Every year, Antonine University (UA) takes great pride in nurturing well-rounded learners by providing exciting and rewarding opportunities to help them concretize their aspirations and savor every moment. On March 1, 2023, the Office of Student Affairs (OSA) launched the third edition of UA Talent, asking its precious students — members of the University’s vibrant community — if they were eager to put their talents on display; the call was immediately flooded with submissions. Students from all 3 campuses and various academic disciplines have been harnessing their skills over the previous years, waiting for the right opportunity to show them off. UA students were thus thrilled to join the award ceremony and party, which took place on Friday, March 24, 2023, at 6:30 PM on the Hadat–Baabda Main Campus in a relaxed and informal atmosphere to celebrate their talents and creativity.

Distinguished jury members, including Ms. Mary Mahfouz, Vocal Instructor; Ms. Claudia Marchalian, Actress and Screenwriter; Ms. Nayla Tueni, Journalist and CEO of Annahar Newspaper; Mr. Michel Hourany, Award-winning Actor, Theater Director, and Instructor at UA’s Faculty of Information and Communication (FIC); and Ms. Nelly Maatouk, Actress and Singer, were present at the ceremony to evaluate the talents’ final performances. The ceremony was hosted by Marie-Joe Matta, a journalism and radio/TV student, and Edward Nammour, an audiovisual student, both from the Faculty of Information and Communication (FIC). The hosts then introduced the top 15 finalists, who astounded the audience with their mind-blowing on-stage performances. In order to create brief, entertaining breaks for the audience in between the talents’ performances, the screen played some scoops and interviews that provided a better insight into the lives and talents of the finalists, as well as recap videos about each jury member illustrating their artistic value over the years.

While 50% of the votes depended on the public’s voting between March 13 and 18 on the @ua.studentlife Instagram account, the other 50% relied on the jury’s grading of the talents’ performances during the ceremony. The results were then announced live on stage. A $200 cash prize was awarded to Michel Harika, a first-year student at the Faculty of Sport Sciences (FSS), for his outstanding performance of songs by Wadih El Safi. The first runner-up spot went to Karam Bou Fakhreddine, a first-year student at the Faculty of Engineering (FOE), who earned $150 in cash for his piano playing. A team of 2 FSS students, Gabriel Harika, a third-year student, and Elizabeth Germanos, a master’s student, won the second runner-up spot and received a $100 cash prize for their Calisthenics performance.

To cap off the event, DJ Rafi Top, a UA student who was also among the top 15 finalists, performed live music and set off the party, along with live food stations.