As Black History Month comes to an end, Central will continue the tradition of paying homage to a historical television program, “It’s Showtime at the Apollo Theater.”

“Showtime at the Apollo” aired its first episode in 1987 and has since become a widely famous program and cultural phenomena.

Central’s Black Student Union (BSU) hosts “Showtime at Central” as a tribute to the popular show this Saturday Feb. 27 in the SURC Theatre at 8 pm.

Evelyn Briscoe, senior law and justice and sociology major and president of the BSU, is the talent scout for the show. Briscoe said her job is to look for students who might perform in the show this year and spread the word about the $300 first prize.

Briscoe is hoping to share Showtime’s historical significance with Central.

“It was for people of color who didn’t really have the opportunity to showcase their talent to people that didn’t really want to listen,” Briscoe said. “It gave them the opportunity to kind of rise and become something, if they really did have a talent. Whether it was singing or dancing or anything like that, it was just very important for them to have that opportunity.”

This show is different from other talent showcases because, as each performer takes the stage, the audience is invited to interact with the performers by either cheering them on or booing them.

Participants will have only a short moment to win over the audience.

“It’s not supposed to make people feel like they have no talent or they can’t perform… It’s not for booing. It’s for giving that person a chance to really blow your socks off in the first 30 seconds and perform,” Briscoe said. “We really want to give students and community members the opportunity to show people what they can do. That’s what we really want for people to know this year, along with the historical and cultural aspect of the show.”

Randy Campbell, freshman undecided, is a singer and songwriter who has played guitar for more than seven years. Campbell is a member of a newly formed band called “Dire Fire.”

Campbell said he believes  an event like this one is a great way to introduce himself to a new audience at Central.

“I heard about it at open mic night,” Campbell said. “I take any opportunity I have to be involved with something that involves music and get my name out there. Perform, get on a stage… promote my band for when we come out here so we can get a lot of people out to the show, I mean basically all that aside, it’s another chance to go play.”   

Some students, such as Jacob Scott, sophomore clinical physiology major, are new to performing in front of larger audiences.

Scott has been writing lyrics since he was 11 years old, but only recently started performing in front of an audience.

“The first time I did open mic it was really, really scary. Like I was sweating before I even got up there,” Scott said. “I’m used to performing in front of people who are my age, but the amount of people that are going to be at this show compared to being in the SURC pit is a drastic difference. I think that my nerves come from the amount of people more so than them being my peers.”

Scott was asked to audition for the show at an open mic night.

“I went to an open mic, I had performed at them a couple of times.  Evelyn came up to me afterwards and was like, ‘hey, we’re doing this show, I think really you should do it.’ I was pretty iffy at first… these people will boo you if they don’t like what you’re wearing, much less if you’re not good. I just decided screw it, I’m going to take a shot and do it,” Scott said.