Kevin Duarte was standing in the back of the gym at Douglas High School on Friday anxiously tuning his bass guitar and adjusting his amplifier as hundreds of his peers were flooding through the doors and packing the bleachers in a bedlam of expectation.
"I'm ready, but a little nervous," said the 15-year-old sophomore. "I've been playing bass for about eight months."
Fifteen minutes later, Duarte was delivering everything he had learned in those eight months to the entire Douglas High student body.
He dropped a steady bass line to the driving riffs of Ethan White's rhythm guitar, Dan Ruben's twangy lead, and Alex Cerny's pounding drums.
Dressed in slacks, pin-striped shirts and suspenders, the four students made up the Amish Men Mafia, one of several rock bands and aspiring musicians who performed at the school's annual talent show.
"I'm just in awe of the talent we have here at Douglas High School," said Superintendent Carol Lark. "This is a great way to prepare for the holidays."
Senior Randy Dowell performed an acoustic ballad he had written called "Clear."
"It has to do with girlfriends and stuff," he said.
Cassie Fastabend and Preston Winkelman also performed on acoustic guitars. Winkelman dedicated a song to his mother, and Fastabend a song to her father.
James and Joe Forst teamed up on drums and electric guitar for a melodic instrumental piece.
Guitar hero Nick Hales, a big hit last year, returned this year with two other talents, Emily Allison on drums and Alex De La Pez on rhythm. Calling themselves Smokey Joe and the Nesquick Bandits, the three students performed "Wild Thing."
"How many students love rock 'n roll?" Hales asked the crowd.
Receiving a lackluster response at first, Hales was determined to energize his peers:
"I asked how many students love rock 'n roll?" he shouted.
This time, the student body roared.
Senior Erik Dugan performed solo on a snare drum. What began as a steady rhythm turned into a near-invisible flurry of drumsticks as Dugan rapped and tapped and beat on both drum and rim. He twirled the sticks in his hands as he went and whirled them around his back and finally, after hitting the last beat, threw them in the air where they seemed momentarily suspended in the growing applause of his peers.
Dancing was also a popular talent. Both the Douglas danceline and jazz dance group performed. Brad Boyd, James Leonard, Danyelle Heidt and Jenica Espirtu wore hooded sweat shirts and white masks for a spirited street dance.
Albert Flores dressed in a shiny red suit and performed Michael Jackson's "Thriller."
But not all of the performances were musical. Haley Von Schottenstein and Edgar Arceo delivered a comedy skit, in which Edgar tried to obtain Haley's phone number but failed miserably, much to the laugher of the audience.
Zach Cupp and Stephen Rehm demonstrated their martial art skills, kicking and punching and "hi yawing" in unison, then launching a stunning sequence of cartwheels, front flips and back flips.
At the end of the show, eight teacher judges announced the winners. Winkelman's heartfelt song to his mother won him third-place. Cupp and Rehm's martial acrobatics secured them second, and Dugan took first for his incredible drum solo.
"Everybody here has incredible talent," Dugan said after the show. "I just got lucky. I couldn't do everything they were doing. They all did great. It was a great experience."
