What does it take to step into the spotlight, perform for an audience and then be judged?
Fifteen talents will soon find out when they take the stage at the Grays Harbor County Fair talent show, tomorrow night at 6 p.m.
Claudia Self, talent show coordinator and secretary of the Grays Harbor County Fairboard, said the performers were pretty gutsy just trying out for the talent show.
“They just get right up there,” Self said. “I couldn’t do it.”
Auditions were held in mid-June and about 24 people tried out. Of those 24 people, 15 were selected to perform at the fair. There are five acts in the junior division, six in the teen division and four in the adult division.
The acts are not judged against each other but are awarded points based on their individual abilities. They are judged on poise, appearance, stage presence and overall impression. Self said she is not a judge and just coordinates the show.
The most difficult part of her job, Self said, is informing the artist their act didn’t make it into the show.
“It’s so hard and kind of sad. That’s the part I don’t like,” Self said. Instead of breaking hearts there and then at the audition, the artists who try out for the talent show are mailed a letter, telling them yes or no.
Self said a majority of the performers this year are singers, with one young hopeful solving a Rubik’s Cube — behind his back, no less. Other years, there have been dancers, musicians and even one youngster riding a unicycle and doing stunts. His act was nixed by the talent show judges as being too dangerous, though.
“We were afraid he would ride right off the stage,” Self said. Other than daredevil unicyclists, the talent show welcomes almost any talent including stand-up comedians, magicians, musicians and dancers.
The show is usually well attended with family and friends supporting their person, and it provides an additional venue for Grays Harbor performers, Self said.
Twelve-year-old Aiden Bunch, of Hoquiam, said he hopes to amaze the crowd at the talent show with his speedy Rubik’s Cube solving. Winning is secondary, but he said he would spend the prize money on more cubes if he did win.
There are 43 quintillion ways to scramble a Rubik’s Cube, says the official website. The cube was a popular toy in the 1980s and was invented by Erno Rubik in 1974.
Bunch, a 7th-grader at Hoquiam Middle School, said solving the puzzle usually takes between 21 and 23 seconds. He uses a cube-solving method called CFOP or the Fridrich Method. Bunch explained the speed-cubing method involves algorithms, orientations and permutations and took him some time to learn.
“I practiced and practiced,” Bunch said. He first learned by watching a YouTube video and then memorized the steps by writing them down.
Bunch, who has been cubing for two years, now has his own YouTube channel, KrazyCuber, where he demonstrates how he solves the Rubik’s Cube.
Bunch competed in a speed-cubing competition in Oregon where he was up against cubers from all ages and abilities, and advanced to the second round. In addition to his cubing, Bunch maintains a 4.0 grade point average, which might be helped by all that cubing.
“Before a big test,” Bunch said, “I cube — because it relieves stress.”
Competing alongside Bunch in the junior division are Joie Haviland of Aberdeen, Violette Capoeman of Neilton, Natalia Horton of Elma and Brooke Williams, also of Elma.
Performers in the teen division are Ben Hads of McCleary, a duet including Hads and Annie Newbill of Montesano, Haley Fleming of Aberdeen, Adrianne Orellana of Elma, Madisyn Dockery of Elma and Jessica Taborski of Montesano.
Adult hopefuls in the talent show are Dawn Fix of Aberdeen, Kelsey Hamilton of Olympia, Tricia Mudgett of Elma and Melissa Dier of Olympia.
First place in each division receives a $100 prize and second place receives a $50 prize.
