This past weekend, Pioneer High School’s annual competitive talent show, Futurestars, held its preliminary rounds. Students from all of the Ann Arbor public high schools were invited to compete. Futurestars is different than the average talent show; contestants must audition to perform in it, and the directors choose what song the students perform.
Futurestars is modeled like American Idol. There are four shows, each with a different theme. This year the themes were Chart-Toppers and Lights Out on Friday night and Glee and Grammy night on Saturday. Contestants perform something for all four nights, and have to prepare their acts themselves, with help from the directors if needed. The directors this year were U of M Musical Theater students Joel Sparks, Desi Oakley, and Ashley Park, as well as U of M dance student Sadie Yarrington and Pioneer graduate Tim Van Riper.
Three or four judges tell them what they liked about their act and how they can improve. They then pick their five favorite performances from each show and the audience picks the three that they want to see in the final round. A group of freshmen and sophomores called Rising Stars perform two group numbers- one at the beginning of each show, and one at the end – but they don’t get judged.
The designated hosts, Pioneer students, announce the next act and provide entertainment for the audience between performances. The hosts this year were Corey Garff, Claire Shorin and Julia Rampton. The Rising Star hosts were Anny Hully, Drew Polovick and Sierre Wolfkostin.
Students thoroughly enjoyed the performances. Sara Abrams, a Community High School sophomore, saw Futurestars for the first time this year. “I thought it was awesome. I walked out of there like, ‘Oh my god.’” Among other people, Abrams thought Community sophomore Eliza Stein’s performance of “Forget You” by Cee-Lo Green was fantastic. “It was just surprising to me what I saw from her,” Abrams said.
Another audience favorite was DSB, three boys who write their own lyrics to rap songs. “DSB, every night,” Rising Star Hannah Hesseltine said. She listed her favorite acts from Saturday night. “Victoria, in the Glee night. That was really good. [She sang] ‘I wanna hold your hand.’ Misery. Maroon 5. Hank Miller. Definitely. Definitely my favorite.”
On Saturday January 15 at 7:30 P.M., finals will be at Pioneer.
Among the finalists are:
Mai Jammeh
Hank Miller and Molly Cocco
Lauren Victor
Carly Paull-Baird and Gabe Novak
Hank Miller
Eliza Stein
DSB
Lissa Kryska
Emily Lim
Victoria Reackhof
Schuyler Robinson
(These are not including all of the Directors’ Picks and the Wild Cards).
Come to the finals to see who will be this year’s Futurestar! Finals tickets cost $9 for students, 65+ seniors and PHS staff, and $12 for adults.
If you missed the preliminary shows last weekend, you can watch videos of some of the Saturday night performances below.
Molly Cocco and Claire Crause dance to “Bulletproof”
[quicktime]http://the-communicator.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/futurestars2.mov[/quicktime]
Kerry Fingerle and Isabel McKay sing “Winter Song”
[quicktime]http://the-communicator.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/futurestars.mov[/quicktime]
Clare Lauer sings “Breakeven”
[quicktime]http://the-communicator.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/futurestars3.mov[/quicktime]
Hank Miller, Russel Norris, Schuyler Robinson and Ray Hong Sing “Misery”
[quicktime]http://the-communicator.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/futurestars4.mov[/quicktime]
Emma Share dances to “Jar of Hearts”
[quicktime]http://the-communicator.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/futurestars5.mov[/quicktime]
Lissa Kryska Dances to “Dog Days Are Over”
[quicktime]http://the-communicator.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/futurestars6.mov[/quicktime]
Julia Devarti sings “Hometown Glory”
[quicktime]http://the-communicator.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/futurestars7.mov [/quicktime]
Eliza Stein sings “Forget You”
[quicktime]http://the-communicator.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/futurestars8.mov[/quicktime]
