In preparation for singing on a big stage in front of large audience, Maggie Garrett pretended the plants in her house were people.

That way, she could practice in front of the plants and get a sense of what it might be like when the lights dimmed and it was time for the real thing at Oak Harbor High School.

The strategy seemed to help Garrett ward off nerves and assisted her in winning over many hearts at the inaugural Whidbey Has Talent show Sunday.

The tiny 10-year-old from Oak Harbor won the Presentation Division, featuring performers from kindergarten through fifth grade, and found that the plants at home couldn’t match the applause inside the Student Union Building.

“That little Maggie, she just won the audience over,” said Vern Olsen, who served as one of the judges. “She had so much poise in front of the audience.”

Fifty-two performing artists from kindergarten through 12th grade made the cut to participate in the first show. They competed in three different divisions that aligned with elementary, middle and high-school grades.

JR Russell, an Oak Harbor magician and retired Navy captain, came up with the idea to bring together Whidbey Island’s most talented child performers under one roof. For year one, he had to settle with mostly Oak Harbor’s best, though young talent from Coupeville also participated.

“I thought it was pretty awesome,” Russell said. “The first one’s in the books.”

Russell said the show was even christened with a “Steve Harvey moment” when the top three finishers of the Junior Division were announced in the wrong order.

But, there were few hiccups, a lot of people in the seats and plenty of cheers.

“It’s a great experience for kids to do this in front of the community,” said Leah Norton-Gaudreau, whose daughter, Aubree Norton, a fifth-grader at Hillcrest Elementary, performed a dance routine and finished second in the Presentation Division. “It’s fun.”

“It was really exciting,” Aubree Norton said. “I was confident at first. Then I was like, ‘Wait. I’m not that confident.’”

The most polished performers were saved for last. The Senior Division pitted a collection of music and dance groups, duets and solo performers.

In the end, it was the dance team known as Legacy that took top honors. The group featured senior Darnell Dizon, junior Corbin Phipps and sophomores Paige Jackson and Anamae Herrera.

Placing second was Last Sunday, a rock band whose singer, Suzanne Kaltenbach, wrote the song they played called “Moon and Back.”

Third was the duet of Shelby Montoya and Scout Powell.

Each division also had a “People’s Choice” winner voted on by the audience instead of judges.

Last Sunday took that honor.

“We knew they were really good,” Phipps said. “We figured they would win.”

But it was the moves of Phipps and the others that won over the judges.

In the Junior Division, Oak Harbor Middle School sixth-graders Christopher Robertson and Cole Valdez played the guitar and piano in a vocal duet that landed them first place. They finished ahead of Them Johnson Brothers’ Steven and David Johnson and sixth grade vocalist Kayla Raasina, once the order got sorted out.

Announcing the wrong order was jokingly compared to the mistake made famous by television host Steve Harvey, who crowned the wrong winner of the Miss Universe contest in December of 2015.

“At first we were really bummed we got third,” Robertson said. “Then when they said it was backwards, our hearts stopped.”

The duet of Holly Lewis and Audrey Moyes were the People’s Choice winners in the Junior Division.

In the Presentation Division, finishing behind Garrett and Norton was the Terrific Trio, a group of fourth-graders from Olympic View Elementary.

The Terrific Trio, which consisted of Abigail Mene, Alyssa Monger and Gracie Cecka, was the People’s Choice winner.

Garrett said she felt she was able to get completely in character while playing the character Cosette from Les Miserables. She cradled a broom and sang “Castle on a Cloud.” Her mother, Amy Garrett, was the accompanist.

“It was a song my mom used to play on the piano,” said Garrett, a fourth grader enrolled in Oak Harbor’s Home Connection program. “It kind of scared me. It seemed really sad. I didn’t really understand it.”

She started singing the song two years ago, then tried it at a school talent show last year and wanted to do it again. Still, the outcome was unexpected in her family.

“I was really surprised,” Garrett said.

“You got first place?” her 7-year-old brother Roland asked.

Even the show’s hosts were student performers, who quizzed contestants and cracked jokes.

Members of the Whidbey Playhouse helped run the event behind the scenes and were instrumental in making it possible, Russell said.

“I knew it could be done,” Russell said of the show, “but there was no way one person could do it.”

He said he wants Whidbey Has Talent to be an annual event.

“The potential for this is unlimited,” Russell said.

Whidbey Has Talent  top finishers

Presentation Level (Kindergarten-fifth grade)

First place – Maggie Garrett, vocal soloist, “Castle on a Cloud,” accompanied by Amy Garrett.

Second place – Aubree Norton, dance, “Cheap Thrills.”

Third place – Terrific Trio, Grace Cecka, Alyssa Monger, Abigail Mene, dance, “Dynamite.”

People’s Choice Award – Terrific Trio.

Junior Level (sixth-eighth grade)

First place – Cole Valdez and Christopher

Robertson, vocal duet, “Trouble”

Second place – Them Johnson Brothers, Steven

Johnson and David Johnson, vocal duet, ”Wagon Wheel.‚“

Third place – Kayla Raasina, vocal soloist, “The Show,” accompanied by Verna Morgan.

People’s Choice Award – Holly Lewis and Audrey Moyes, vocal duet, “Somewhere Only We Know.”

Senior Level (ninth-12th grade)

First place – Legacy, Paige Jackson, Anamae Herrera, Corbin Phipps, Darnell Dizon, dance, “R.I.C.O.”

Second place – Last Sunday, Talaih Black, Will Franz, Ray Paraiso, Suzanne Kaltenbach, band, “Moon and Back.”

Third place – Shelby Montoya and Scout Powell, vocal, “Popular,” accompanied by Kathleen Dodge.

People’s Choice Award – Last Sunday.