Since RBHS has decided to switch over to e-learning for the rest of the year because of COVID-19, the talent show couldn’t go on according to its original plan. James Baum, the band director at RBHS along with the Tri-M team decided to continue the talent show online. 

“Well, we met as a Tri-M team the last day we were able to meet at school and the kids decided to go with an alternative rather than cancel it altogether,” Baum said.

According to Baum, the process of switching the talent show to an online platform was pretty easy. There are a lot more uncontrolled factors with a live show that are difficult to control. For example, an unenthusiastic crowd could ruin the show. 

“Mostly it was just a matter of organizing the submissions. In the live performance editions of RB’s Got Talent, we had to organize the talent, add the stage tech element, gather the celebrity judges, find an emcee, and hope for a great enthusiastic audience,” Baum said.

The students first had to submit a video of their talent and the winner will be selected by an audience poll. Ethan Dimaano is one of the finalists and he submitted a video of him playing the piano. Both Baum and Dimaano wished that the talent show could have been live.

“I wished it was a live performance because I love the thrill of performing and not knowing what could happen. Also, it is nice to have an actual audience,” Dimaano said.

Despite this Dimaano still thoroughly enjoyed the talent show and practicing to perfect his performance. He recalls this as his favorite part of the show.

“My favorite part was relearning the piece I did for the show because it was a piece that I really enjoyed playing,” Dimanno said.

Despite COVID-19 canceling a lot of fun activities Baum and the Tri-M team figured out how to make sure the show still continued. The winner was announced and highlighted at the virtual Apollo Awards held on May 14th. Congratulations to Ethan Dimaano, his act came in first place.