Freshman Krystal Worrell became one of Ball State's "Dreamgirls" Tuesday night after winning the female vocal and overall categories in the Homecoming Talent Search.
Worrell wowed the crowd with a preformance of "Listen" from the movie "Dreamgirls."
The freshman was talked into auditioning for the talent show by a group of friends the night before forms were due.
Worrell had no idea what she had gotten into.
"I didn't think it was going to be this big," she said. "I thought it was going to be one of those rinky-dink talent shows. One of those ‘Ok, this is cute' kind of things where you get some money."
Even though her expectations for the talent show weren't to scale, Worrell was one of the highlights of the show.
"I've been singing this song for a while, kind of had it in my back pocket," she said. "I whipped it out and got an accompanist, that went over well. I found my name on the list and started getting ready for the show."
Even though she has been singing since she could remember, Worrell was surprised at the outcome.
"I'm shocked because I'm a freshman here at Ball State," Worrell said. "No one really knows me, but I guess I made a good impression with the judges and crowd."
Another winner was Talent Search veteran Derek Wilson.
Wilson's band, Thomas the Tank Engine, won best musical group. He also performed in the male vocalist category.
"This was my third year in talent search," Wilson said. "I did acoustics the first year, male vocal last year and this year I had the two acts."
Wilson and Worrell have something in common in that both were acts were thrown together last minute.
"When we first decided it was on the fly," Wilson said. "I saw Trevor, the drummer, out. It was the night before forms were due. I made up a name, filled out the paperwork and turned it in. I didn't even know who the bass player was when we first got together."
One participant who knew exactly what she wanted out of the talent show was senior theater major Maren Ritter.
"My piece came out of a musical that was written through the Virginia Ball Center," Ritter said.
The students who won the most original composition, Ritter and partner Ben Clark, had the idea to write a play based on a book "Circus in Winter" by Ball State creative writing professor Catherine Day.
"We got to premiere the script in Chicago back in May, and we are entering it in some festivals in New York City later this month," she said.
The two are looking at this win in the talent search as a great way to advertise the play.
"We want to get the word out there about the musical," Ritter said. "Now that it is actually taking off, we want people to know about it. It will be performed here next fall."
Each of the winners took home a $500 scholarship and the overall winner received an additional $500 in scholarship prizes.
RESULTS:
Male Vocal: Edric Mitchell
Female Vocal: Krystal Worrell
Musical Group: Thomas the Tank Engine
Freestyle: Michael Major
Acoustic: Ben Clark
Original Composition: Maren Ritter and Ben Clark
Instrumental: Miles Orwig
Dance: Rebecca Lomax
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