By Ethan Walshe
Managing Editor

Last Saturday night, the Westford Academy student body and community were given the opportunity to see and enjoy the many talents of WA’s students at the annual talent show, WA Idol. This year’s show showcased the many abilities of the student’s including singing, guitar playing, break dancing, unicycling and an act involving glow sticks and a lot of movement.

The evening’s events were judged by health and wellness teacher Maria Henderson, music teacher Karen St. George, Richa Kaul and Nathan Rigione, presidents of the classes of 2012 and 2013 respectively.

The show was opened by junior Catie Martin playing an original song titled “Peace.” Images of 9/11 and the events of the following years played in the background and made for a beautiful and sobering performance.

Following this senior Sabrina Lane-Smith covered “Someone Like You” by Adele, an artist who was a popular choice for the evening’s performances.

Next, senior Mustafa Buxamusa impressed the crowd by riding a unicycle that was almost as tall as he is while juggling several pins. Many audience members were stunned.

English teacher Janet Keirstead took over Joe Spadano’s role as Master of Ceremonies and kept the crowd perpetually entertained in the interim between acts using her rather large repertoire of self proclaimed ”bad jokes” including “what’s the grammatical name for an elf?” “a subordinate clause!” among others.

Following the juggling act, the night’s first freshman took the stage. Amy Keum performed her rendition of “Love Song” by Sara Barielles and accompanied herself on piano.

Afterwards, seniors Michaela Burke, Rachel Cloutier, Devon Timlin and Becky Wilkinson sang Christina Perri’s “Jar of Hearts” while sophomore Nick Nudler played the piano parts. Each lady’s voice offered a new dimension to the performance.

Next, senior Dave Benoit wowed the crowd with his impressive self composed guitar solo.

Senior Anna Forsyth followed this with a performance of One Republic’s “Come Home” on piano.

The next act was one that the entire audience had been waiting for: the break dancers. Last year’s winners seniors Tak Wong and Ben Ngai were joined by sophomore Chris Horsey for an awesome display of rhythm, agility and athleticism as their flips and spins left the audience speechless.

After, freshman Erika Swinson played “Perfect” by P!nk, bringing the show back to the musical end of the spectrum.

Chris Horsey then retook the stage with fellow classmate Court Fiore with a rendition of “Rhythm of Love” by Plain White T’s.

The first act was closed by an almost indescribable performance. Juniors Katie Ernst and Marla Lynch were joined by senior Ryan McDonald as they danced in all black suits with green glowsticks taped to their bodies, recreating an act seen on America’s Got Talent.

The second half of WA Idol was opened by senior Ben Wesley, junior Brian Edson and sophomores Graham Goodwin and Ryan Cole kicking it back to the 70’s with a full band cover of Boston’s “More Than a Feeling.”

Immediately after seniors Stephanie Gagnon, Alicia Puranik and Mithali Shenoy offered the night’s second Adele performance, a compilation of several of her popular songs.

The piano was taken over by junior Jillian Frankel following this act, as she played an original song titled “The Artist.” Known for her incredible singing ability and range, Frankel impressed the crowd.

The next act was another change of pace from the evening’s various musical performances. Senior Jennie Natusch threw her talents back to the Emerald Isle by Irish dancing to King of the Fairies. The cultural display was different from any other act.

Junior Rose Oliver succeeded Natusch, performing on her ukulele a cover of “Folding Chair” by Regina Spektor. The singing continued with sophomores Natalie Bishop and Katie Hughes singing an a capella “If I Die Young” by The Band Perry. They dedicated their performance to the family and the memory of Katie Enos and there were more than a few teary eyes in the audience at the end of their act.

Juniors Matthew Warner, John Bergin and Billy Hickey added some humor to the show with their original song titled “The One.” As Warner said, there was a space in the song for someone’s name to be said and requested one from the crowd. After some deliberation, it was decided that “Ms. Henderson” would fill that space. The audience was in stitches.

Senior Amy MacLure continued the musical spree with her vocal cover of “I Won’t let Go” by Rascal Flats.

Sophomore Charlotte Callon performed an original song titled “Don’t” and to conclude the student acts, seniors Jess Bishop and Kyle Boyd paid tribute to old blue eyes himself with a Frank Sinatra duet, complete with dancing making for quite the class act.

Then the moment everyone had been anticipating: the faculty act. Fifteen or so members of the WA staff took the stage, donning habits and cloaks whilst lip syncing to various songs in a very Sister Act type of performance, offering a good amount of comic relief to the audience.

In the show’s final moments, the judges tallied their votes and announced the winners. Catie Martin, Sabrina Lane-Smith, Natalie Bishop and Katie Hughes took home honorable mentions while Charlotte Callon won second place. For the second year in a row, the break dancers of Tak Wong, Ben Ngai and Chris Horsey took home the first place prize.

“This was really hard to judge because everyone was really awesome. It was really hard to pick a winner,” said Kaul.