Watching students perform at school talent shows is always a joy, whether they’re singing, dancing, or displaying another skill. While every participant deserves recognition for their bravery and effort, sometimes a performance shines so brightly it surpasses expectations for their age.
In 2017, four fifth graders from New Braunfels Christian Academy in Texas delivered a standout act at their Elementary Talent Show. To keep their act under wraps until the big reveal, the boys began their performance cloaked in black fabric. When the cloth was removed, their surprise outfits—a playful combination of baby costumes and small prosthetic legs—were met with uproarious laughter from the audience.
The fun didn’t stop there. The boys entertained the crowd further with a creative and humorous dance routine set to popular songs. They kicked things off with an enthusiastic rendition of Taylor Swift’s “Shake It Off,” and the crowd went wild for their performance of “Kung Fu Fighting” by Carl Douglas, complete with kung fu moves in their amusing suits.
This memorable performance wasn’t the only standout moment from fifth graders. In 2014, eight students from Porter Elementary also captivated their audience with a synchronized swimming routine on a blue plastic sheet that mimicked a pool. Their inventive performance earned them loud cheers and applause.
Both performances, which have collectively garnered over 30 million views, highlight the incredible creativity and talent showcased at school talent shows. Captivating an audience, even for just a few minutes, is no small feat, and these young performers achieved it with flair.
Typhoon Kong-rey Has One of Largest Eyes Ever Seen: ‘Absolutely Massive’
Ameteorologist has pointed out the sheer size of Typhoon Kong-rey’s eye as the massive storm approached Taiwan on Wednesday.
As of Wednesday afternoon, Typhoon Kong-rey had maximum sustained winds of 130 mph, according to the website Zoom Earth. The storm has weakened slightly since Tuesday night, when it was categorized as a super typhoon with maximum sustained winds of 150 mph, equivalent to a Category 4 hurricane. Forecasts anticipate that Typhoon Kong-rey will weaken further by the time it makes landfall in Kaohsiung in the early morning hours on Thursday.
On Tuesday night, meteorologist Noah Bergren of TV station WOFL in Orlando, Florida, commented on the size of the storm’s eye.
“Super Typhoon Kong-rey is easily one of the largest eye’s in a major tropical system you will ever see on Earth,” Bergren posted on X (formerly Twitter). “Thing is absolutely massive.”
A wave crashes outside of Fugang Harbor in Taitung, Taiwan, ahead of Typhoon Kong-rey on Wednesday. The storm is expected to make landfall in Taiwan early Thursday morning. Annabelle Chih/Getty
AccuWeather senior meteorologist Alan Reppert told Newsweek that having a large eye doesn’t necessarily imply anything about the storm’s strength.
“It just means the winds with it are farther away from the center than if it was a smaller eye,” he said. “It doesn’t necessarily have any major defining characteristic of the storm.”
Reppert added that a stronger storm that’s been around longer usually has a wider eye than a newer storm.
Most spaghetti models—or computer models illustrating potential storm paths—show Kong-rey making landfall on Taiwan’s southeast coast and cutting across the island before emerging with maximum sustained winds of around 75 mph. Models indicate that the typhoon will exhibit a northeastern turn away from China, which will take it out to the East China Sea.
Kong-rey’s strength is uncharacteristic for this time of year, The New York Times reported, adding that the typhoon is expected to make landfall equivalent to a Category 4 hurricane.
Reppert warned that strong winds up to 140 mph with higher gusts could hit southern Taiwan, though the storm is expected to weaken as it moves over the island. An AccuWeather report warned of “significant structural damage, mudslides and landslides” from the storm, as up to 3 feet of rain is expected to lash Taiwan. The storm could either maintain its intensity or strengthen before it makes landfall early Thursday.
Eastern China and Japan also are expecting heavy rain as the storm progresses.
A typhoon is classified as a severe tropical cyclone occurring in the Northwest Pacific. A hurricane is the term for the same type of storm in the Northeast Pacific and Northern Atlantic. Outside of these regions, the storms are called tropical cyclones.
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