By Kiana Dulan | Staff Writer

This Friday, Nov. 18 is BOSA’s first virtual talent show, which will be streamed via YouTube live at 5 p.m. on its YouTube account. To be featured, students, faculty, and staff had to submit their entries by Monday. Entries could range from a video of playing an instrument to a picture of art.

This event would have been in September, but due to a lack of submissions, BOSA moved the event to November. BOSA’s chair Sisilia-Puleia Pooi admitted that she and her board did not advertise the event enough in September and did not give students enough time to prepare.

Pooi was set on having the talent show being open to just students, but she was swayed by Romyn Sabatchi, BOSA’s faculty advisor, to include faculty members.

“Romyn suggested, ‘Hey, you got some talented faculty and staff at KCC. Why not showcase their talents as well,’” Pooi said.

There has been one faculty submission at the time of the interview on Nov. 9, with a total of seven entries More entries are expected to be streamed on Friday.

Throughout her two years of being on campus, Pooi was “bummed” seeing a lot of talent go unnoticed. She encourages those who have doubts about their talent to show their skills regardless of any insecurities.

“It’s just a matter of getting people out of their comfort zones, expressing themselves freely, and not being scared to just show their talent because I realize that a lot of people think they’re gonna be mocked for this,” Pooi said. “There are always those thoughts that come to people’s minds who have talent but are too afraid to share it.”

Pooi notes that although those with stage fright may be more inclined to submit an online entry as opposed to performing in-person but keeps in mind that people may be more hesitant to participate because of the impacts of social media. If this talent show is successful, BOSA will host another talent show next semester, and Pooi hopes that those who decided not to be involved in this event will join in next semester’s.

Because of this event’s online modality, one person has sent in a music video as opposed to the simplicity of singing on camera.

“She’s doing a whole music video for us, and I was telling my board, “You know, that’s what we’re looking for, we’re looking for people who are not afraid to express themselves and show their creativity,” Pooi said.

Other entries include BOSA’s secretary Linda Tao’s photography, which Pooi was surprised by, and videos of surfing, hula, and acting.

She also expressed an interest in submitting a file of the live stream to BOSP’s Spring 2021 Leʻahi, Journal of Creative Arts, since both the talent show and journal showcase the talent of KapCC.

Other than the talent show’s Youtube livestream on Friday at 5 p.m, BOSA will be hosting a trivia night tonight from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m through Zoom. The winner of trivia night will win BOSA swag, which includes a reusable water bottle.

For more questions, contact kccbosa@hawaii.edu.