This April 4th, anyone “who LIVES, WORKS, WORSHIPS or goes to SCHOOL in Englewood or Englewood Cliffs” was given a golden opportunity to showcase their talent(s) in the bergenPAC thanks to Englewood’s Got Talent.

Despite a similar venue to Englewood Idol  and the fact that Mrs. Aronson’s efforts made the event a reality, the event’s proceeds were not contributed to The Dr. John Grieco Scholarship Fund. Instead, they go towards the “purchase of a beautiful new electronic signboard that will enable the school to communicate with parents, students, and the community, and support our ‘paperless’ initiatives to cut costs and protect our environment” according to the campaigns website. The Dwight Morrow High School/Academies@Englewood Marquee Campaign needs to meet their goal of $50,000 to achieve such task.

The categories of the event were “dancers, vocalists, instrumentalists, comedians, and kindergarten through eighth grade.” Said Mrs. Aronson, who worked with Mrs. Rochman, event’s director.

“I was impressed by the range of talents and performed by many groups including older and younger people.” said Mr. Ravitz, a teacher that helped in the auditions and even videotaped the actual event, “Englewood should embrace those who were brave enough to take a chance at programs like Englewood’s got talent.”

Other than its respective categories, another thing setting it apart from the many enjoyable events Mrs. Aronson has brought us was whom the event was open to.

Auditions were “open to adults, students, young children and senior citizens” according to Mrs. Aronson who expected “a lot of adult acts.”

Jessica Mierzejewski (sophomore) recalls her friend Anexis Ruiz (sophomore) performing in duet with Joshua Castillo (sophomore) in a rap.

“The crowd went wild as they performed and the atmosphere was lively and colorful!” said Jessica, “Everyone truly enjoyed it.”

Sophomores Lauren Alemany and Tanginay Hardy performed a different kind of duet; a hip-hop dance. To stay confident and perform her routine to the best of her ability, Lauren Alemany thought of her favorite quote from Brian Littrell.

“The quote, ‘Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars.’ was my mantra for the night and helped me get through the routine and enjoy it overall.” said Lauren.

The event progressed in a manner that bared little resemblance to that of Englewood Idol since the structure was far more flexible and the talents ranged.

“It felt different than Englewood idol – it was more relaxed, wackier, people had no idea what to expect from each act so it made it exciting in a different way than idol.” said Mrs. Aronson adding, “And getting the audience involved with the ‘minute to win it’ competitions was so much fun to watch.”

There were other interesting opportunities on the night of the event aside from performing or supporting someone you know who was performing. There was a silent auction with rather unique prizes.

According to Mrs. Aronson, attendees bid on “anything from free hotel rooms to zumba classes and even a VIP parking spot for students in the teacher parking lot.”

For a first year event, the turnout was rather impressive; students, teachers and parents have seemingly displayed interest in having the event next year as well.

“The interest people showed in having the event again next year made us feel like this show has such potential.” said Mrs. Aronson.

For this event to perhaps go even better, Mrs. Aronson hopes to “maybe start auditions earlier in the year and reach out to more people in englewood of all ages to audition.”

“I’ve never seen the show,” said Mrs. Aronson, “Fortunately a lot of people I work with watch a lot more fun TV than I do!” as she referred to the show America’s Got Talent on NBC.

Like all the joyous events Mrs. Aronson and others in our community have given us in the past, Englewood’s Got Talent took people’s breath away and grabbed their attention just as the marquee will do if and when it is built.