Last was certainly not least at Saturday's Talent Quest Miami finale.

Pianist and composer Rachel Currea, the last of 12 performers, took home $500 and the opportunity to showcase her work after blowing the judges away with her original piece, Hear Me Now.

Sponsored by the Arts at St. Johns in Miami Beach, about 250 people came out to support the finalists Saturday night at the Miami Beach Colony Theater on Lincoln Road.

Talent Quest Miami was a competition open to Miami-Dade County residents of all ages. Preliminary rounds were held earlier this month and the top 12 were selected.

``I didn't put any expectations on winning, so I'm not sure what to do with the money,'' Currea said.

The Schenley Park resident perfected her piano playing skills at the Phillip and Patricia Frost School of Music of the University of Miami, but has been playing for the past 20 years and composing for 10.

Along the way, Currea suffered a severe automobile injury that left her with a 10-year creative dry spell. But after she learned to meditate, her ability to compose came back to her slowly.

``It's unspeakably delicious,'' she said.

Singer Teresa Bridges, of Northeast Miami-Dade, got a show of support from her co-worker -- and No. 1 fan -- Cadence Brown of Miami Lakes.

``All right, Teresa!'' cheered Brown, as she stood up and danced to Bridges' rendition of Donna Summer's Last Dance from her third-row seat.

Bridges took home honorable mention for her performance.

``I support her in all she does,'' said Brown, who has yet to miss one of Bridges' performances.

Second-place went to Janelle Sanchez, a 16-year-old student at Immaculata-La Salle High in Coconut Grove, who had the support of her mother, Ana, and brother Jay, 5. Jay and 12 of his friends wore black top hats and swayed from side to side next to Janelle as she sang Whitney Houston's Greatest Love of All and Frank Sinatra's New York, New York.

``My mom and I wanted to do something creative to make the act different,'' said Janelle, who dreams of working for the Disney Channel and becoming a professional singer.

In addition to singers, the competition was filled with dancers, a comedian, a contortionist and a circus act.

Elisa Silverstein, 9, and Brendan Russert Palmer, 18, dressed as clowns, juggled and rode around on unicycles for their routine.

Elisa, a student at Aventura City of Excellence Charter School, joined the Florida Circus Art Center in North Miami Beach two years ago and has since been named South Florida's Funniest Kid by Ringling Brothers.

`My favorite part is afterwards, when you see the audience clapping,'' she said. ``I see that I really make people happy.''

There to critique the contestants were Elaine Lancaster, a local celebrity drag queen; Mary Damiano, editor of MiamiARTzine.com; and Roger Abramson, a concert producer and talent manager.

``I'm so impressed by the amount of work these people put into it,'' said Abramson, who has worked with Aretha Franklin, among others. ``Every single person was focused and serious.''

Join the discussion

The Miami Herald is pleased to provide this opportunity to share information, experiences and observations about what's in the news. Some of the comments may be reprinted elsewhere in the site or in the newspaper. We encourage lively, open debate on the issues of the day, and ask that you refrain from profanity, hate speech, personal comments and remarks that are off point. In order to post comments, you must be a registered user of MiamiHerald.com. Your username will show along with the comments you post. Thank you for taking the time to offer your thoughts.

     Showing: Oldest first Newest first Most-recommended first Least-recommended first

@Nyx.AuthorDisplayName@ wrote on @Nyx.PostedAtTime@:

@Nyx.repliedToText@

@Nyx.replyAnswerText@

Reply to this Comment @Nyx.Recommender@ @Nyx.AbuseReporter@