Small Stars Shine During ISF’s Got Talent Show
Small Stars Shine During ISF’s Got Talent
A hundred-strong crowd is cheering on the singer in front of them. They’re enchanted by her energetic voice and the keyboardist’s arrangement. Some audience members chat furtively with their neighbors, others are distracted, but most are held rapt by the performance in front of them; and all of them are smiling. By the sound of it, you’d think a new pop star had come to town. Though this wasn’t one of Phnom Penh’s open air Saturday night concerts. It all took place on the fourth floor of our Stung Meanchey campus during our ISF’s Got Talent show.
An All-Access Talent Show
This is the third year in a row we’ve staged the talent show, to the delight of our students – whether they grace the stage or not. ISF’s Got Talent is structured similar to the television series which inspired its name. Students appear before an audience of their peers and a trio of panelists who offer them advice and guidance on their performance. Successful performances were determined using six criteria: competency; movement; costume, audience votes and panelists’ ratings. Panelists consisted of ISF staff members and a past ISF’s Got Talent winner. Any ISF pupil in our catch-up or state school programmes can join and many did.
Over the course of the event, 210 catch up and state school students showed off their talents. Performances took place over three days, with the finals competition being a whole school event. It featured guest acts and a live musician to accompany our student performers. At the end of the contest, three champions were named. Two winners were girls, one a boy, all of them were singers.
Performative Education
The annual talent show is a component of our holistic education programme which strives to teach ISF students a variety of lessons in and out of class. This activity focuses on building self confidence in performers and community building in the audience who supports them. The gentle advice from our panelists also shows the performers that accepting constructive criticism is nothing to fear and plays an important role in personal development.
