MONTEREY PARK ROTARY SPONSORS MONTEREY PARK’S FIRST “YOU’VE GOT TALENT” COMPETITION
MONTEREY PARK ROTARY SPONSORS MONTEREY PARK’S FIRST
“YOU’VE GOT TALENT” COMPETITION
Monterey Park, CA—Saturday, August 29th Monterey Park’s Art and Culture Commission held the first annual “You’ve Got Talent” competition with 23 different acts competing for prize money. Contestants came from Palmdale, Glendale, El Monte, Rosemead, Los Angeles, Arcadia, Hacienda Heights, Downey and Monterey Park. The youngest bouncy castle for sale contestant was six years old and the oldest a Baby Boomer. Most of the contestants sang, but there was also a magician, a Belly Dancer, Kung Fu group, Chinese Fan Dancers, three rock bands, a flute player, a pianist, a Chinese folk dancer, a Sarah Palin rapper and the Monkey King. With the variation in the types of talents the five judges had a tough time deciding on the winners.
Monterey Park Rotary contributed the first place prize of $1,000. Monterey Park Rotary President Dr. Jonathan Tam presented the prize to the top winner. The top winners are (there was a tie for third place):
1st Place: Yang Zhao, who is thirteen-years-old, and played the flute. He won $1,000.
2nd Place: Albert Gonzales, who is six-years-old, was dressed in a white Mariachi costume with a small sombrero and sang in Spanish. He won $250.
3rd Place: Lillian Gonzalez, who is eleven-years-old, and sang in English and Spanish. She won $100.
3rd Place: Stoil Stoilerand and Ekaterina Markova, who is an adult magician with his green haired assistant, conducted a magic show which besides many of the standard tricks included the assistant instantly changing outfits in bags and under confetti. They won $100.
Even with some technical sound difficulties Barnes Park Amphitheatre was a great venue for this program which the Arts and Culture Commission plans to make an annual event. All the seats were taken in the amphitheatre with the overflow crowd sitting on the grass. Monterey Park Rotary was pleased to be part of this event by sponsoring the $1,000 prize for the first place winner, Rotary International is the oldest and largest service organization in the world. For information on serving your local community through the Monterey Park Rotary, check http://www.clubrunner.ca/CPrg/home/homeA.asp?cid=4711. Monterey Park Rotary usually meets every Thursday at 12:15 P.M. at Capital Seafood, 755 W. Garvey Avenue, Monterey Park. For more information on Rotary International and clubs in other communities see http://www.rotary.org/EN/ABOUTUS/Pages/ridefault.aspx.
The winner of the Talent Contest - Yang Zhao.
Center front is the 2nd place winner Albert Gonzales (singer). From left to right are Ekaterina Markova and Stoil Stoilerand (Assistant and Magician - 3rd place), Mayor Mitchell Ing, Lilian Gonzalez (singer - third place), Monterey Park Rotary President Dr. Jonathan Tam.
This photo is of the third place winners. The two on the left are the magic act - Ekaterina Markova and Stoil Stoilerand, and the one on the right is Lillian Gonzalez.
All the contestants of the Talent Contest
