Standing in front of a huge crowd on a stage may be some teenagers’ worst nightmare come true, but for 21 talented Bearden students Tuesday night, there was no place else they’d rather be.

Bearden held its annual Talent Show this week to showcase all of these amazing performers who may otherwise have gone unnoticed.

As in past years, the talent at Bearden did not disappoint; whether they were singing, playing an instrument, or dancing, each and every artist elicited booming applause from the audience, and even some standing ovations.

After all the performers had taken the stage, the three judges for the night had the daunting task of deciding and agreeing upon which talent they thought had the most powerhouse performance. With all of the returning juniors and seniors taking the stage for their third and fourth times, it was obvious the competition was stiff as everyone waited to hear who would place in the top three.

Third place was awarded to senior Sam Arnold and junior Sydney Gabrielson, while junior Christian Deel moved up to second place after finishing third a year ago. The first place trophy was given to the dancing duo of senior Katya Van den Berg and sophomore Morgan Brown who performed a modern dance to the song “Beneath Your Beautiful” by Labyrinth.

Van den Berg and Brown are the first dancers in recent history to win the Bearden talent show; however, taking away the first place prize comes as no shock as the two dancers performed a flawless routine.

Van den Berg and Brown decided the talent show would be the perfect opportunity to perform the intricate dance routine they came up with this past summer, Van den Berg said.

“We’ve danced together for six years in the Tennessee Children’s Dance Ensemble, and finally we are at the same school and since it is my senior year I wanted to do something special with her,” she said.

Deel wowed the crowd with his guitar playing skills for the second year in a row. This year, he performed a hypnotizing rendition of “Rylynn” by Andy McKee.

“It’s really cool to just be recognized for going up there and having fun, and doing something that you love to do,” Deel said.

The only singer in the top three, Arnold, who was accompanied by Gabrielson on the piano, performed Sara Bareilles’s take on Otis Redding’s “(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay.” Arnold, who was voted most talented by her senior class, proved once again she deserved that title in her final talent show at Bearden.

“I love being able to go up there and do what I love to do,” Arnold said. “It’s sad that it’s my last year but depending on where I go to college, I’d like to come back and see it.”