14-year-old wins Rowlett talent show

The Rowlett Public Library hosted its first annual video talent show on Saturday. The contest featured 13 video submissions from local residents. The types of talent individuals displayed ranged from singing to stand-up comedy.

One act stood above the rest as 14-year-old Morgan Cannon claimed the top prize as the audience selected her as the most talented performer. Cannon performed “Beethoven’s Sonata Op.31 No.2 – 1st movement,” on the piano to show off her talent.

Cannon was unable to attend the event due to illness. The first-place trophy and dinner at Chick-fil-A were an early birthday present for Cannon, who celebrated her birthday on Sunday.

“I want to thank my instructor, Elizabeth Graves, and Mr. Clark, who allows me to play at the church,” Cannon said. “I'm really thankful that God has given me the talent to play piano. I love to play and practice about an hour to an hour and a half a day.”

Cannon said that she has played the piano at Nordstrom’s department store in the Galleria, the Crescent Rosewood Hotel, and at her church.

The talent show began with Justin Ballinger, sporting a purple button-up shirt and a striped tie, performing “Broken Road,” by Rascal Flatts.

Once Ballinger hit the last note of his rendition of the hit song, it was Uryon Adams’ time to shine. He displayed quick hands as he showed off his skills on the piano.

Once Uryon was done delighting on the keyboard the attention turned to the singing and choreography of Daniel Plummer and Jordan Phillips.

The duo was dressed in matching outfits and followed each other move-for-move as they performed Journey’s classic song, “Don’t Stop Believing.”

The next act to take the center screen was the comedic work of Reid Smith and Cody Holt. Smith dressed as a dummy named Chip who liked to tell knock-knock jokes.

Their performance ended with Chip begging for a light to see inside the cardboard box that he was placed in. Holt dropped a flashlight in the box and Chip thanked him.

The attention then turned to Bernadine Benavides who performed a selection from the Disney classic “Beauty and the Beast.” Benavides was accompanied by her mother on piano.

The next entertainer of the afternoon was the smooth moves of Nicholas Monk. Monk showed off some of his best dance moves to a mixture of different songs.

After the moves of Monk, the audience was given a powerful vocal performance of pop artist Pink’s, “I Don’t Believe You,” by Beth Woodall.

Caleb Richardson took the screen next, performing the Christmas holiday classic, “Carol of the Bells” by Peter Wilhousky.

After the festive performance by Richardson, 6-year-old Megan Jones belted out the second Disney selection of the evening. Jones sang “Part of your World” from “The Little Mermaid.”

The performance of Jones was followed by the dazzling piano skills of contest winner Cannon.

Following Cannon to the screen was Elyjah Adams. Elyjah did a stand up comedy routine as he held the microphone and used his body to sell the jokes. He made sure to discuss some of the gross things that people eat such as pig’s feet and cow tongue.

The next person to fill the video screen was bilingual singer Maria Paula Montes. Montes strummed her guitar and sang two songs, “The Alphabet Song,” which she performed in English, and then she showed off her versatility by singing a Spanish Christmas carol.

The last performer of the afternoon was the last member of the Adams family. Timylle Adams closed the show by performing “Crazier” by country music singer Taylor Swift. Her performance was enhanced by her showing emotion with each word.

Rowlett Public Library program coordinator asked the audience if they were impressed with the talent and whether or not the library should do the event again. The response was an overwhelming consensus that it should be back next year.

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