Ethan Hoagland
Homegrown talent from Sweet Home took the stage for a night of song with a dash of laughter in this
year’s SHOCASE Showdown, held by the Sweet Home Oregon Coalition for Art & Scholastic Enrichment. Twenty contestants performed for the community and a panel of judges Saturday, October 14 at the Sweet Home High School auditorium.
SHOCASE co-founder Shirley Austin called this year’s program a “great success.” Twenty community members performed this year. Five of them were kids, the rest adults.
In the youth category, Ember Ogden nabbed first place with her performance of “Hallelujah”, accompanied by live piano. Among the adults, the judges picked Karma Holder for her performance of Radiohead’s “Creep.”
Community members also got the chance to pick their favorite performance. Claiming the people’s choice award was Lois Carper for her piano performance of Scott Joplin’s “The Entertainer.” The audience voted with their wallets, and at 25 cents a vote, Carper walked away with $100 for her win.
Sponsors for this year’s event included Gary and Pam Rasmussen, Wendi Melcher of Cadwell Realty and Mike Hall of The Point Restaurant. Funds raised by the SHOCASE Showdown go toward supporting more SHOCASE projects.
On the judge’s panel sat Kadee Kall, an educator involved in Portland’s dance and community theater scene; Aaron Smith, the Lebanon High School band director; Nina Zuniga, former first place winner in last year’s SHOCASE Showdown and talent show competitor; Ward Christman, a SHOCASE board member with performance experience with Eugene Opera and the Oregon Festival of American Music; John Kluttz, the director of Sweet Home’s Community Singing Christmas Tree since 2019.
Sean Morgan, a community service officer with Sweet Home police and former reporter served as MC this year.