Email   Print   Share By Erin Rogers, Sentinel Leisure Editor

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Pfc. Maurice Roberson received third place with his performance of “Everybody Knows” by John Legend at Fort Hood’s Festival of the Arts Attack of the Clones competition July 26. Erin Rogers, Sentinel Leisure Editor

Jade Coleman (left) Fort Hood MWR marketing specialist, and Dan Torres (right) Fort Hood MWR operations chief, present Roderick Bogan and DeAdiran Johnson with a first-place $500 check for their original performance of “King’s Men (Mime Piece).” Erin Rogers, Sentinel Leisure Editor

DeAdrian Johnson and Roderick Bogan, first-place winners of Hood’s Attack of the Clones competition, show their performance, “King’s Men (Mime Piece),” July 26. Erin Rogers, Sentinel Leisure Editor

Fort Hood’s Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation hosted the Festival of the Arts 2012 Attack of the Clones at the Phantom Warrior Center Friday night.

The Attack of the Clones is a competition where contestants compete for who is the best celebrity impersonator. The 11 entrants Friday were being judged on their stage presence, appearance, creativity, originality, similarity to who they were impersonating and on their overall talent.

The judging was set up

“American Idol” style, with three judges who all take turns commenting on the highs and lows of each contestant’s performance. The judges were Fort Hood’s own MWR employees – Monty

Campbell, Fort Hood MWR public relations coordinator; Dan Torres, Fort Hood MWR operations chief; and Shanell Sullivan, Fort Hood MWR administrative assistant.

Also present at the event were the Army Entertainment representatives from Fort Sam Houston. Army Entertainment was there offering the entrants the opportunity to send in videos of their performances into Operation Rising Star, the military singing competition that provides service members and their Family members an opportunity to become a recording artist.

“This is a great way to recognize the talent in the Fort Hood community,” Torres said. “It’s also nice because we have everyone participating – Soldiers, civilians, dependents, everyone.”

Not only were there a variety of community members competing, but a wide range of ages as well, with Fort Hood’s youth largely participating in the event.

Two of the youngest competitors were 12-year-old Reina Webly as Nicki Minaj and 12-year-old Kacey Dunn as Janelle Monae. Both of the girls received nothing but compliments from the judges and were told to continue improving on their talents for years to come.

When the competition was over, Torres, Campbell and Sullivan took 10 minutes to consolidate their thoughts and discuss who would be the first, second, third place and best costume winners. All of the places received prizes, with first place winning $500, second place winning $300 and third place and best costume winning $200.

Best costume went to Jasmine Dunn, dressed as Amy Winehouse and singing Winehouse’s “Rehab.” Jasmine was praised for her likeness to Amy with her convincing costume and stage presence – she even had the props and backup dancers to go with her performance. Third place went to Pfc. Maurice Roberson, who sang “Everybody Knows” by John Legend.

Pfc. LaQuetta Hawkins took

second place, leaving the judges admittedly stunned with her rendition of Etta James’ “I’d Rather Go Blind.”

First place went to the most unique performance of the night – a wordless, powerful religious mime act, performed by DeAdrian Johnson, 19, and Roderick Bogan, 20.

The two have been friends for more than 10 years, and they formed the “King’s Men” four years ago when visiting another church and seeing a performance that inspired them to bring something new to their own church, Unity Baptist Church in Copperas Cove. Their performances are a mix of advanced dance moves used to convey a strong religious message. Even though they were not portraying any celebrities, the judges said they were so impressed by Johnson and Bogan’s performance that their talent came through to win for them.

“We both feel blessed and great to have won,” Johnson said.