A Whole Lot of Talent

Highlights from MDX Got Talent, winner of Studnet-Led Event of the Year 2019, run by Simgers & Musicians Society and POW! Media. BY LISA HUNT

Singers & Musicians Society, in collaboration with POW! Media, presented Middlesex University’s fifth talent show, MDX Got Talent, on the 18th March 2019. Many students sang, spoke and played their hearts out for a chance to win the prize of a£75 Amazon Voucher and a massive blue diamond.

After going through a long and nerve-racking audition process, they had the chance to stand on stage and perform in front of an enormous 150 people, as well as a Facebook live feed run by POW! Media.

The platform, run and led by students, also conducted interviews with each of the contestants prior to the event – you can find out all about the finalists and watch these videos on the POW! Media Facebook page.

The night was an assortment of musicians, singers, poetry, and even Kenneth the magician who bewildered the audience with his card tricks. We had a variety of ballads, rock, original pieces and even musical theatre was performed.

Matt Ketley, a committee member for the Singers & Musicians Society and the host for the evening, was captivating and kept the show running despite the technical issues, while allowing the judges to have ample time to give them feedback.

The judges of the night were Alice,Erica, Lydia and even Senior Lecturer Forenzo – Simon Cowell must have been busy that night I guess.

The night began with a brilliant rendition of “I’m Yours” by Jason Mraz played on guitar by Mrinal Mathur, with the judges offering positive responses regarding the performances.

Monica Isaac followed with her adorable performance of “You Say” by Lauren Daigle, where halfway through the song she bashfully apologised.

The night went on with a Metallica guitar solo from Rupak Lingual,which was a stark contrast against the previous two acts. None-the-less, it caused quite a stir from the audience judging by the number of phones in the air recording his performance.

The beautifully talented Rebecca Green took to the stage and became the breath-taking Eponine through her cover of Les Miserables “On My Own”.

Lorretta Labiani tugged at our heart strings with a couple of poems from her repertoire, and Jessie and Her Friends rocked the stage with their cover of “Highway Star”. The band were phenomenal and I’m pretty sure that the gaze of every member of the audience was fixed firmly on the stage.

Then we had Kenneth Polden who, in his interviews with POW! Media, described his act as ‘Mentalist’, which was very truthful when he correctly guessed that Lydia had a pair of boobs (on a card that someone had drawn).

We then had a break which gave the audience a chance to refill their glasses, and the judges than had an opportunity to discuss what went on in the first half of the event. This gave me a chance to have a chat with the contestants.

Well, I can say one thing at least – the people of Middlesex are a supportive bunch since, when asked why they auditioned, most of the contestants mentioned that their friends told them to.

It was during this interval that I realised how “weird”, “mad”, “happy” and even “crazy” each of the contestants were, and the variety of chords that make up the student body which, I imagine, would create a harmonious sound.

In the second portion of the night Maddie Wise played an angelic original song called “All Around Me” on keyboard. This was followed by an extremely different original piece by Hades called “I Believe In You” which, along with his eye catching Guy Fieri trousers, really caught the audience’s attention.

A version of Pulp Fiction’s “Misirlou” was played by Jakub Mikusinec, who added a sense of humour to the tense piece and even had his own banners being shown by fans.

Then soulful Angie took to the stage beginning with a motivational speech, before moving the room with her incredible vocals.

The last two acts of the night were Elena’s cover of “Pulled” from the theatre show The Addams Family Musical, in which she not only cosplayed as Wednesday Addams, but killed it (metaphorically) with her acting and range.

The conclusive act of the night came from the brilliant CJ who belted “No More Drama” by Mary J Blige to a roaring round of applause.

Another interval later to allowed for the peoples vote, the POW! Media Award and the Judges decisions, and we were back to the results, which can be found on the POW! Media Facebook page.

The night was an amazing event, and it’s to the credit of the entire committee of Singers and Musicians that it was one of the biggest events that an MDX Society has held this year with a large, diverse, supportive and energetic crowd to witness.