By Steve Paradis
Herald Correspondent
A women’s dance quartet and the event’s first adult comedy competition kicked off Showtime in Sanford Season VI on a new night, Friday, March 20 at the Woman’s Club of Sanford on Oak Street in Sanford.
The all-adult Genesis Dance Kru collected the $500 for first place in the more traditional first part of the talent show. They hip-hop dance team from Orlando has only been together in its current lineup for about two months, said leader Tatiana Cordner.
“We’re doing this for the ladies,” Cordner told the Herald.
The team wants to do more competitions, but the winnings from Showtime will be split among the four of them and likely go to practical needs such as food and bills.
The four members—Cordner, Keila Torres, Kaila Mitchell, and Chelsea Buck— plan on returning for the Showtime finale in December when the top three winners for each competition are invited back for a grand prize of $1,000 for the winner.
After an intermission, only adults were allowed in for the adult comedy show featuring 10 comedians in the second half of the Showtime event.
Shay Lowe of Orlando took home the top prize among the comedians. Lowe also took home a $500 first prize and will be back at the end of the season for the finale.
“I’m always happy to perform anywhere,” Lowe told the Herald. She said friends encouraged her to start doing standup comedy about two years ago. “It was peer pressure from my best friend.”
Regulars at The Alley in Sanford may know Lowe as she has often performed there, she said.
How will she use the $500 winnings?
“I’m going to buy a suit for my husband,” she said, adding that they have a wedding to attend. “I also love this show, and I love seeing the comics and getting to know them.”
The second and third place winners from Friday will also be invited back for the finale in December.
Finishing second for the talent portion of the March 20 show was a younger dance troupe, the Ladies of Destiny step team; and coming in third was singer Rachel Israel, who took the audience back to the 1980s with Whitney Houston’s “I Wanna Dance with Somebody.”
For the comedians, coming in second place was Erick Lutz and in third place was Ernest Logan Jr.
Two more qualifying Showtime in Sanford events will take place on June 19 and on September 18, according to Lawrence Gordon, aka Calico tha Surrealist, who’s company puts on the shows.
If you have a talent or are a comedian and you have five minutes of material to try to win $500, contact Calico at 407-485-0558.
Sponsors for Showtime include Diamond Sponsor Charles Davis and Associates, who had put up all the prize money for Season VI. Also sponsoring the show are the Sanford Herald, Yellow Door Realty, and the Lake Mary Bilingual Academy Daycare Inc.
