The Baptist Student Union took a different approach to draw a crowd to its annual talent show Friday night.
"We have the best Thai food in the city," said Ted With, director of the Baptist Student Union. "That's the best way for students to find out."
With said other students come just to see cook Tina Bautoom, who is also a DJ and was a performer at the event.
"I am very happy with tonight's show," Bautoom said. "Last year's was good too, but this year's was much better."
She said more performances and better attendance made the event more enjoyable.
The event started with music from local band Evading Alastor, and free dinner for the crowd. The show featured 12 performances by local and international students.
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Josh, an Indian dance group, won last year's competition and closed the show, bringing the crowd of 200 to its feet.
Joy Emmanuel, a Josh member, said the show wasn't judged this year, because it would be too hard for the judges to pick a winner.
"Everybody did a wonderful job, and they put in a lot of effort, and it really showed," she said. "I am so thankful that everyone decided to come and show their talents and let other people know about their culture."
Dalese Black, an assistant at the Baptist Student Union who helped put the show together, said it was a chance for American and international students to share their cultures.
Black said the talent show was put on to gather international and American students in celebration of differences and similarities.
"It's cool to see people from different countries, their styles, their culture, dance, music and all that stuff all put together," said UNM alumna Carrie Fleming.
Ei Wakabayashi, an international student from Japan, said he comes to the talent shows each semester.
"Most international students are not Christian, but they can come here for free and have fun," he said.
The Baptist Student Union holds monthly fellowships that offer students a chance to meet other people in a spiritual environment.
With said about 600 to 700 international students pass through the ministry each semester.
"It was hard to reach out to international students at first," he said.
Since the first fellowship, the number of students has grown from 12 to about 125.
"We have all the flags out there," With said. "We want it to be a time for them to experience a lot of different cultures."
