It is a democracy at Showtime at the Apollo. Under the bright stage lights, a performer is at the mercy of the crowd. If they love the act, the performer is met with an eruption of cheers. If the crowd doesn’t love it, the performer is met with a deafening wall of boos. It is this kind of communal engagement that keeps Middle Tennessee State University alumna like Jordaan Davis coming back every year.

“I do like the community it brings on campus, especially with the times that we’re in right now,” said Davis, who attended with her friend, a fellow MTSU alumna.

Community accurately describes the atmosphere of this year’s event. “Showtime at the Apollo” was hosted by MTSU’s Black Student Union and took place on Feb. 20 in the Student Union Ballroom. 

First-time hosts Joshua Jackson and Evan Shipp brought energy and laughs, encouraging an otherwise shy crowd to cheer or boo as much as they pleased. While there were more cheers that night, Jackson believes that the lack of boos meant that the performers brought their best.

And brought their best, they did. Among the night’s standout performers was the night’s winner, freshman Ashley Smith, who confessed that she originally wasn’t planning on performing.

“I kept debating with it,” Smith said, “but it was on my Bingo card for 2026, so I was like, ‘I might as well.’ And then my roommate pushed me to join.”

Smith, who performed John Legend’s “Conversations in the Dark,” also admitted that she was surprised by the reaction from the crowd and was even more surprised by her victory. Nevertheless, the reaction made her smile.

Smith was not the only first-time performer at this year’s Showtime. Other notable acts included sophomore Amir Lanfair, known by his stage name Amir Sa’Vant, and junior transfer Kason Stokes, known by his stage name Kaso or K2O, who had the crowd dancing in their seats with original music. Returning artist Elijah McNeal brought freshman Tim Nash on stage to perform a medley of beloved childhood favorite TV show theme songs, including “The Fairly OddParents” and “Phineas and Ferb.”

While there were few boos this year, that wasn’t to say they didn’t happen. Artists J. Marshall and senior Jeremiah Nakley experienced the ire from the crowd.

Nakley, who performed the John Legend hit “Gonna Love You Now,” did not hold back on the audience’s reaction to his performance.

“It hurt my feelings at first, it made me mad, but I’ve been out of the game for a long time, so this just made me want to get back on stage,” said Nakley. 

 During an intermission, audience members and performers danced to line-dance classics such as “Wobble” by V.I.C. Those who weren’t dancing watched the excitement and laughed with their friends. 

Throughout the night, there was an undercurrent of joy and an overwhelming sense of community, not unusual at events hosted by Black students at MTSU.

“For me, it just shows how unified Black MT is,” said Shipp. “You think of MTSU, and you think of PWI [predominantly white institution], but you get on campus, and it’s a really strong black student union and black population. It really shows how family-oriented we are. It just makes everything so fun.”

Senior Denzel Harris echoed this sentiment. Harris, who is also the President of MTSU’s Black Student Union and co-producer of this year’s Showtime at the Apollo, believes that events like this are important for people to be embraced and feel empowered.

This was the Black Student Union’s first time hosting and sponsoring this year’s event, something that previously fell under MTSU’s Intercultural and Diversity Affairs.

Following President Donald Trump’s executive order affecting workplace Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs, MTSU discontinued its DEI initiatives. This discontinuation affected some scholarships and programs on campus, including Intercultural and Diversity Affairs.

It was important for Harris and members of the Black Student Union to continue events like this that express joy and community, and he urges others to continue showing up.

“Just come out and have fun,” Harris said. “You don’t have to perform. You don’t have to sit in the crowd. You can just sit outside and just sit and listen, but come out and enjoy the community because this is all we have.”

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