Sailors and Marines aboard the amphibious transport dock ship USS New York (LPD 21) rallied together in a competitive talent event to help maintain high morale while deployed to the U.S. 5th Fleet area of operations, May 24.

“’New York's Got Talent’ is a talent show to showcase the Marines’ and Sailors’ unique talents,” said Hospital Corpsman 1st Class Anknesha Shepherd, ‘New York’s Got Talent’ coordinator. “There were two phases to the competition; the audition phase and the final show.”

During the audition phase, the Sailors and Marines were introduced to the judges and their competition.

“The judging consisted of letting the contestants know what they can improve on going into the finals, what we liked, what could have been different, and included giving a little constructive criticism,” said Yeoman 2nd Class James Oliver, one of the judges.

This was the second integration of ‘New York’s Got Talent’. The first iteration was held during New York’s recent 2018 deployment.

“I thought it would be really cool to show the ship what modern-day beatboxing is like”, said Fire Controlman 2nd Class Sean Ferguson, one of the contestants. “Not a lot of people know its potential, especially considering I’m still a novice compared to some people I know.”

One of this year’s competitors was a contestant from the first competition, who was eager for a second chance to win the prize

“I decided to be a part of the event this year because of the last ‘New York’s Got Talent’”, said Culinary Specialist 2nd Class Nicholas Basone, another competitor. “I was a finalist in the last one and I felt like I should have won.”

In the final phase, the judges chose a first, second, and third place winner out of the 11 total contestants.

“I was surprised I won because there were so many talented people who came out for this competition,” said Gunner’s Mate 3rd Class Ethan Hunt. “After I heard CS2 Basone, I was sure he won. Everyone in the competition was great and everyone should be recognized who competed in ‘New York’s Got Talent.’”

Despite the inherent competitiveness of the event, some Sailors and Marines felt it was important to remember the goal: Bring everyone together and help maintain high morale.

“It feels good to actually do something myself to help everyone escape for a little bit’, said Engineman 2nd Class Nicholas Gniech, a participant. “That makes me feel pretty good inside.”

For more information, visit http://www.navy.mil/, http://www.facebook.com/usnavy/ or http://www.twitter.com/usnavy/.

For more news from USS New York (LPD 21), visit http://www.navy.mil/local/LPD21/ or http://www.facebook.com/ussnewyorklpd21/?refequalsts/

Get more information about the Navy from US Navy facebook or twitter.

For more news from USS New York (LPD 21), visit www.navy.mil/.