By Khalida Sarwari
Last year, 22-year-old Tracy Sarmiento from San Francisco took home a $2,500 grand prize for performing a number from Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Phantom of the Opera in Saratoga’s Got Talent. The annual talent competition returns in August, giving performers another chance at a prize and opportunity to help the Saratoga Senior Center.
The Saratoga Cares Foundation will be presenting its third Saratoga’s Got Talent event on Aug. 15. Similar to past years, the show will feature singers, dancers, magicians and stand-up comics, as well as an entertainment segment that will showcase the talents of people who attend the open mic events the organization holds at the Blue Rock Shoot every month. One such participant is Vivian Schember, a 92-year-old from Saratoga who has signed up to do a poetry reading.
Prizes will be awarded to the most talented competitors in the 5-12 and 13-and-older age groups. Five prizes will be awarded in each age group.
“We’re trying to give out more prizes than we normally did, because the whole idea is to encourage our young talent,” said Rishi Kumar, the organization’s founder.
The panel of judges includes Vickie Wyant, a retired Redwood Middle School music director; Jon Jow, music director at Redwood; Jonathan Pwu, associate instrumental music director at Saratoga High School; and Paul Robinson, Saratoga High principal.
The contest is open to everyone, whether they live in Saratoga or not, and even to past competitors, said Kumar. In the past, contestants have come from Cupertino, Campbell, Los Gatos and San Jose as well as Saratoga.
As of early June, about 100 people had registered to attend the show. Kumar said the line-up would be capped at 25 contestants. Aside from the talent showcase, the event will also feature entertainment segments and food trucks.
The show will be broadcast in three segments on KSAR-TV within a week of the event and will culminate with the announcement of the winners, which will be kept a secret until the show airs.
Last year’s event drew more than 500 people and raised about $19,000 for the Saratoga Senior Center and the Saratoga Education Foundation. This year, Kumar anticipated the event will generate at least $10,000 in proceeds.
This year, all of the proceeds will go to the senior center. Addressing the needs of seniors in the community is high on the organization’s priority list, said Kumar.
“Our motto is ‘care for all,’ and this stems from the reason we founded this foundation: to continue the work of our dearly departed council member Susie Nagpal,” Kumar said. “She genuinely cared for everybody in the community, particularly seniors.”
The Saratoga Cares Foundation was created in 2010 to honor Nagpal’s compassionate spirit. The organization began by holding singing competitions on a small scale at Blue Rock Shoot on Big Basin Way, and out of that grew the talent show.
This year’s event takes place Aug. 15 from 7 to 11 p.m. at the Joan Pisani Community Center, 19655 Allendale Ave., Saratoga.
To sign up as a contestant or to purchase tickets for the show, visit saratogatalent.com. For information about the Saratoga Cares Foundation, visit saratogacares.org or call Kumar at 408.805.5993.
