Lisle Musician Anthony Perry Wins First Place in 'Apollo Live!' Talent Competition at COD

College of DuPage Fine Arts student Anthony Perry (above) from Lisle earned first place for his moving rendition of Sam Cooke's "A Change is Gonna Come" at the inaugural "Apollo Live!" Talent Competition held at the College's McAninch Arts Center Belushi Performance Hall. Click here for photos and a video from this event.

Second place went to Naperville pre-pharmacy freshman Ricky White who celebrated the 30th anniversary of Michael Jackson's performance at the Grammy's with a masterful remake of the legendary "Billie Jean" dance that introduced the moonwalk to the world. A tie for third place went to Michael Carroso (West Chicago) Adam Wilk (Carol Stream) and Matt Skibinski (Carol Stream) whose band "Indigofera" played "Voodoo Child" by Jimi Hendrix. The additional third place title went to Jackie Spathies of Carol Stream who performed an incredible "hooping" performance to the Red Hot Chili Pepper's "Pretty Little Ditty."

Additional outstanding performances included Abraham Godson of Wheaton who played piano and sang an original song titled "Sleep"; Jeri Quinones and Kathryn Garrido, both of Naperville, who performed a hip hop/pop and lock dance to "Let it Go" by Chonique Sneed and other artists; Marissa Martinez (Mari V) of Hanover Park and Chris Taliferro (Kieferrofresh) of Carol Stream who sang an original song "Coastin'"; Rex Itczak of Lemont who played the ukulele and sang "Creep" by Radiohead; and Jane Evelyn Duffy of Naperville who performed "Summertime" from Gershwin's Porgy and Bess.

The Apollo Live! Talent Show was emceed by COD students Keven Huey (The Great) and Josh Barnibe and was performed as part of a series of Black History Month events hosted by COD throughout February.