On Tuesday, Oct. 1, the Augustana community gathered in the Gavle Rooms to witness the annual Homecoming Week talent show hosted by the Office of Student Life. A much-anticipated event for students and staff alike, this year’s show featured students shining under the stage lights and dazzling the crowd with vocals, instrumentals and dances.

Augustana features a wide range of talent, and in the talent show, students can showcase their skills for their peers. This year’s program included 14 unique acts, ranging from original songs to throat singing to a barbershop quartet.

First-Year Cece Birgy, third-place winner for her original song “With Love to a Friend,” said that the talent show gave her the opportunity to present her work to a crowd.

“It was insane,” Birgy said. “I had a girl come up to me in tears, telling me that my song was so relatable and that she felt the words so much. It was so great to get such a good reception from the people of Augie.”

Fellow songwriter sophomore Neebo, who wrote and performed an original piece called “A Year Ago” with sophomore Atticus Georgas, also expressed the feeling of taking the stage with an original piece. 

“I have performed before, so I wasn’t nervous about performing,” Neebo said. “But it was also like, this is my original. I felt like people were expecting a lot from me, but when I got up on stage, I wasn’t as nervous as I expected.”

However, performing on the stage is only one of the steps these performers took to bring their A game to the talent show. Students spent many hours practicing and preparing for their performances.

Sophomore Alyson Garcia, who sang “Creep” by Radiohead, said she was impressed and proud of the effort she saw during the show. 

“I’m really so proud of everyone,” Garcia said. “Everyone is just so incredibly talented and worked so hard on their act.”

Along with the work behind each student’s act, there were inspirations that brought them to the stage and gave them the confidence to perform. 

“I thought of how my parents, especially my dad, would be really proud of me,” Garcia said. “It’s just not something I’ve ever really done before, so it ended up being more of a sentimental thing than anything.”

Some performers took inspiration from those around them, while others took inspiration from their hearts to express themselves in the world. 

“Right from your heart, that’s where the music is going to come from,” Birgy said. “You can write about whatever. You can write about love, you can write about sex. But if you write from the heart and tell people what you’re feeling, that’s what they’re going to relate to. That’s where the love is going to come from.” 

“For me, this song was more personal to me because I wrote it when I was dealing with some stuff,” Neebo said. “I just needed to let it out, you know? So I just came back to my room one day, picked up my guitar, and figured out the chords.”

As the curtain closes on the talent show, Augustana students are already excited about the next chance to perform for their community and share their skills with the world. 

“I always say, do it for the mom lore,” Garcia said. “It’s gonna be a fun story to tell later. Even if you don’t do well or you do something kinda silly, it’s worth it because of the stories you’ll get to tell and the memories you’ll get to make.”