Best four-person co-ed dance to Rihanna. Best and largest gossip session. Best rap song. Best exit for a ballet dance. Best original song and best person on the piano. The “I love Barbie award.” Where can you find all these awards? At the 12th annual Hoscars.
40 students performed during Hoscars, Harker’s annual talent show, on Feb. 8 in the Patil Theater. Associated Student Body officers and senior student council members emceed the event, introducing each act while lamenting their last Hoscars as seniors.
To perform in Hoscars, students submitted videos of their acts to the ASB Students Event Committee for approval. Committee member Amishi Gupta (10) enjoyed seeing the students’ progress through the rehearsal and all the way to the fully produced performances.
“My favorite part was seeing everyone really excited about doing Hoscars,” Amishi said. “The best thing about preparing it is seeing new people come on stage and do something amazing.”
Frosh Andrew Shin and Pascal Qin opened the show with their rap of “Careful.” Sophomore Linda Zeng followed with a contemporary dance to “Talk to Me.” Senior Miki Mitarai sang her rendition of Stephen Sanchez’s “Until I Found You” next, prompting audience members to wave their phone flashlights in line with the slow-tempo tune.
Taking the stage in tap shoes, frosh Evan Yuan showcased a routine to “Not Over You.” After Evan, juniors Naiya Daswani and Hasini Namala performed a classical Indian interpretation of “Love Me Like You Do.” Both wore kurtas and played traditional Indian instruments, with Naiya on the tabla and Hasini on the veena.
Sophomores Aditya Ramanathan, Charlotte Ludlow, Sophia Bagley, Henry Fradin, Holly Templeton and Simon Kirjner then sang an acapella cover of “Attention.” The group started preparing their performance in late November, rehearsing at least twice weekly.
Aditya, who directed the group’s singing, appreciates the student-driven efforts behind Hoscars.
“It’s fun for whoever performs there to just perform,” Aditya said. “It was just a very good collaborative experience to produce music and to perform for other people’s enjoyment. I enjoyed listening and watching everyone else as well.”
Senior Ritu Belani then poked fun at Harker parents with her comedy act titled “Kindness, Respect, Integrity and Personal Accountability.” She told a story from a Harker alumnus about parents dumpster-diving for old tests.
“I was conscious that the audience was going to be diverse,” Ritu said. “I wanted to write something that had a message our community needs to hear. It’s important for us to highlight some of the aspects of our academic culture that we don’t talk about as much. With comedy, I hope that everyone can relate with others and make people feel happier.”
Junior Sonia Yu danced to “Everybody Wants to Rule the World” in a ruby red outfit while silhouetted with dark, dramatic lighting. Shayla He (12), Mariana Ryder (12), Mina Okamoto (12), Shruti Srinivasan (11), Albert Yao (10) and Ishan Mysore (10) debuted their original song “Carry the Load” next. While Ishan accompanied on the keyboard, each singer sang a solo in a different language before coming back in unison to English at the end.
Senior Selina Chen then danced solo to a medley of K-pop songs. Sophomore MacEnzie Blue covered “Drops of Jupiter” while playing the electric guitar.
Junior Anwen Hao performed a ballet variation to “Flames of Paris.” Stellan Lindh (9), Jennifer Liu (9), Hannah Jiang (9) and Nikhil Sharma (10) marked the last of the dance acts, with their self-choreography to a Rihanna mash-up. A cappella club Signature, dressed in pink, closed the show with “What Was I Made For?” from the Barbie movie.
First-time Hoscar attendee Kayla Chen (9) enjoyed how the show showcased different students’ talents in an open and engaging format. She appreciates Harker’s own twist on the Oscars that encourages different mediums beyond those found in the classroom.
“Learning how talented everyone is outside of classes is really fun,” Kayla said. “The students choose their acts, so it feels less strict, and there’s more cool vibes.”
