USC's Got Talent won by one-woman circus act

Russell House ballroom packed in tight for Carolina Production's USC’s Got Talent on Wednesday, eagerly anticipating the winner of this year’s showcase.

Mat Franco,  hosted the evening’s festivities, and rightly so — the man knows a thing or two about what it takes to win a talent show. He's the winner of last year's America’s Got Talent  and host of USC’s Got Talent 2013,

And for Franco, it’s all about the performance and presentation.

“You gotta find a certain theme or motif or concept that makes people care about what you’re doing in the first place," he said. "Whether you’re dancing, whether you’re singing, whatever it is, juggling — it doesn’t matter. There should be some sort of underlying message you want to get across to the audience.”

Franco clearly follows his own advice. After opening the show with a few magic tricks, Franco proved himself not only a talented magician but also quite the comedian.

Warmed up and laughing, the audience was ready for the main event.

This year’s showcase featured much more than the typical song and dance routine. Ed Wheeler opened the show with a glove light show, bringing a miniature EDM concert to the Russell House ballroom.

Runner up Hayden Childress — also known as Haydini —  brought another magic act to the night. Half the act was choreographed to music, and even though he remained silent, he still managed to get the crowd cheering and clapping after every trick.

Crowd favorite Alecz Yeager, a first-year journalism student, covered Ed Sheeran’s “You Need Me, I Don’t Need You.” Yeager blew the audience away by completing the full rap portion of the song, while hitting all of the song's notes.Yeager  packed a powerful vocal range for her tiny frame. Joking with the audience, she noted that she cut the song from ten minutes down to about four, so no one would fall asleep or get bored. 

After Franco's  witty quips and the vocal talent throughout the night, final contest Rachel Hipszer took the stage, with Franco.  Hipszer's introduction told the crowd she performed in circus arts for three years, and without further ado, she took the stage.

Hipszer incorporated ballet, juggling and balancing, to tell the story of a young child bored with the world around her who falls asleep and enters a magical dream sequence. But really, the child was still in the same world and manages to find beauty within the ordinary.

Her grace and ease as she traveled across stage was unparalleled, and it was clear from the beginning of Hipszer’s performance that a clear winner had been found. 

Though Hipszer had wanted to participate in USC’s Got Talent for years now, she said Russell House previously hadn't allowed her to hang her silks from the ceiling for silk acrobatics. But this year she found her time to shine.

“Just do it. Just go and do it," she said. "You can make your own stuff — my dad and I made mine. Honestly, just get out there and do it.”

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