Cellists Andrew Plaisier and Joshua Ruiter wowed audiences, taking the first place prize of $250 at the third annual Calvin’s Got Talent competition last Saturday.
Michael Troy and the Electromatics, featuring Troy Vanderhoek, Michael Suigussaar, Nate Maring and Jared Haverdink, claimed the $100 second place prize. Take 3, a trio composed of Samuel Lee, Moses Park and Timothy Pak, finished third, winning $50.
Plaisier and Ruiter, who both play in the Calvin orchestra, were delighted to have had the opportunity to perform in front of an enthusiastic crowd.
“I’ve been playing [cello] since I was 10,” said Plaisier. “I’m in the Calvin orchestra, and I’m a music major too. I really enjoy playing really exciting songs like those.”
“I’ve been playing [cello] since I was 6 and [I’ve been playing] in the Calvin orchestra in the last two years,” said Ruiter. “[The performance] was mostly for the crowd. We get to play in the orchestra, but it’s a totally different experience; the cheering during the song makes it so much more exciting as a performer.”
Jared Haverdink, a guitarist with Michael Troy and the Electromatics, remembered how his group’s act was put together and paid tribute to the other acts, as well as the audience.
“We practiced three times,” said Haverdink. “Every time we played the song it was so great because we all had our own little touches to put in, and the song really grew over time into something we’re all invested in.”
Paula Englin, coordinator of student organizations and weekend programming, felt Calvin’s Got Talent, the last weekend programming event of the academic year, went well this year.
“I was really pleased with it,” said Englin. “We had a lovely audience that provided a lot of energy for our performers. We had 18 magnificent acts ranging from short film to dancing to different musical acts, [some] with as few as one performer [and other] larger groups with as many as five people.
Englin also commented on the different system of voting that was used to determine the winners of Calvin’s Got Talent this year.
“In the past two years, we have brought in judges from the local community, and there has just been one People’s Choice award,” said Englin.“This time we decided to scrap bringing in judges. [We] decided that it was Calvin’s Got Talent, and we wanted to empower the audience to vote for all three of the top awards. The texting software [Poll Everywhere] was brand new. In the past, we used something that measured the level of clapping, so it was a little less accurate, whereas with the texting software that we purchased, we got exact numbers for the different performers.”
Englin was also happy about the turnout for this year’s event.
“The turnout was great,” said Englin. “I think we were up pretty significantly. I haven’t got the final numbers from the box office, but I think there were somewhere between 800 and 900 people in attendance.”
