Although still in her first semester on campus, Keirsten Hodgens has already made a name for herself. Tuesday night she won the overall prize of $1,000 in scholarship money competing in one of Ball State's Homecoming events: the Student Scholarship Talent Search.
Students competed in one of eight categories: dance, female vocal, male vocal, instrumental, musical group, freestyle, acoustic and original competition. The winner of each category won a $500 scholarship funded by the Ball State Alumni Association. Hodgens received an additional $500 for winning overall.
Hodgens, a freshman musical theatre major, said participating in the talent search was one of her most memorable moments yet that she's experienced at Ball State. She performed the song "I Know Where I've Been" from the musical "Hairspray."
"Musical theatre has a way of touching people," Hodgens said. "I chose the song because it made me feel that way."
Hodgens favors her musical training here at Ball State because it's the most affordable and just as efficient compared to other institutions and universities she had considered.
The audience was welcomed with free Ball State Homecoming gear and sounds of John Mayer and other artists alike as they entered John R. Emens Auditorium.
As acts displayed their prepared routines, judges scored them in areas such as natural ability, originality, audience appeal and even time constraints while their family and friends cheered along.
A prepared video interview was played before each act took the stage. Emcees Al Rent and David Johnson hosted the event providing the audience with comic relief and their own judgement of acts as the stage was being reset.
Chris Mack, a sophomore communications major, took home the original composition award of $500. He rapped over the instrumental version of the song "Starry Eyed." Mack has been an emcee for a little over 9 years and sends messages of Christianity and positivity within his songs, he said.
"I'm doing this for something bigger than me," Mack said.
He doesn't agree with the majority of hip hop artists who believe they have to use profanity and explicit themes as a crutch to be attractive to pop culture. He characterizes his song as having a gospel message and only writes about specific things he values in his life.
Jessica McIntosh also took home a category award within the freestyle category by performing a hula hoop dance routine. McIntosh, a junior public relations major, has performed her routines at other events in Muncie such as Neely Fest and outside of the new bar and lounge DLuxe.
"I don't really remember not ever being able to hoola hoop," McIntosh said.
McIntosh's routine involved spinning a light up hula hoop around her waist, feet, hands and even neck while dancing, spinning and jumping to the song "Dog Days are Over" by Florence and the Machine. She performs regularly at Be Here Now on Sundays which is a dedicated hula hoop night.
The faculty and staff Homecoming King and Queen winners were also announced at the talent search. Professor Shawn Vondran won Homecoming King and Jayme Skillman won Homecoming Queen.
Talent Search Overall winner
Keirsten Hodgens
Category winners
Original composition
Chris Mack
Instrumental
Cameron Behringer
Freestyle
Jess McIntosh
Dance
Lisa Wright
Acoustic
Bobby Bennett
Musical group
Trackless
Male vocal
Josh Kerwin
Female vocal
Keirsten Hodgens
Faculty Royalty
King
Shawn Vondran
Queen
Jayme Skillman
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