Editor's Note: This is part of a series on several Northwest Florida residents' visit to Noirmoutier, France in connection with Sister Cities International.
Among those visiting is Crestview Area Sister City Program President and News Bulletin reporter Brian Hughes.
NOIRMOUTIER, France — More than 20 Northwest Florida State College performing arts students now know what it's like to be rock stars.
A sold-out crowd packing Noirmoutier-en-l'Île's 400-seat Les Salorges performance hall was ready to stay as long as students were willing to perform May 8, clapping in unison and demanding a second encore.
"It was incredible," dancer Samuel Melecia-Zambrano said. "When they started clapping so hard after the first number, I thought, 'Wow, they must like us.'"
"The response was ridiculous," fellow dancer Max Murdock said. "We weren't ready for a second encore."
"I was already changing backstage when I heard the music starting again," performer Sean Royal of Mary Esther said. "I said, 'Hey, that's my number' and ran out still putting my tie back on."
The show choir's newest fans found the group's mixture of oldies and current rock hits enjoyable.
"The Motown, the funk — they sang songs that appealed to the whole audience, from young ones to old," Jean-Luc Poignard, a Noirmoutrin middle school English teacher, said.
"There was such energy," retired logistics engineer Philippe Lemoine said. "I did not expect them to have so much talent. You can tell they are very disciplined and they have excellent teachers."
"And did you see?" his wife, Kathy, said. "The students' host families were hugging them and kissing them after the show like they were their real children. They were so proud of them."
Crestview resident Derick Masters, the group's bass player, said the islanders' response surpassed that of any audiences the group has played for.
"We were not ready for that," he said. "It was a little overwhelming."
"It was a blessing," Royal said. "Really a blessing. They gave us so much energy. I was glad we were able to give them a show to remember."
The Soundsations performed a different show for the May 9 gala dinner — "It (had) lots more dancing in it," Murdock said — while the Madrigals and Belle Voci choirs performed at two churches on the island Monday and Tuesday.
In all, more than 50 performers, educators and escorts from NWFSC performed their every-two-year concerts in Crestview's sister city.
They joined an 18-member delegation from the Crestview Area Sister City Program in Noirmoutier who are observing the union's 20th anniversary, and the 70th anniversary of France's World War II liberation.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Northwest Florida State College show choir impresses French audience