By Helen Cronin

You have to have been studying abroad on a different planet if you haven’t seen (or at least heard about) the video from 2005’s UltraViolet Live that shows a nascent Lady Gaga (alias Stefani Germanotta) performing. At 2010’s version of the all-school talent show, you could almost hear the question, “Who’s next?” 20 competitors, each representing one of NYU’s residence halls, took to the stage to try and give us an answer. Whether singing Mozart arias or beat boxing, an impressive array of talented performers had their five minutes of fame on Skirball’s stage. Given the talent-show-nature, those who shone the brightest had, like Gaga, a complete act, a novel presence. But regardless of who won, the February 25th show was an entertaining snapshot of the NYU community.

The show was hosted by Derrick Comedy member and NYU alum DC Pierson, who enjoyed making fun of overenthusiastic audience members and overly flirtatious artists. The night started with indie band Winter, North, & Night giving a noisy, vocally passionate rendition of an original song. Kudos went to vocalist Chris Duggan for his expressive and enthusiastic singing. Crowd favorite Martha-Sadie Griffin (after declaring “I’m single, just putting this out there” ) got the crowd going with acoustic versions of rap hits like Jay-Z’s “99 Problems” that showed off her large range and great sense of comedic timing. Guitarist Eric Kim took up the single-and-mingle banner and wooed the audience with his poignant original “Wine.” After a tap dancing interlude by Greenwich Hotel’s Lauren Lashua, classical pianist Francis Guo wowed the audience with his version of Lizst’s virtuosic “La Campanella” and an awesome lace ascot. Carlyle’s Don’t Forget to Write took things down a notch with their mellow, barefoot “Coast to Coast” which included a brilliant use of harmonica and dance. Carissa Matsushima sold the audience on her flirtatious take of the Queen of the Night’s aria from Mozart’s The Magic Flute. Alex Goley and his band (as yet unnamed) played “Don’t Let Me Go Alone” showing off a beautiful voice and indelible mandolin playing. Christian Oreste and Noah Welch thrilled the audience with their acoustic, stripping version of Britney Spear’s “Intoxicated” that included a very well placed moment with a glitter filled bandana. Phoebe Ryan’s band was the most professional-sounding of the night, including a string section, bells, creative lyrics, and overall polished sound, particularly impressive from a freshman. Guitarist Andrew Onore sang an original song with gusto, managing to fill the stage by himself. After David Sangillo’s juggling, Daniel Eiseman gave another polished performance of his song “Tiger” which started off as a piano and vocal number and blossomed into a jam complete with trumpet and sax. Meghan Offtermatt and accompanist Daniel Lee offered a different take on Bob Dylan’s “Make You Feel My Love” that showed off another lovely voice with theater sensibilities. Paolo Bitanga did a little bit of everything. A combination of break dancing, piano playing, singing, and beat-boxing kept the audience guessing. Lionel Yu played an original piano waltz that developed several catchy themes in complex variations. Andrew Flockhart, the ultimate winner, had a great act, escalating from creating simple beats to singing and beat boxing at the same time; just when things couldn’t get any crazier Flockhart pulled out a harmonica and played, sang, and beat boxed at the same time. The crowd went wild, and it came as no surprise that the judges chose him as the winner. To finish off the evening Brother Goose played a mellow composition about the beach with box percussion and strings.

Perhaps in a nod to Lady Gaga, the judges chose the performers of the evening as winners, awarding 2nd place to juggler David Sangillo and 3rd place to poi performer Shaun Sim. Regardless, there’s no doubt several of the performers of the night have more than enough talent to be seen far beyond Skirball’s stage.