Arts

Students Light Up the Stage at iShow Over The Long Weekend

International Club (iClub) spotlighted talent and sparked excitement on Saturday night as students took to the Underwood stage to showcase their skills and creativity. From performances to spirited karaoke renditions, students gathered together and appreciated each other’s talents at iShow. 

Louis Leone ’24, an experienced singer from Tanzania, performed For “Tonight” by Giveon on the stage. He decided to sing with just the karaoke track from YouTube and without a mic, to accommodate the intimate setting. After performing, Leone commented on the warm and welcoming atmosphere at the event.

“It was a great way for me to have fun community building, and share something that I love with the rest of the international student community… The room had nice acoustics, so I just had an a cappella. I think people loved it… each [performance] was well received and enjoyed by the crowd. It was a great way to engage the students who had remained on campus considering that it was a long weekend,” said Leone.

Cyrus Law ’27, an audience member, also noted the low stakes and amicable environment that allowed the whole audience to perform a karaoke rap song. In addition, he shouted out Zachary Yuan ’27, who performed “Despacito,” “Careless Whisper,” and “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You” on the saxophone.

“We played ‘Sprinter’ [by Central Cee], and the teachers didn’t care. I love this song, and I really like how the teachers didn’t get mad… The atmosphere was pretty chill. There was food; I ate half of it. Zach was having a moment with his sax, it was pretty sick, on display for all of us to see,” said Law.

Jay Jung ’27, a board member of iClub, who didn’t expect many people to attend when doing the initial planning, was pleasantly surprised with the high turnout at the show. He noted that the high energy of attendees helped make the event more enjoyable and brought people together.

“I really liked that a lot of people came to the iShow because when we first planned it, we didn’t expect a [big crowd] and that hype to come, but it was really interesting how people came… It was very enjoyable and loud, and it was very vibrant… [A moment that surprised me] was when people started putting their song requests. It really got hyped, and I really liked that,” said Jung.

In the future, iClub hopes to further its mission of connecting students from all over the world, whether it be in the U.S. or not. Leone emphasized the importance of events like iShow in bringing people together and extended a welcome to the campus community.

“I like to invite [everyone] to join future events that are organized by iClub on campus… I think the International Club is there to bring students from all over the world and connect them to the larger communities. And that only happens when both the international student community and our community pull up to events like this. So, I just want to extend that invitation out there to everyone else,” said Leone.