That Yo-Yo Kid Wins!

Colsen may have had the biggest night of his life last night!

For weeks he's been anticipating the big Waxhaw's Got Talent show, having auditioned for it back in June.  Evidently, over 30 people auditioned and he was selected to be one of the participants of the show.

So last night was the big night, and he and arrived early to get the tour of the stage and all of the last-minute directions.  We spent most of the evening camped out in the "Green Room," but snuck out occasionally -- when we happily discovered that he had a whole fan club in attendance.  A bunch of friends from our CC community surprised him by coming, as well as the Dreschers and Wrays.... That was my favorite part of the night -- seeing him surrounded by so much love.

The show was comprised of 16 acts, mostly singers and musicians, but also a few dancers, a juggler, and a hula-hooper.  Colsen was definitely one of the younger performers, so I had tried to prepare him to not get his hopes up, that winning would be a real long-shot.

Finally, towards the end of the show, it was his turn to perform.  He was really nervous ahead of time, but he said later that he was sweating like crazy waiting for his turn, but once he hit the stage, his "hands took over" and he had a great time and didn't feel nervous at all!

I was back in the Green Room still, but could hear the cheering from his friends/cousins... The MC even made some comment about how he had brought his own cheering squad.

When it came time to announce the winners, I thought he might have a shot at one of the runner-up awards ("Most Enthusiasm," "Most Original," etc), but when they announced those awards and he didn't win them, I figured he hadn't won anything.  I was quite literally, ok, metaphorically, SHOCKED when they called him for First Place!

Everyone was so excited -- all 3 rows of his fans jumped to their feet, hootin' and hollerin' as we do here in the South.  How heartwarming it is to have a community that rejoices with us!

The prize was a $300 Visa card, on top of some other gift certificates, so Colsen is one pleased little guy.  He's already been working out how to spend it....  Over the last few weeks he had determined that if he happened to win, he was going to give away one-third of his prize money, so he's picking out the organization he wants to donate to, and has lots of dreams for how to spend the rest -- primarily on fishing stuff!

Next he has his sights set on a Yo-Yo Tournament.... but, sigh, it's in New Jersey....  We'll see!