaral, Associate Dean of Students David Baldwin, and Vice President for Enrollment and Student Development Loretta Holloway judged and commented on each performance and selected the winners.
The night started out with Jennifer Fonseca who juggled three batons to the song “Heroes” by Alesso. She leaped and spun around in a red sparkly jumpsuit in rhythm with the music.
“I can barely tie my shoes in the morning,” said Baldwin when commenting on her multitasking and hand-eye coordination.
Senior Naomi Garcia entertained the crowd with her soulful vocals and “sultry undertones.” She sang “Omen” by Disclosure equipped with only the sound of a guitar playing in the background.
Sophomore Maddy Mayberry sang without accompaniment. Her voice was strong and clear as she belted out lyrics to “I’ll Follow You Into The Dark” by Death Cab For Cutie. She was complimented on her a capella-like vocals and her song choice.
“That’s hard to sing without a background track, but you sang it well. It’s a very soothing song,” said Amaral.
Sophomore Daniel Regnier walked onto the stage and began to talk backwards and called his talent retrogressing. He took words from the audience, adding in a bit of comedy to his act. One person from the audience screamed out supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. He laughed and sarcastically said “That’s original,” while proceeding to say it backwards.
He then sang songs such as the Spongebob and Pokémon theme songs, and circle of life backwards, sending the crowd into hysterics.
“We haven’t had that level of energy yet. I don’t think we’ll ever see it again,” said Hurtubise.
Junior John Michael Ferrera continued to make the crowd laugh when he forgot the lyrics to the song “Under The Bridge” by Red Hot Chili Peppers and pulled out a yellow note card. People began to jump out of their seats and yell out words of encouragement. By the end of the night, he received the biggest applause.
Senior Charlene Peña danced to the song “Freedom” by Pharrell Williams, spicing up her routine by slowing down and speeding up her rhythm to the beat. She took control of the stage, her facial expressions changing with the music, and her versatile movements were fun and fierce.
The last performance was from junior Jackson Stevens who interacted with the crowd, prompting almost everyone get up and dance with him.
He danced to a mixture of songs, all either hip-hop or R&B. At the end of his performance, Stevens recorded the crowd doing the Mannequin Challenge, freezing in place during song “Black Beatles” by Rae Sremmurd.
Baldwin said, “You’re multi-talented. Thank you for allowing me to see the mannequin challenge live for the first time.”
The winners were Mayberry in third place, Fonseca in second, and Peña in first, with each winning a prize – Peña chose an Amazon Echo, Fonseca an Apple Watch, and Mayberry received a pair of wireless Beats headphones.
“I was a little nervous because I hadn’t been on a stage in a while,” said Mayberry. “But I’m so happy I did it.”