Employee of the month download.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/uvl.jpg” alt=”uvl” width=”266″ height=”198″ />Last night’s Ultra Violet Live, IRHC’s talent show, was, in short, weird, stupid, but definitely enjoyable. The event, held in Skirball, offered refreshments, outer space decorations, and two and a half hours of unusual entertainment.

Downstairs, event organizers handed out purple glow sticks and the audience made their way in to the auditorium. The stage was set up with creepy alien music, fog, and purple lights. The show opened with a request from the announcer to “Fasten your seatbelts” and get ready for “liftoff.”

Then the programming board emerged decked out in shiny silver leggings and neon shirts to Carmina Burana. The music changed and they started to rave, swinging their glow sticks all over the place. It was bound to be a strange show.

Three judges were announced: a former Rockette, some music label guy, and a singer/actor who reminded me of Ryan Seacrest (and also happened to be named Ryan). Then came out the host of the evening, Ben Curtis – the guy from the Dell commercials – in an astronaut outfit.

Ben announced that someone needed to move their hovercraft (Ha, Ha…), and then introduced the first act of the night, a three-girl hip-hop group called B. Sugar. They started the show off well with a performance full of attitude and sick dance moves.

The Ryan Seacrest wannabe judge was the first to comment. “We need a new TLC group, and that group could be you. Just don’t go driving in Honduras,” he said.

There were a lot of other great acts: three bands that really grooved, an illusionist who stuck his hand in a fox trap, a girl who played the harp and the saw, and a guy named Greg, who did a Kelly Clarkson cover of “Since You Been Gone” on his ukulele.

And then there was the bizarre. One guy played a fancy overture on his teeth. He did a great job, but I couldn’t get over the teeth thing. A girl named Katy Jacoby played the electric violin, which was really cool. Her intense playing ripped a bunch of thread loose from her bow and the judge from the music label dubbed her a virtuoso. I completely agreed.

The winners were all great, although I was bummed that Katy Jacoby didn’t get any recognition. In third place was a freshman from Weinstein who did an unreal beat box routine, managing to sing the opening from “Drop It Like It’s Hot” while continuing to beat box. “Snooooooooop!”

Second place went to a cute, nerdy freshman that did a juggling routine. One part of his act featured these glow-up balls which he juggled while the stage was pitch black. It was really crazy looking, I’m totally going to call him next time there’s LSD up for grabs.

Brandyn Burnette, a singer and pianist, took down first place and a check for $1000 ­– a much better prize than the Dell computers they raffled off halfway during the show. He broke all the ladies’ hearts singing soulfully about the girl he missed from home.

The event dragged on for a talent show, but I definitely had some laughs and saw some great talent at U.V.L. If you’re bummed you missed it, you can supposedly buy a DVD copy on the IRHC site, but it doesn’t appear to be available yet (I couldn’t find it).