Lights, camera, action! Can you rap like 50 Cent or dance like Justin Timberlake? Do your friends think your jokes are funnier than Chris Tucker’s? Have you been told that you have what it takes to be the next Nora Jones?
If so, Nicholls Icon is calling you and all other students who are bold enough to display their gifts on Nicholls Television Weekly Channel 56 in front of a live audience in Talbot Auditorium on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 2 p.m.
“Nicholls Icon is a spin-off of American Idol,” said Keitha Nelson, mass communication major and host of the television show. “Any type of talent is welcome, whether it is singing, poetry, comedy or dance. The most entertaining will win.”
Premiering on April 3, Nicholls Icon is the product of an assignment for instructor Andy Simoncelli’s Television Workshop 361 class.
Nicholls Icon is recorded at 2 p.m. every Tuesday and Thursday and students are welcome to sit in the audience. However, the show airs at 9 a.m. on Tuesday mornings and at 9 p.m. on Thursday nights.
What sets Nicholls Icon apart from other talent competitions is that competitors do not have to endure the grueling audition process. All they have to do is sign up for their two minutes of fame.
“We do not care if you can sing or not,” Nelson said. “The elimination process will take of that.”
Mass communication instructors Felecia Harry and Lance Arnold are the faculty judges for the competition. In addition, a different student is allowed to help judge the contestants’ talent, or lack thereof.
“We knew Arnold would be very critical, that is why we chose him to be a judge, and Felecia Harry is so nice; we knew she would balance him out,” Nelson said.
At the end of the competition, the winner will have almost as much fame as a celebrity. One lucky person will have a video or CD produced that will air on either Channel 56 or KNSU.
Contestant John Manly, marketing junior from Ohio, expressed his opinions about advancing to the next round and possibly becoming the Nicholls Icon.
“I was surprised they picked me,” Manly said. “I think everybody has done well so far. As long as I have fun, it is worth it.”
So far Manly’s guitar and song performance and DeAndra Walter’s poetry have made them eligible to compete in the next round of Nicholls Icon.
The search for Nicholls’s most talented pupil will end on May 1 so anyone interested should send an e-mail to [email protected] or call (985) 448-4131.