Homecoming Royalty candidates put their talents on display in Memorial Auditorium. Photo credit: A.J. Primavera
Presented by S.L.A.M., the Homecoming Royalty Talent Show kicked off Montclair State University’s Homecoming week this past Monday. Each Royal candidate showcased his or her talent to a crowd of more than 750 people in Memorial Auditorium.
The majority of the talents that were showcased before the audience were dance numbers. Carolina Focella from Sigma Sigma Sigma started the show with a message to audience members. She went on to explain how she felt most talent shows are only accessible to individuals who can sing and dance, then urged all to consider running for Homecoming Royalty someday.
Following her articulate and motivating words, she presented her talent. The box she brought on stage contained baked goods that she had made. She picked two lucky individuals from the crowd to sample her pumpkin bread and Oreo truffles. It’s safe to say the rest of the crowd was jealous.
Then, she answered the three questions every contestant after her was also asked: “What charity of your choice would you donate your quarter wars funds to, and why?”, “Why should you be a Homecoming Royal?” and “Which decade is your favorite?”
SLAM members toss free homecoming T-shirts into the crowd at the Royalty Talent Show. Photo Credit: A.J. Primavera
One of the other contestants who did not use a choreographed dance for his performance was Michael Ladines from Theta Xi, who performed an acoustic, remixed version of “Again” by Fetty Wap. Following was Nick Tsinkelis, who performed a guitar solo on his electric guitar and then a cover of “679.” Both performances had the audience singing and clapping along several times. Theta Kappa Chi’s Aashana Jariwala put on a presentation of her henna tattoo skills.
The electric dance performances of the night were from Phi Sigma Sigma’s Sam Osso, Sigma Delta Tau’s Samantha Napolitano and Sigma Delta Phi’s Ariana Locascio.
The show ended with Sigma Pi’s Grant Verity riling up the crowd with four separate dances to “Bye Bye Bye” and “Pop” by *NSYNC, Aaron Carter’s version of “I Want Candy” and then “Wanna Be” by The Spice Girls. When asked what makes him excited about Homecoming, Verity said, “Being with all the other orgs. I have a family here.” This theme of unity was expressed in many of the contestants’ answers to the questions.
The only two candidates from an organization that was not affiliated with Greek Life were Adrianna Strout, President of Players, and Danison Fronda, the Membership Chair of Rec Board.
Kaye Ferguson, a sister of Alpha Iota Chi and attendee, included her thoughts on the Talent Show. “It was good to see everyone. Everybody had a good time.”
Also commenting on the success of the event was Assistant Director of the Center for Student Involvement, Julie Flemming. Throughout her 12 years of experience putting together the talent shows, Flemming says her favorite part is always “seeing how creative the students are and what they come up with. I see them every day in conversations about running their organizations but being able to see them perform is new and it’s awesome. I love it.”
When each candidate was asked why he or she should be Homecoming Royalty, many contestants mentioned that the university and their respective organizations helped them get involved on campus and become a part of Montclair State’s campus.
The 2015 Homecoming Royalty will be crowned after the football game against William Paterson University on Saturday.
