A Charity Talent Show for all ages
The Charity Talent Show returned to the Humphreys Theatre on Saturday 1 February, providing a superb evening of entertainment.
Mr Patterson opened the show by introducing a representative from Renewed Hope, the Charity Committee’s nominated charity for this year, and then handed over to the evening’s Masters of Ceremonies, Oscar and Adam (both Upper Sixth). The MCs did sterling jobs of hyping up our performers and integrating some unforgettable comedy moments into the show.
Many of our performers were singers, but we also enjoyed a slick interpretation of Michael Jackson’s Smooth Criminal from dancers Isabella, Lana and Anastasiia (all Lower Sixth), and a rousing electric guitar rendition of the Top Gun theme by Vincent (Upper Sixth), who has become something of a Talent Show icon since his first appearance in 2022. We also loved hearing Julie and Fiona (both Upper Sixth) performing a piano-and-vocal duet of an operatic classic. Singers Maya (First Year), Ella-Jaide (Second Year), Scarlett (Third Year), Samuel (Fifth Year), and Florence, Lily and Ann (all Fourth Year) acted their pieces superbly while showcasing great vocal control.
This left the judging panel (Mrs Yankova, Ms Print-Griffiths and Mr Evans) with what Craig Revel Horwood once called a “heinous dilemma.” We spent a while working out who would win our Highly Commended, Second and First Place awards. While we did so, Mr Patterson played a great game of “was this song a number one hit or not?”, which culminated in a titanic duel between Isla (Second Year) and Mr Griffiths. Isla won that showdown just after the judges returned to the theatre to announce that Vincent was our Highly Commended act, that Julie and Fiona had won the Audience Vote, and that Florence, Lily and Ann had won the Second Place trophy.
The 2025 Talent Show champion was Scarlett, whose performance of the Hamilton tune Burn demonstrated her incredible understanding of the lyrics and fantastic singing technique. Congratulations to Scarlett for this hard-fought victory!
This left us with only the iconic grand finale: the Upper Sixth Dance-Off. After watching the boys’ “dance through the ages,” featuring Will holding up signs with various years on them throughout the routine, the judges were left bowled over by the dancers’ spirited interpretations of Gimme Gimme Gimme (A Man After Midnight), Beat It and Bad Blood (the Taylor Swift / Kendrick Lamar remix). The girls knew they would need to bring a seriously A+ game in order to dethrone the boys…
…and they duly delivered, with their Charlie’s Angels-inspired performance. Their powerful rendition of Run The World (Girls) and a seemingly spontaneous dance to Pitbull’s Fireball (featuring Elle, Beth, Gabby and Isabelle as aviators) were among the highlights of their choreography. The judges took to the stage thereafter and tossed coins in their minds to decide which team would win – it was that close. The boys had superbly captured the “embrace the ridiculousness” charm of the Dance-Off, while the girls had fantastically epitomised the golden rule of theatre – delivered a technically strong performance while making it seem unrehearsed. With this in mind, the judges’ coin tosses landed in the girls’ favour, and they won the Dance-Off. Zoe, who had choreographed most of the girls’ dance, was delighted to receive the trophy.
The Charity Talent Show is always one of my favourite nights of the year, and the 2025 show has demonstrated this more than any other show that I have attended. Watching our pupils standing tall on the stage is an honour in itself, but for them to do so in support of such a great cause as Renewed Hope is particularly humbling. All our performers, hosts, and Charity Committee supporters from Saturday should be proud.
Eleven years ago on Saturday, not having experienced any Talent Show magic during his school days, one of this weekend’s judges was attending a Taylor Swift concert. As that judge said during the Talent Show on Saturday, those two amazing events, eleven years apart, were just as much fun as each other – which is about as big a compliment as one can get from this formerly stage-shy judge who had yet to discover the magic of taking part in the performing arts.
Mr R. Evans
Teacher of Chemistry, Talent Show Judge, Head of Ridgefield
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