Students take the stage at BlackSC Got Talent


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People standing on stage.
Student performers showed off their skills in singing, dancing and more. Marlize Duncan emceed the show, entertaining the crowd in between performances with stand up comedy and an interactive trivia competition. (Jesse Siegel | Daily Trojan)

Several stories underground and fitted with moody blue lighting, Tommy’s Place became an intimate venue as students streamed in Friday for an evening of entertainment and Black celebration.

BlackSC Got Talent is one of the many events the Black Student Assembly organized in observance of Black History Month, and was the organization’s first competitive talent show.

Elande Abate and Miles Mogush, co-chairs of the BSA special events team, conceived the vision for the show. The duo modeled BlackSC Got Talent after a familiar namesake, “America’s Got Talent,” to highlight the creative skills and development of their contestants.

“This week, we really wanted to show off the arts of BlackSC,” said Mogush, a senior majoring in music industry and the production manager at Tommy’s Place. “We really want people to be rewarded for the talents that we have. And not just people that are in the performance majors … I really want to promote everyone that makes Black art.”

At the first-ever BlackSC Got Talent, the competition was strong. Four performers showcased a variety of singing, instrumental and dancing skills to impress the audience and a panel of judges. 

“We’re so diverse and multifaceted in our talents, what we can do, what we enjoy, our hobbies,” said Abate, a junior majoring in communications. “In all events with Black History Month this semester, we’re trying to tap into different areas of the Black community.”

Performers were given a couple weeks to rehearse and perfect their acts. Izzy Batiste, a first-year graduate student studying higher education, choreographed the whole routine for his dance troupe, BLK Elites, the only dancing act.

“I’m a perfectionist,” Batiste said. “I want everything to look a certain way, be a certain way. But it just really felt organic. Whenever we practiced together, it really felt like we all knew what we were doing and it kinda just just fell into place.”

Person playing keyboard on stage.
BlackSC was put on by USC BSA to support all different types of Black creatives. The talent show offered a space for Black students to come together and support one another in friendly competition. (Jesse Siegel | Daily Trojan)

The judges panel, composed of USC professors, faculty and students, provided feedback after each act and in the final rankings.

“The judges’ feedback was so essential,” said Jadon Wise, a singer in the talent show and a junior majoring in music industry. “I’m very, very grateful that we have the space to do this and grateful that they took the time out to actually work with us, give us advice and just really encourage us to keep doing what we’re doing.”

The judges crowned Keshell Phillips, a freshman majoring in pop music, the first-place winner of the show with her stunning cover of Whitney Houston’s “I Have Nothing.”

“Whitney Houston is a big one and it’s very risky,” Phillips said. “But I think that what I do, and what all artists should do when they choose a song, [is to] really figure out what that song means to you and what you want to do with it … Singing this song was kind of a fear for me, but to just step into my strengths and weaknesses and be true to myself, I was able to express it through that song.”

Between acts, Marlize Duncan, the show’s emcee and a senior majoring in  journalism, hyped up the crowd with stand-up comedy, games and fun facts about the performers. Audience members were invited on stage to participate in trivia about Black history. 

Anticipating a future BlackSC Got Talent, Duncan said she’s looking forward to seeing an even greater variety of talents next year.

“I feel like singing and dancing are some of the go-to talents that people will do for talent shows,” Duncan said. “But I want to see something out of the box. I want to see people juggle … beatboxing … comedy. I know people have talent. I think it’s more or less getting the guts to go up on stage and do that, even if it’s a bit different than what you would normally see on a talent show.”

Mary Ikeocha, a junior majoring in psychology and marketing and fellow musical contestant, said she appreciates the space USC provides for its Black students and wants to see it expand.

“I would just like to commend USC for having an open space and open heart for their Black students to come and be themselves and to show up here during Black History Month,” Ikeocha said. “Not every school can say that about themselves. We have a pretty prevalent Black population on campus. I think that it’s really amazing to see how we can all come together and enjoy activities and just share love.”