No break-dance or rap could outdo the real stars of Sunday night’s second annual “It’s Showtime at the Apollo”: the audience.

More than 300 students from Northwestern and other Chicago-area schools gathered to boo and cheer on 25 performing acts at the African Students Association talent show in Ryan Family Auditorium.

The show attracted a variety of talents, including an instrumental performance from the Ghana Boys, whose leader is an employee at Sargent dining hall.

The opportunity to see an NU staff member outside of his workplace is symbolic of the association’s efforts to reach out to the community, said Jumoke Warritay, the group’s president.

“It’s a chance of showcasing talent, to get out there and give back to the community,” said Warritay, a Weinberg sophomore.

At the end of all 25 acts, the performers were brought back on stage and evaluated by the audience, whose applause determined the top act of the night.

Speech freshman Alexis Little, who performed an original poetry piece dealing with racial issues and gender differences, gained the overwhelming support of the females in the audience and won the competition.

Featuring acts from Columbia College, University of Chicago, DePaul and Loyola universities, the show culminated in an energy-charged dance routine by special guest group Full Effect, who captivated the audience with a 10-minute hip-hop routine.

Other acts included gospel singing, love serenading, freestyle rapping, saxophone playing and break-dancing by two students.

But while the audience was very heated and involved, not all performers received equal applause.

Some acts were subject to the brutal booing of the audience who would stand up and physically gestured for the performer to get off the stage.

On several occasions, loud booing prompted the appearance of a comic character, who rushed onto the stage, each time with a different object — a broom, baseball bat, walking stick and gun — to remove the act from the stage.

Despite the crowd’s negative reaction to some acts, most performers received hearty applause. In the end, audience members recognized that the crowd participation was all part of the fun.

“Although the show was a little long, there was good talent tonight,” said Tamara Rickman, a DePaul student. “More schools should participate in such events.”

Weinberg senior Leonard Chen was impressed with the diversity of the Apollo show.

“It was very interesting to see African-American culture,” he said. “I enjoyed the show a lot and would like to see more open variety shows with a lot of diverse people in the future”

While Chen gave the show a thumbs up, he added that the show could have been improved by having more performing acts that do not necessarily focus on the performers’ ethnic backgrounds.

But most audience members, like Loyola student Tenecia Cassey, said the show met their expectations.

“I definitely enjoyed tonight’s performance,” she said. “The performers had great potential.”