SAA presents 1st IU’s Got Talent for Homecoming week

It was 7 p.m. on Thursday of Homecoming week, and the first-IU’s Got Talent was about to begin in Alumni Hall.

The room filled with students, faculty and members of the Bloomington community who were eager to witness some IU talent.

“I watch ‘America’s Got Talent’ all the time, so I am excited to see what this talent show has to offer,” freshman Lindsay Syson said before the show.
She said she wasn’t disappointed.

The contestants rocked so hard that bits of the ceiling littered the floor by the end of the show.

Just after 7 p.m., emcees Eddie Suarez and Ryu Teramoto announced the first act: senior Ben Fraley, who would perform a vocal/guitar act.

Fraley was originally supposed to perform ninth with Eric McCellan, the other member of his band, We Hear Voices.

However, Fraley was informed at the last minute that the other half of his duo couldn’t make the performance and that his act was pushed to the first slot.

“I’m a little nervous,” Fraley said before the show. “I usually perform with Eric and at smaller venues.”

But Fraley showed the other large groups you don’t always have to have more members in order to be bold.

After Suarez and Teramoto’s introduction, the curtain rose, and Fraley stood in the spotlight with his guitar.

All it took was a few strums before the audience began to react to the music.

The audience clapped, stamped and cheered. Fraley’s performance was followed by a roar from the crowd as he waved to the audience and stepped off stage.

Fraley has been performing since he was 3 years old.

“I have a home video of me when I was younger and I was standing on our coffee table performing,” Fraley said.

When he was 15 he taught himself how to play the guitar and then started his band with McCellan. The two will record their first EP titled “A Little About Life and a Little About Love” this weekend.

“A friend of ours is a producer and he is giving us a chance to get our music out there. We have no equipment, so we are recording in my living room,” Fraley said.

His song “White Guy at a Hip Hop Show” will be on the EP. The song is about someone who feels out of place, Fraley said. “The song basically says that I love you, but I can’t be with you, and I hope we can still be friends.”

Fraley describes his music as acoustic punk rock.

“My music is hard and fast. However, in the end, it’s all about the words. That’s what I focus on in the end,” he explained.

Fraley didn’t end on top last night, though.

The winner of the talent show was Alvin Tan’s beat-boxing performance, winning a cash prize and the

opportunity to perform at this year’s IU Dance Marathon. Second place was awarded to Marshall Robbins and the Phunk Nasty’s and IU Essence followed in third place. Both acts won a cash prize.

“This event improved since last year ... both in the level of talent and the larger crowd,” said senior Megan Caldwell, president of the Student Alumni Association.