Southlake’s got talent, and city councilmember John Huffman and his wife Elizabeth want residents to know that. That’s why they’re organizing a digital talent show that will stream every Thursday on Facebook.
Since Mayor Laura Hill issued a declaration of disaster on March 17, John and Elizabeth Huffman have kept their family indoors, just like most of Southlake's residents. With event cancellations and postponements left and right, the couple thought of ways they might bring Southlake together online even though everyone is physically apart.
So they created a new digital show called “Southlake’s Got Talent” that will stream at 7 p.m. every Thursday on their Facebook page.
“Everyone is home right now looking for entertainment, but are also wanting to have interaction with others in the community,” Elizabeth says. “The idea was to have a time where people could showcase their talents in a unique way.”
The show will take up to 20 two-minute video submissions of entrants’ talents, whatever they may be. Elizabeth says some entrants sang and played the guitar, while others danced to an original routine. Some even featured animals in their videos as well.
After all the submissions are gathered, Elizabeth says their videos will populate the main page, where the community will have a chance to react to their favorites. Winning categories include solo, duo and group performances of three or more people.
“Each submission will have its own post, then people will have 24 hours to 'like' it,” Elizabeth explains. “Then at 7 p.m. on Friday night, we’ll close it, count up the likes and announce who won.”
Elizabeth says she hopes this turns into a larger online gathering where people can submit and react to each other’s talents and skills. Since many school and community events have been canceled, she hopes this show might fulfill some of the social interaction residents have been missing for a few weeks now.
“We’re looking to turn this into an opportunity for everybody to celebrate everybody in our community,” she says. “It’s been really cool just to see people gathering together to celebrate Southlake.”
The first submissions can be viewed at 7 p.m. tomorrow on Facebook. If you would like to enter a submission or just want to see people’s diverse talents in Southlake, go to the "Southlake’s Got Talent" main page at Facebook.com.