From blindfolded piano to hip-hop dancing, local performers of all ages took the stage at the annual Dixie’s Got Talent.
Dixie’s Got Talent is a fundraiser for scholarships for students. The program started in 2011 and became a community event.
“We are changing lives one scholarship at a time,” said Del Beatty, vice president of student affairs.
The event is donation and sponsor-based. There were six sponsors this year, some of them being Utah Tech Alumni Association and The Pasta Factory. Contestants also raise donations, and when the audience votes, they are required to donate a minimum of $1.
The scholarship aspect is why this event is important for students. They get the opportunity to win scholarship money by doing something they are passionate about, said Brianne Crismon, a senior digital media major from Sandy, and performer at DGT.
This year’s winners were:
- The Revivers, a group of vocal artists
- Mason Staheli, a youth pianist
- Miles Jeppson, an adult singer
When asked about how she felt when her name was announced as a runner-up in the adult category, Eliza Pond, a freshman design major from Santa Clara, said, “I was not expecting it, to be honest, but first of all, I’m way younger than everybody else in the category. I’m only 18 [years old].”
Contestants applied by sending in a video of their performance, and the judges picked the top 40 performers to go to callbacks.
Students worked hard to earn a callback.
“It was a rigorous process,” Crismon said.
If students got a callback, then they went through another audition process where 16 performers and four groups were picked as finalists.
This year there were three different categories, youth, adult and group. Each group had one winner who was awarded $500 and the opportunity to represent DGT at community events.
The performers ranged in all ages and talents, including pianists, singers, dancers and a comedian. The audience’s reactions were strong for comedian Chase McPhie in the adult group and Mason Staheli in the youth category, who played the piano blindfolded.
Dance Fuzion Studio did a hip-hop dance and had all ages performing. One of the performers drove a mini car on stage.
Before the winner was announced, DGT had last year’s youth winner, a hip-hop dancer named Enoch Braunberger, and adult winner, pianist Mark Gubler, come back to perform again. The previous winners also gave this year’s winners their scholarship check.
Visit their website to find more information and keep up with their Instagram to know when they are accepting auditions for next year.
