Before the Untouchables could start their dance routine, Deborah Scott approached the microphone and asked the audience to clear the center aisle.

About 400 chairs were lined up in the HUB Heritage Hall, but there were not enough chairs for the crowd at the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) "Night at the Apollo" talent showcase Friday night. Extra chairs filled the aisle and the back of the room was crammed with standing spectators.

The talent show, which included everything from singing and rapping to dancing and spoken word poetry readings, was based on amateur night showcases at the Apollo Theater in Harlem, N.Y., during the 1930s, Teaunte Wilson, president of the Penn State chapter of the NAACP, said.

Scott (senior-health policy and administration), Wole Adegbonmire (sophomore-industrial engineering), Tanya Shields (sophomore-crime, law and justice), Kevin Smith (sophomore-premedicine), Omar Rose (junior-art) and Alexis Augustin (freshman-computer engineering), who all made up the Untouchables, won the crowd and the competition with their intricate hip-hop dance moves. The audience was in charge of deciding which act liked best, and the act that got the most applause won. "If you're feeling a performer, you can feel free to clap. If you're not, what are you going to do?" mistress of ceremonies Brooke Gillis (senior-public relations) asked the crowd in her introduction.

The crowd responded with a chorus of "boos," and Gillis agreed. "Exactly," she said. The audience took these instructions to heart and enthusiastically let its opinions be known. Cheers and boos filled each contestant's ears, often only seconds into their performance.

In the end, the Untouchables, who performed without two of their regular members, squeaked by another dancing duo to take the title and the $200 prize.

"We practiced really long and really hard," Scott said. "The competition was really great, and they ran us up to the last minute."

This was the Untouchables' second year competing in the annual event, and Scott said the past experience prepared them for the crowd's reactions.

Junace Byfield (freshman-nuclear engineering) was one of the hundreds of excited students watching the show. She said she not only enjoyed the performances, but the energy of the audience as well.

"The crowd made it," she said.