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(ARCHIVE PHOTO | THE GRAHAM LEADER) Lainey Herring sings Skyfall by Adele during the talent portion of the All-American Girl Pageant held Saturday, Feb. 24 at Memorial Auditorium in Graham. Singing is one of the many ways contestants can showcase their skills in the upcoming Graham’s Got Talent event also held at the auditorium.
Members of the community will soon have the opportunity to take the stage and showcase their talents before a panel of judges in the inaugural Graham’s Got Talent event.
The event will be held from 6-8 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 12 at Graham Memorial Auditorium. All ages and talents are welcome at the event, and registration and attendance is free.
It was a little over a month ago that the vision came together for event organizer Jade Alexander. She wanted a closer event for her daughter to participate in singing competitions and wanted something that could provide her future connections.
Alexander’s idea for the event then changed after she wanted a more community-driven approach.
“I don’t think we’ve ever had anything like that in Graham,” she said. “(I thought) let’s just do a Graham’s Got Talent and kind of go off the TV show and have our small community people get together and laugh, have fun and cry, just like they do on the TV show.”
The deadline to register is Tuesday, Oct. 1 with at least eight participants already registered for the 20 spots available. To register, email grahamsgottalent@gmail.com and give a small explanation of the talent a participant wants to showcase.
“It’s got to be kept clean, it’s for families,” Alexander said. “We want to make sure it’s family-friendly for the community. (We want) singing, dancing, cheers, ...telling jokes (and) acting like little, small skits.”
A panel of two male and two female judges will make a determination of each contestant following their performance.
“It’s not going to be a critical thing, ...it’s not going to be the same as a TV show. The layout is going to be similar, but we’re going to embrace those little mistakes and if they do need work, send them to a voice coach, send them to a musician that can help them,” Alexander said. “...And not just that, (we want to) encourage them to become the best that they can be. Anybody in the community should be built up and encouraged.”
Each act will be approximately three to three-and-a-half minutes long and prizes will be awarded based on the categories of the entries.
First place winners will receive recording time at Wayne’s Music World in Graham and runners up will receive gift baskets from local businesses.
The night will be emceed by Matt Pruitt who will introduce each contestant.
“They (will) come out, do their performance, get judged, then the judges get to do their feedback. That’s going to be part of the entertainment. They have to be outspoken people,” Alexander said. “...Right after that, the emcee will give that one special slot to the business that donated. So each business gets a special slot, rather than everything conjoined all at once.”
Alexander said in her personal life she focuses on people’s mental health and hopes the event can be a fun and joyful experience for those participating and in attendance.
“It’s not just a talent show. These are God-given talents,” she said..” ...I started thinking of the military men that are out in the middle of war. ...There’s no telling what they’ve been through and they have had other soldiers and other outsiders come in and do singing, acting and jokes. That’s how they get through those hard times is laughter and entertainment. That’s a real thing. I think people really just overlook the importance of (those) things sometimes.”
