By Hope Hummel, staff writer
Norris Jones and Abby Goodhall, accompanied by a jazz combo composed of Indian Trail’s staff and students, delivered a crowd-pleasing performance of Michael Buble’s “Feeling Good” on March 11 and took first place at this year’s annual Indian Trail High School and Academy Talent Show.
The jazz combo included junior Josh Garside-Meyers on drums, orchestra director Kevin Stewart on bass, junior Luke Nordgren on trumpet, band director Ken Wiele Sr. on trombone, and junior Casey Shaw on tenor saxophone.
Other winners included second place finisher Aisa Booker, who sang “The One That Got Away” by Civil Wars, and third place winner Seth Crawford, who sang “Everything” by Buble.
Hosted by Allison Laurent, Thomas Sallese, and Kiya Adam, the show was filled with jokes and sarcasm between acts. Performances ranged from fashion shows to acapella vocalists.
Jamie Kleid, senior class president, said that planning for the event started all the way back to the second week of school.
“We’ve been planning intensely since January,” said Carin Valentine, Indian Trail’s senior class adviser, whom is also a credit recovery and team leadership teacher who helped organize the event.
There were 11 acts in total. Each winner will receive a shopping spree in The Hawk Shop, ranging from $50 to $100.
Goodhall, a junior, and Jones, a senior, have both been singing since they were young. They said they felt prepared and were “a little” nervous for the performance.
Kleid said the judges were looking for someone who was prepared, well put together, creative, and stood out.
“It was exhilarating – it was exciting,” said Jones. “We weren’t really expecting to win because there were a lot of good acts and what not. It was a surprise and we were very happy and thrilled.”
“It was really exciting to win – it was really cool to be able to do it,” said Goodhall. “We were the last act, which was really cool.”
Both Goodhall and Jones agreed that the combo playing with them live instead of using a recording is what set their act apart.
John Choi, ITA’s choir teacher and one of the three judges, was looking for “somebody [who was] prepared,” within the judging scale. Judges included Choi and English teachers Katie Phillips and Patrick Straub. The show was organized by Senior Class members.