Stuck at home with her cat, Eugenian Katie Sontag decided to put her creative talent to use. She drew on recent experiences in the time of COVID-19 to write “You’re More Than a Disease Vector,” a song about social distancing. “It was fun to run into you at the parking lot / of the Costco where we bought all the toilet paper in stock,” she sings while playing guitar.
Sontag’s music video is one of approximately 150 online submissions to the Hult Center’s “Stay Home Talent Show.” The event was designed to pull local talent into the spotlight and draw in an audience for artists who have lost their usual performance opportunities. To enter the competition, participants recorded themselves singing, dancing and playing music in their own living rooms or backyards and uploaded videos to social media with the hashtag #HultTalentShow.
The idea for the show took root shortly after the COVID-19 lock-down started. Performers were hit particularly hard by the new ban on public gatherings and Hult Center director Rich Hobby decided he needed to do something to keep the community creative. “We at the venue can see on a daily basis the impact of the arts on people, the benefits of people having a communal experience, a shared experience,” he told Eugene Weekly.
The Hult collected online submissions through April. The recorded acts ranged from an original guitar solo called “Quarantine Swing” to a five-year-old in a cowboy hat singing “Home on the Range” to a time lapsed sketch of Michael Jordan. Kristin Alacron put on a princess-esque dress and sang “When Will My Life Resume?” a quarantine rewrite of “When Will My Life Begin” from Disney’s “Tangled.” A young duo performed “All of Me” by John Legend on the xylophone; one musician whose hand use is limited due to disability hit notes with the mallet between her teeth.
When submissions closed, a panel of 12 local judges reviewed each one and compiled 22 finalists that were announced on May 4. Over the next three days, over 3,200 members voted in a People’s Choice run-off. On Friday, the Hult released their People’s Choice announcement video, revealing the winner: Educaro Viveros Colin with his harp cover of The Weeknd’s “Blinding Lights.”
Performers in the “Stay Home Talent Show” created video evidence that, with a little ingenuity, it’s possible to keep making and sharing art during the lock-down. The extreme constrictions set on all of us can push artists to find creative workarounds, like writing lyrics that capture the unprecedented struggle of staying inside and collaborating distantly with other artists. The Hult Center plans to continue finding ways to deliver virtual performances and kicked off their Hult Happy Hour series featuring local talent on Thursday.
