Young performers wow judges at library’s first teen talent contest

On Saturday, March 28, 11 young performers entertained the audience and judges at the inaugural Encinitas Library Teen Talent Contest.

The competition was open to local students in grades 6-12, and of the 11 contenders, three took top honors.

Participants had to fill out an application form and send a YouTube link or a video of themselves performing. The contest attracted vocalists, dancers, musicians and non-traditional performers.

The judges were library technicians Lucas Thoma and Yasaman Douraghy, and Anne Omsted, who represented the Friends of the Library, which sponsored the talent show and provided the award funds.

First place — and a check for $250 — went to Emerson Sims, a seventh- grader from the Grauer School, who demonstrated his skill on the unicycle while performing tricks.

Second place, $150, went to Rachel Dovsky, an 11th-grader from San Dieguito Academy, who played piano and sang “Written in the Stars.”

Third place, $100, went to Devon McCrea, also an 11th-grader from San Dieguito Academy, who performed “La Paloma” on classical guitar.

Other performers were Noah Jerge, Bram Downs, Delaney Downs, Josue Vazquez, Mara Hughes, Zoe Costa, Charlotte Behler, Margot Richter and Sam Goldsmith.

Librarian Ariadna Jimenez-Varrios said that students and their parents were appreciative of the opportunity to see the talent and for the young people to display their talent.

“We thought that the talent show was fun and well-organized. It really felt like a true local event, with teens representative of all the various local schools,” commented one parent.

Participants found the experience exciting and engaging, said Jimenez-Varrios, and added that they are looking forward to another talent show in the future.

“This was the first year that we did the teen talent show, so we weren’t really sure if people would participate or not,” she said. “But we were pleasantly surprised; there is a lot of talent here.”