IT’S official – Earlston Has Got Talent! It was proven at last week’s Talent Show when fourteen superb acts took to the stage and performed to a packed audience. The event was a sell out and the audience was appreciative of the chance to witness the talented students on stage.

There was such variety too. Starting the show was Andrew Allison, a third year student. Andrew’s act was popular with the voters and he opened the show with his unicycle and juggling (at the same time!!). He manoeuvred around a tricky set of obstacles whilst juggling, and displayed tremendous balance demonstrating a variety of skills. A unique act to start the show and the judges were full of praise.

Judging for the evening were Mr Anderson, Miss McDougall and Mr Christensen. Their encouraging comments and witty banter provided entertainment for the audience too. Presenting the show and giving the audience some background to each performer was Mr Meikle, a favourite of Earlston’s Got Talent.

The audience was also treated to superb vocal performances: Georgina Brearley gave a pitch perfect performance of Alexandra Burke’s Hallelujah; Imogen Hoppe wowed the judges and audience as they marvelled at how such a strong mature voice could come from someone so petite; Sophie McLaughlan commanded the stage in her performance of Waka Waka; Ellen Braithwaite, Lauren Faulkner and Mhairi Chrinside each gave first class solo vocal performances which left the audience in no doubt of their talent.

Three girls from fourth year – Jessica McLeod, Becky Farnish and Mhairi Chirnside were hauntingly good with Tim Burton’s A Life in Wonderland. Their stage presence and finely tuned voices stunned the audience as they worked harmoniously together.

The vocals from the boys were equally superb. Gareth Williams was a true star and his voice had such clarity and precision it was marvellous to hear. Gareth performed Let Her Go by Passenger. Gregor Milligan was inspiring and his true talent showed from the opening note. Gregor sang the well known Oasis song Wonderwall, but what was wonderful was that it was his own version. Mr Anderson was right when he said that Gregor 'owned the song’, taking the Oasis version and making it his own.

Band performances came from Aaron Wilson, Kale Haswell and Rory Middlemiss who rocked the room with Black Rain. The staff band – LPC – were 'Rockin’ in the Free world’ and the audience begged for an encore. Thanks for Mr Westgarth, Mr Kidd, Mr Foggin and Mr Montgomery for showing youngsters just how it’s done.

Dance acts are always popular with the voters and this year both the winner and the runner up were from dance performances. Dharan Prabhakar was runner up as the clearly audience enjoyed his dance moves to the music Talk Dirty by Jason DeRulo.

Rachel Smith, Emma Knox and Sean Crighton were a dance troupe who had style performing to Single Ladies. It was evident these three have been dancing since early childhood and it was a joy to see them on stage together.

The winning dance troupe and the winners of Earlston’s Got Talent was Anonymous! Honestly – they were 'Anonymous’ – the audience did not know the identity of the four dancers until the winners were announced.

How was that? The stage was pitch black and four neon stick men (that’s the best way I can describe them!) performed a unique and skilful dance. It was mind blowingly good!

So who were they? Eventually they were persuaded to reveal their identity and thanks to Anna and Kieran Wilson, Scott Ridout and Catriona Rooney for their creative and innovative performance.

Thanks to the Parent council SubGroup for organising the event and to the performers for showcasing their talent.