Winning contestants walked away with $1,000 in prize money.

Helen Zeeman, a second-year student in the culinary management program, claimed the top prize of $500 at the first post pandemic GBC’s Got Talent.

The event was held at Casa Loma campus Nov. 24 after auditions were held earlier in the month. This was the first in-person iteration of the annual event since before things has to be moved to a virtual format over the past two years.

Different types of performances were brought by the contestants, including playing musical instruments, singing, dancing, stand-up comedy, and kung fu.

The show went on for nearly three hours with cheers and applause from the audience. The show not only attracted students to watch but also other spectators including contestants’ families.

The first prize winner performed an opera song, leaving the judges impressed.

“I did it last year, I had an absolute blast. It was a wonderful time; the crew was so amazing. And I mean prize money is a pretty good motivator,” said Zeeman.

She also found the judges – a panel which included were supportive in giving feedback on her performance.

Michael Ray Amande, a student from the architecture and technology program, placed second and won $300. His performance of an emotional dance piece to a pop song drew in the audience and the judges.

Amande said, “Back in Nigeria, I did a lot of things, I love talents. When I came to Canada, for the past three months, I haven’t done it. So, I saw the show and then just came and danced. It was really fun, and it was like stress relief because every time I dance, I throw out every emotion I have.”

The third-place prize of $200 was shared by Bianca Doria and Jimmy Mercer, who received the same scores from the judges.

It was like really, really fun. It was not like a competition; it was about having a good time seeing people perform and just enjoying it and I really enjoyed the last band that performed. I had a really good time,” said Mercer.

To encourage audience interaction, the Student Association (SA) events team gave out free tickets to upcoming events to anyone who shared any of the performances on their Instagram account.

The talent competition is an annual event run by the SA which has been held for more than 15 years.

All contestants who performed at the show were given $25 Uber eats gift cards.