For the second year in a row a Byrne Creek Secondary vocal act has taken top honours at the annual Burnaby’s Got Talent student talent show Tuesday night.
Singer-songwriter Jorry Luz crooned his way into the final four, accompanying himself on guitar, and was then named the top act by audience members after encore performances by all four finalists.
The competition – organized by the Burnaby District Student Advisory Council (DSAC) – raised nearly $3,000 for the Helping Families in Need Society, a charitable organization that helps women in transition, single mothers and fathers on income assistance, new immigrant families, refugees and other low-income families in the community.
DSAC has raised more than $23,000 with Burnaby’s Got Talent over the last five years, contributing the proceeds to a different local charity each year.
The show features two acts from each of Burnaby’s eight high schools.
A panel of judges – made up this year of fashion vloggers Cassie Masangkay and Ricci Pamintuan, dance and musical theatre teacher Damon Jang and SONG Creative Mentorship Association cofounder Josh Balabyekkubo – whittle the pack down to four finalist.
Among the final four this year were Luz, Alpha Secondary band Better Strangers, Cariboo Hill’s Sarah Derasp, Courtney Cameron and Ethan Birnie with a slam-poetry-piano-dance collaboration and Cariboo Hill German international student Linn Meyer, who belted out Janis Joplin’s Mercedes Benz for her second act.
After the encore performances, Luz won the audience vote.
