Teen Talent Competition Advances

Fifty high school acts will move on to the semi-final round of the Fox Performing Arts Charitable Foundation’s(FoxPACF) 11th Annual St. Louis Teen Talent Competition on Sunday, February 28, 2021. These acts will vie to be finalists and compete onstage at The Fabulous Fox Theatre for $50,000 in scholarships and prizes.

“We are so pleased with the positive response to the St. Louis Teen Talent Competition from students, parents, arts organizations, and the community. The Foundation is happy to be able to provide this opportunity for students and to give students the opportunity to shine,” said Mary Strauss, St. Louis Teen Talent Competition creator, FoxPACF Founder and Board President. 

For the 11th year of the competition, the preliminary and semi-final rounds are conducted by video submissions and judging and feedback to contestants is completed on a virtual platform. This year, 123 acts submitted recorded performances, representing 77 bi-state high schools and homeschoolers. Contestants receive feedback and insight from panels of arts professionals to encourage, inspire and improve these high school students’ craft. “Performance art is more important than ever and our next generation of artists are ready to launch their careers when our stages reopen,” stated the Foundation’s Executive Director Judy Cullen.

Semi-finalist acts include singers, musicians, dancers, aerialists, jugglers, and a beatboxer. A complete list of students/schools can be found here. Semi-finalist acts will be judged on technical ability, interpretation, stage presence, and originality. Judges for the semi-final round of competition are arts professionals representing a cross-section of the St. Louis performing arts community. A complete list of semi-final round judges is available on the FoxPACF website.  

The finals of the St. Louis Teen Talent Final Competition will be recorded live on stage at the Fox Theatre for a special broadcast to air on the NineNetwork. 

The Fox Performing Arts Charitable Foundation reintroduced the St. Louis Teen Talent Competition in 2011 to showcase the St. Louis region’s most talented teens in the performing arts. The 2020 St. Louis Teen Talent Competition winner was DemBari Taneh, a freestyle hip hop dancer from Kirkwood High School. Other past participants have been seen on NBC’s “The Voice” (Joanna Serenko 2019 and Audriana Bartholomew 2017), American Idol (Christina Jones 2017), and toured with the Broadway shows like Hamilton (Yvette Lu 2013). A complete list of the past ten years of winners and finalists can be found on the FoxPACF website.