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The Citizen

It’s Showtime: Students gear up for HKS Talent Show

Amin Toofani, Kennedy School Talent Show 2011 - Winning Act

Amin Toofani, Kennedy School Talent Show 2011 – Winning Act

By Leila El-Khatib, MC/MPA’13, Correspondent

It is that time of the year again when Harvard Kennedy School (HKS) students get to showcase their talents. While we know that these students have achieved greatness in the fields of public service, we see very little of their talents outside of the classroom.

The HKS Talent Show is a Kennedy School community event held annually in April and features the talents of HKS students, faculty and staff. While the Talent Show began as a student event, it has gone through several name changes and has been adopted by the entire HKS community. It fills the Forum, where the school comes together to revel, relax and show off their talents.

This year, the Talent Show will be held on Friday, April 12. Auditions were held March 28 and 29 with over 20 acts attempting to get a coveted spot in this year’s variety show.

The judges, comprised of HKS students and staff, were impressed by the professionalism and range of talent exhibited by the students. The top performers were carefully chosen after much deliberation and were selected to go forward as competitors. The other amazing talents will be showcased as performers. All the performers are expected to go to a dress rehearsal to ensure that the final packed two-hour production is flawless.

The show’s organizing team has put a lot of thought in every detail of the evening. On April 12, the event will start off with a reception at 4:00 p.m. with the show starting at 5:00 pm. This year’s lineup proves to be entertaining, energetic and surprising. You can expect to see dance, music, spoken word, comedy and more.

"How Do I Go Back To Harvard?," a musical number. Pictured from left to right: Roly Clifton-Bligh MC/MPA 2012, Mary McCall MC/MPA 2012, Claire Rice MC/MPA 2012, Claire Szabo MC/MPA 2012, Bassem Nasir MC/MPA 2012.

“How Do I Go Back To Harvard?,” a musical number. Pictured from left to right: Roly Clifton-Bligh MC/MPA 2012, Mary McCall MC/MPA 2012, Claire Rice MC/MPA 2012, Claire Szabo MC/MPA 2012, Bassem Nasir MC/MPA 2012.

Every class degree program, from the MPAs to the MPPs, is represented in the show.

“This is one of my favorite events,” says Rohit Malhotra, Kennedy School Student Government (KSSG) President. “It re-humanizes people you go to school with. Beyond their passion to change the world, they have a variety of passions for music, theatre, etc. This event is another way to connect students in a way that the school doesn’t do formally. Every minute of the talent show is captivating. It’s a night students will never forget.”

As with last year, HKS students and staff partner to raise money for the Summer Internship Fund (SIF). Raffles are sold with all proceeds from the raffle benefiting summer internships.

“Since 1985, the SIF has been empowering students to serve their communities, their countries and their fellow citizens of the world by providing stipends for unpaid summer jobs in the non-profit and public sectors.” Some of the SIF’s raffle prizes include a Dell XPS 13 Ultrabook Laptop (donated by Dell), an overnight at the Charles Hotel with Brunch (donated by the Charles Hotel) and an iPad Mini (donated by a Friend of HKS).

The HKS Talent show ‘Show What You Can Do!’ will be on April 12in the Forum. Admission is free of charge.