On March 16, 2019, the men of Psi Alpha Alpha (PsiAA) Chapter, Third District, Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. held an extraordinary Talent Hunt program in the beautiful auditorium of Lee High School in Springfield, VA. The curtains opened and the program began at 10am in front of a supportive audience of Brothers, family, friends, and other residents of the community eager to support a great group of enthusiastic youth displaying their talents in the performing arts. Thanks to the Men of Psi Alpha Alpha, assisted by civic student organizations like the Beautiful and Progressive Educated Sisters (BAPES) and Powerful African-American Males about Success (PAAMAS), our collective efforts resulted in another magnificent Talent Hunt Competition.
We were privileged to have 9 great performers this year with acts ranging from vocalists, percussionist, cello player, saxophonist, and instrumentation to dance. All of the student participants performed extremely well pleasing the crowd of newly-minted fans and “wowing” the event judges.
Our Master of Ceremony was Bro. Adimu Colón. A graduate of Hampton University, he is an accomplished content producer, television host, radio personality, executive, philanthropist and entrepreneur. Bro. Colón is a Spring ‘93 initiate of our great Fraternity by way of the Gamma Epsilon chapter. As a personality, he’s hosted his own #1 rated radio shows in Washington, DC, Los Angeles, and New York. He is the former host of the Emmy Award-winning TV show Teen Summit on BET and the recipient of two NAACP Image Awards. The WPGC weekly music radio host did an outstanding job encouraging the performers while also engaging the audience by informing them of the community activities that our chapter conducts or participates in throughout the year, general facts about our Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. and our chapter as a whole.
With an extremely close competition this year, the judges had an arduous task selecting a winner. Unfortunately, as with every year, one winner had to be selected. Out of our talented group of young performers, Ms. Sydney Pollard took the first place honors.
Sydney hails from Dumfries, VA and is a junior at Charles J. Colgan High School. Her hobbies include cooking, traveling, and of course her passion for dancing. Dancing since she was only 8 years old, her moves have caught the attention of many famous dancers including Debbie Allen, Eartha Kitt, and Darrell Moultrie. She attended the Debbie Allen Summer Intensive Program in Atlanta, GA and has been recently invited to attend the Summer Intensive Program again this year in Los Angeles, CA. After graduating from high school, she hopes to attend Virginia Commonwealth University to study Dance. Along with her hobbies, Sydney has also been a high achiever in academics maintaining a 3.5 GPA as an ‘A’ Honor Roll student. She gracefully captivated the judges and everyone else in attendance at our program this year with her classical dance to the music of Andra Day’s song “Rise Up”.
Sydney will represent Psi Alpha Alpha in the District Talent Hunt during the 86th annual 3rd District Meeting on Saturday, April 13th in Herndon, VA.
The other participants were:
- Jordyn Strange – Soloist (2nd place)
- Nicholas MaCatty – Soloist (3rd place)
- Jonathan Canamaso – Bassist
- Caleb Wallace – Saxophonist
- Elaine Ramson – Soloist
- Jada Appiah – Dance
- Chris Love – Soloist
- Cameron Jackson – Drummer
