FMU held open auditions for its annual talent show, “FMU’s Got Talent,” on Sept. 19 in the Chapman Auditorium in the McNair Science Building (MSB). 

A variety of talents were showcased at the audition including singing, dancing and martial arts. 

According to FMU’s Student Life specialist Amanda Wagner, 21 students auditioned for FMU’s Got Talent. Every student was allowed to move forward, but one student had to drop out due to a conflict in their schedule, leaving 20 participants.  

“We haven’t had to cut at auditions yet, so we don’t have an exact process for how to go about it, but we have spoken briefly about the possibility,” Wagner said. “Most cuts at auditions happen due to conflict in schedule, since our dates are set, and we let performers know that after auditions.” 

FMU’s Got Talent, as well as the auditions, were sponsored by the Campus Activities Board (CAB). 

Students who did not want to audition were permitted to watch the auditions; many people came for moral support or to observe the audition process. 

Before performing, students were given two pieces of paper: a waiver to sign in the event of an accident occurring on stage and an information sheet about FMU’s Got Talent. 

“It’s fun for your peers to see you do something; I mean, this is out of some people’s comfort zones,” Matthew Dixon, freshman biology major, said. “You’re showing your

confidence, your courage, when you get up on stage and not being shy to even fail.” 

Dixon sang “That’s Life” by Frank Sinatra for his audition. 

Some of the performers would stop their acts upon a mistake, but the audience would shout words of encouragement at them and clap. When an audience member was nervous to get on stage and perform, the same would happen. 

“I messed up bad, I got really nervous and I just went, ‘alright, I’m sorry I messed up’ and they were like ‘it’s okay, keep going,’” Dixon said. “I wrapped it up and finished, and they all clapped. Besides the stuttering, I must’ve done fine.” 

Some students danced, some rapped and a majority sang over karaoke tracks. One performer played guitar as he sang, and another did a dance number while singing “Finesse” by Bruno Mars. 

Jameel Montgomery, a freshman biology major, did a martial arts demo. Montgomery, a transfer student from Maryland, is a practitioner of Silat, a type of Indonesian martial arts that he has been doing for around six years. 

“I wanted to do something that was unique, so I did my martial arts demo,” Montgomery said. “I don’t think that’s been done before. The style of Silat that I practice is called satria, which translates roughly to knight.” 

There will be three talent showcases. One will be on Sept. 29, one on Oct. 13 and the finale will take place on Oct. 27, and all of the showcases will begin at 6 p.m. The students will be competing for a prize of $500.