May 23, 2011 — So You Think KENT Has Talent was held Sat., May 21 at Kent-Meridian’s Performing Arts Center. The show was emceed by King County Chief Deputy Steve Strachan, more than 200 people were in attendance at Saturday’s performance. More than $3,000 was raised for Kent Youth and Family Services.

The competition was judged by Kent Mayor Suzette Cooke; Deborah Ranniger, Kent City Council; Ronda Billerbeck, City of Kent Cultural Programs Manager; Bill Boyce, KSD Board President; Debbie Theisen, KMHS Campus Manager; and Polly Shepherd, Publisher, Kent & Tukwila Reporter.

Shown below are the winners of this year’s competition:

1st place overall NFI Enterprises Grand prize $1000 -
Brenna Benson, 15, ‘District Sleeps Tonight’ (dancer)

2nd place overall Heather McCurdy PNW Realty prize $500 –
Mackenzie Visser, 15, yrs ‘Green Finch and Linnet bird’ (vocalist)

3rd place overall Baldwin Chiropractic prize $250 –
Brenna Kay O’Farrell, 16, ‘Back to December’ (vocalist)

*’Audience Pick’ Winner – Maria-Victoria Kovalsky, 10, ‘Pie Jesu’ (vocalist)

The audience voted for their favorite with $1 per vote. $1,017 dollars was raised with audience votes for KYFS.

Maria-Victoria received: Pizza for a year from Papa John’s, $100 certificate to Portrait Innovations, $50 cash from Allegro Performing Arts Academy and $25 McClendons Hardware Gift card.

Division Winners –

Youth Division 1st place Curran Law Firm Prize $100- Chloey Chae, 11, ‘Mozart Variations KV 265′ (pianist)

Teen Division 1st place Lemon Drop Skin Care Prize $100 – Brenna Benson, 15, ‘District Sleeps Tonight’ (dancer)

Adult Division 1st place Intimate Pilates Prize $100 – James Bacher, ‘In my daughter’s eyes’ (vocalist)

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May 9, 2011 — The results are in. Kent does, indeed, have talent!

The preliminary qualifications for So You Think Kent Has Talent were held at Allegro Performing Arts Academy Saturday, May 7. More than 50 individuals and groups performed, vying to be selected for the final event later this month. Judged by Mychal Boiser, Dana Ralph, Patrick Briggs and Dave Hobbs, the following finalists will move onto the May 21 competition:

Youth Division (in alphabetical order)

Jacob Bernhard (drums)
Choley Chae (piano)
Joelle Egbert (vocal)
Maria-Viktoria Kovalsy (vocal)
Alvina Ngo (vocal)

Teen Division (in alphabetical order)

Brenna Benson (dance)
Brenna Kay O’Farrell (vocal)
Endless Rhapsody – Jason Garcia & Shaun Fisher (vocal & guitar)
Kailyn Montieth (vocal)
Mackenzie Visser (vocal)

Adult Division (in alphabetical order)

James Bacher (vocal)
Jeannette Benson (vocal)
Theresa Raleigh (vocal)
Mirei Zaborac (Japanese instrument)
5,6,7,8 Dance – Meghna Kapadia, Vinay Kapadia, Juhi Jain, Amit Bhardwaj, Kamal Kalra, Chetan Bhardwaj, Rahul Khyastha, Aditya Saurabh (East Indian folk dancing)

SHOW INFO.

‘So you think KENT has talent!’
Saturday, May 21, 6:30pm
Kent Meridian High School Performing Arts Center
Tickets $10 each, purchased at the door
Tickets can be reserved by calling 253-813-9630
All proceeds benefit Kent Youth and Family Services

Prizes provided by local businesses:

$1,000 NFI Enterprise Grand Prize
$500 Heather McCurdy PNW Realty 2nd Overall
$250 Baldwin Chiropractic 3rd Overall
$100 1st place for each age division: Lemon Drop Skincare, Intimate Pilates & Curran Law Firm

**Audience Pick (voted on by the audience/$1 ticket to vote) will receive:

$50 Cash provided by Allegro Performing Arts Academy
$25 McClendon Gift Card
Papa John’s pizza for a year
Portrait innovations $100 certificate

Theater Sponsor – Allegro Performing Arts Academy

Advertising Sponsor – Personal Financial Planning

Award Sponsor – West Coast Awards and Athletics

Judges for the Finals are Mayor Suzette Cooke, Deborah Ranniger, Ronda Billerbeck, Bill Boyce, Deborah Theisen, Polly Shepherd

So you think KENT has talent winners will participate in the Kent Cornucopia Parade on July 10 as well as perform at:

Kent International Festival – 6/18 Time tbd
4th of July Splash – 7/4 6:30 pm
Kent Cornucopia – 7/8  5:15pm