On Feb. 22, the City College Honors Program hosted its third open mic event from 6 to 8 p.m. in the BC Forum. The event provided a platform for a variety of talents, spanning from musical to bizarre performances that cannot be categorized – providing two hours of pure entertainment for audience members.
Their recent open mic night was organized by Elena Fuentes and her co-host Sasha Smelyanskiy – both Honors Program members that aim to hold these gatherings monthly, emphasizing their desire to attract more participants and knit the community closer together.
“A lot of the acts are also really cool, like last week we had circus performances so we are trying to get a wider reach.” Smelyanskiy said, highlighting the variety and quality of the acts. “There is really good energy surrounding these open mics like we’re all getting in and out after mentioning past performances such as circus acts, as a testament to their effort to broaden the event’s appeal and foster a vibrant, energetic atmosphere.”
The open mic started with a poem from Smelyanskiy followed up by JT’s stand up involving pitching a fake shark tank idea about permanent shoes. After that came a performer who had a slide presentation on the “lore of Wikipedia,” explaining the website’s history and fun facts.
After a brief break, Ryan Williams performed 2 songs on his guitar – “Black” by Pearl Jam and a song he wrote himself titled, “How to Forgive.”
After Williams, Tommy Bentivegna followed a similar format. He started with “Champagne Supernova” by Oasis, ending with his song titled, “Jenny.”
Student Katelyn Dilbeck sang karaoke for “Hopelessly Devoted to You,” from the movie “Grease.” Following her performance, student Riley, who asked to be referred to with just his first name, read a riveting poem about his dear friend Nick Jordan leaving for the Navy and never coming back. The poem revolved around his experience dealing with the loss.
Ending the night, several City College students took the stage, from performing a song by Adele to reading aloud an excerpt from “Gone Girl” by Gillian Flynn and another original song on guitar.
The Honors Program offers an inclusive and challenging educational experience that meets students at their current level of achievement and encourages them to pursue more from their education. Their goal is to include every student, believing all students can reach honor level.
