Student Wins Big At Red Raider Showcase

With free text books from Barnes & Noble Texas Tech up for grabs, Tech students sang, danced and even balanced in hopes of winning the prize.

Thursday night the Tech Activities Board, along with Barnes & Noble, hosted a talent show for Tech students at the SUB Allen Theater. This was the first time TAB has held this event, and it was appropriately titled Red Raider Showcase. Nine students were able to get on stage and show off their skills.

Austin Reiter, night life coordinator for TAB, said he got this idea from a similar show that The University of Texas puts on.

“I’ve had some cousins work on it and just kind of got the idea that we could bring it to Tech,” the junior business management major from Lindsay, Texas, said.

Reiter said the show has been in planning for about six months and there was an audition process to select the acts.

The judging panel consisted of five judges, including Spirit Program Director Stephanie Rhode.

“I think they asked because I have an involvement with entertainment here at Tech,” Rhode said. “I want to support Tech students who feel artistic.”

Joshua Jackson, a senior business management major from Grand Prairie, Texas, walked away with the prize. Jackson performed an original song about a fictional superhero.

“The song was about Batman,” Jackson said, “and I wrote it because I like Batman.”

Jackson said he auditioned because he has performed in front of people before and thought he should give the show a shot and see if he could win something.

“When they called me [to be in the show] I was relieved,” Jackson said. “Just to know I got to the second stage was good enough for me, but winning was nice.”

About Lauren Ervin