Point Park University's Student-Run Newspaper

Point Park Globe

Point Park University's Student-Run Newspaper

Point Park Globe

Point Park University's Student-Run Newspaper

Point Park Globe

Campus Superstar, students showcase performance talents

Courtney Bassett belted her rendition of Michael Jackson’s “The Way You Make Me Feel,” substituting “high-tops” for “high heels” and throwing in an obligatory “hee-hee.”Connor Russell’s “Hey Jude” by The Beatles was well-received as an audience of 400 clapped along.Luke Minx playfully averted his eyes from the crowd as he omitted what mostly everyone knew was a curse word from the lyrics of Cee Lo Green’s “Forget You.”The stylized, lively performances of these Point Park University students were what qualified them for the final round of the fifth annual “American Idol-like” Campus Superstar competition, sponsored by The Edward and Rose Berman Hillel Jewish University Center (JUC) of Pittsburgh on Sunday, April 3 at the Carnegie Music Hall. “The talent was incredible,” Minx, freshman musical theater major, said after the show in the William Pitt Union Assembly Hall. “It really blew me away and I feel very lucky that I’ve gotten to this point.”Last October, Minx was one of the 150 Pittsburgh college students who sang an A cappella song of their choice, without accompaniment, for a panel of judges in hopes of being selected as one of 26 to move on to the next round. This time, the pressure was on as the semi-finalists presented their vocal talents last Sunday night to an audience of fellow students, friends, family members and strangers, all of which are either seated or standing shoulder-to-shoulder along the back wall of the assembly hall.Linda Myers, associate director of the Hillel JUC, a culturally-based non-profit organization whose mission is to promote Jewish life on campus, oversees many aspects of the production and marketing of the competition.  Myers said in a telephone interview Friday morning that the idea for Campus Superstar began as a fundraiser seven or eight years ago at the central Hillel JUC in Georgia as a vocal competition open to any full-time college student in the surrounding area. “I knew that we could do this in Pittsburgh,” Myers said. “Certainly there’s random talent all over – it doesn’t matter what major – but with Point Park and [Carnegie Mellon University] and the music school at Duquesne [University], I really knew that we had a critical mass of people who are trained to entertain.”Bassett, a senior musical theater major, and Russell, a junior musical theater major, were the first two out of eight total Point Park students to kick off the semi-finals, setting the standards high as they sang abbreviated versions of songs on a stage with nothing else but a piano accompanist, a microphone stand placed front and center, and a single spotlight.”What I love most about being onstage is getting to transport yourself and the audience into a different world,” Russell said. “Through whatever medium you are performing, onstage, you get to go on a journey which is different for every performance.”The next contestant to rise from her seat in the audience and take the stage was Point Park freshman acting major Chelsea Ringer. Her cocktail ring caught the spotlight every so often as she gestured to the audience throughout her performance of “Natural Woman” by Aretha Franklin.Several groups of Point Park students sprinkled throughout the crowd erupted into cheers and applause as Miguel Franklin, a senior sport, arts and entertainment management major, approached the microphone to sing Bon Jovi’s “Bed of Roses.””Performing means so much to me because that is what I grew up doing and that is what I dream about at night,” Franklin said via e-mail. “I just enjoy entertaining others and making audiences feel happy or sad or just to feel an emotion with each performance.”Alex Fry, a freshman musical theater major, chose to sing the moving ballad “Angel” by Sarah McLachlan, building her vocal intensity with each phrase.”[Performing is] very freeing, limitless … no matter how far away I am from home, or ever will be, as soon as I get on stage, I am right back there,” Fry said via e-mail. “With all the mess in the world, I feel like the only place that’s right and perfect is up there under the lights.”As she walked down the ramp back into the audience, Fry gave an encouraging smile to the next contestant, Amy Gottlieb, as the two passed each other. Gottlieb, a freshman musical theater major, sang “House of Love” by Amy Grant with a sweet smile and equally charming tone of voice.The tone shifted from sweet to sassy as Minx livened up not only the stage, but the entire room, with his animated performance of Green’s pop revenge anthem. The eighth and final Point Park performance was of Josh Groban’s “You Raise Me Up,” sung by freshman cinematography major Quinn Wirth, who, even as he maneuvered his way onto the stage with crutches and an injured foot, gave a strong performance that women throughout the audience swooned over.The remainder of the semi-finalists from Duquesne, Carnegie Mellon and the University of Pittsburgh demonstrated a vocal repertoire ranging from modern chart-toppers like Christina Perri’s “Jar of Hearts” to classic love songs like Frank Sinatra’s “More.” Some sang with reserved, melodic voices and others with a belt that reverberated off of the walls, filling the entire room.After the drawing of free raffles to win a basketball signed by the Pitt University men’s team or several other gift certificates, and much anticipation, the judges, local people involved with Pittsburgh’s entertainment industry, disclosed the names of the 10 students selected to compete for $5,000 in the finals on April 3.It will be a really “energetic and exciting” event, said Myers. The contestants will sing in front of a five-piece band and there will be lights and visual elements. There are also going to be special guest judges who will comment after each performance, but the decision of the winner ultimately depends on an audience vote, so student support is essential.Student tickets can be purchased at the discounted rate of $1 at the Hillel JUC at 4607 Forbes Ave., at the door on the day of the event or online at www.hilleljuc.org/campussuperstar/.

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