Provo City activities director Aspen Dalton had to be creative with future city activities when schools and public events were shut down due to the outbreak of COVID-19, so he decided to hold a Provo City online talent show for community members to display all sorts of skills while in quarantine.
Community members can submit acts through this link from the city. Submissions close April 2 at 10 a.m. The talent show will stream April 2 from 7-8 p.m. on Facebook Live, YouTube Live and Provo TV Channel 17.
'We knew we had to innovate with virtual events,' Dalton said. 'My husband came up with the idea of an online talent show, where people have a week or two to practice in quarantine and can then submit their videos.'
Dalton is expecting at least 20 submissions for the show but was hoping for more after the successes of their virtual scavenger hunt. The first virtual scavenger hunt was held two weeks ago after schools were let out to combat the spread of COVID-19. This scavenger hunt included over 300 challenges that could be completed at home.
'For the scavenger hunt, we had over 1,000 teams last time, and expect similar numbers this time around too,' Dalton said.
Some previous challenges included reciting a favorite quote from a Shrek movie, recreating a lightsaber battle and mixing Coca-Cola with Mentos.
Besides smaller-scale social media challenges, Provo City has not done anything like the online scavenger hunt or cyber talent show in the past.
Each act for the talent show will be sorted into five different age categories, which include 6 and under, 7-12, 13-17, 18 and older and families and groups.
Provo City was able to get the word out about the talent show through Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and email.
Provo community member Andrew Heath heard about the talent show through Facebook and has spread the word by sharing the original post.
Heath said he thinks it's a great way for people in quarantine to pass time. 'I enjoy watching others, but probably won't submit anything myself,' Heath said.
A variety of acts should be expected as members of the community watch the talent show on Provo City's livestream. Dalton said there have been many different submissions, such as vocal performances, time-lapse crafts, funny variety acts and even a rap duet.