Some performers are more than meets the eye.
Saturday's Welcome Week Talent Show boasted a large crowd of more than 300 people. Some came to support friends, and incoming students came to get a feel for what Auburn is like, but Tim Wang, freshman in architecture, said he ended up being surprised and pleased by the showing of assorted talents.
"A friend who's performing invited me," said Tim Wang, freshman in architecture. "It's really diverse and interesting."
Emilee Williams, this year's Miss Auburn and emcee for the event, said she was happy with the range of participants, which included comedy acts, original songs and musical performances.
"Every talent show that I've been to at Auburn is really diverse," Williams said. "You'd think you'd only have singers and songwriters and musicians, but there's always comedians and dancers. It goes every which way, which I think is really great."
The winner of this year's show, Jim Hwang, was also the winner of the first talent show UPC put on for Welcome Week last year. Though Williams found it difficult to pick her preferred contestant, she said Hwang was the performer who impressed her the most.
"It's hard to pick a favorite, but I'm definitely impressed by the winner who really displayed being able to play four different instruments that are completely different," Williams said. "I thought that was great to see, but really all of them are special in their own way. It's always hard to pick a favorite."
Hwang played only the piano during the talent show last year, but this time he upped his game to include the clarinet, guitar and harmonica.
"I started playing piano and guitar around middle school," Hwang said. "I started playing the clarinet in the fifth grade, and the harmonica I just picked up about a year ago. I know a few more, but there was a three-minute time limit."
Hwang was awarded a prize of $300 and will split his winnings between two charities: the Committee of 19, which advocates an end to world hunger, and the International Justice Mission, which fights against sex trafficking in other countries.
The second-place winner, Jim Flaniken, played a fast-paced jig on his violin and was surprised to place at the talent show his freshman year.
"Whenever you're competing you have to gear yourself toward winning it, so I did expect it in that way, but if I tried to stack myself up realistically it would be a different story," Flaniken said.
Flaniken has spent more than 10 years playing the violin, which allowed him to hold his own in this year's show.
Kaitie Gallahue, the Welcome Week project coordinator in charge of the event, said she was pleased with the results of the show and was happy so many students came out.
"At the end, everyone's clapping, being happy, dancing and having a good time," Gallahue said. "That's just such a good thing to know that I made this night a good one. If they walk out with a smile on their face, that's all I need to know."
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