Xin Wang stood in the center of the spotlight on the stage of the Great Hall.

Then the music started.

Wang broke out into an expressive locking dance where he moved his body by freezing himself after a fast movement and then un-“locking” to flow into the next movement. His arms, hands and feet moved fast and had distinct motions with more relaxed hips and legs.

His performance landed him first place at the second Asian Idol in the Great Hall Sunday night.

Wang, graduate student in civil engineering, spent three hours every night for two weeks to prepare for the show.

“I finally got the first place,” Wang said. “I’ve been working had.”

The Chinese Student Scholar Association put on the show along with five other student organizations: Korean Student Association, Asian Pacific American Awareness Coalition, Association of Malaysian Students at ISU and Indian Student Association.

Asian Idol’s goal is to unify different student associations in one place, said Yurui Li, vice president of CSSA.

“We came up with this event to enjoy ourselves and interact with one another,” Li said. “By joining all the associations, we could get all the presidents to meet together and get the rehearsals done.”

Students had to audition for the show earlier this month and the top three of each association where chosen to participate. The first round of the show Sunday consisted of 11 performers. There were six acts who made it to the second round of finalists.

Singing and dancing were the most dominant talents on the show. The music included various artists and genres: Adele, LMFAO, Bollywood, Hip-Hop, Journey, Backstreet Boys, Lana Del Rey and more. One student sang “Let it Go” from “Frozen” accompanied by a live violin and piano. Performers also shared song and dance from their native lands.

Each student had a story behind the chosen act. Manasi Ambulkar, graduate in industrial and manufacturing systems, created one of her acts based on a conversation with her mother. It consisted of her sharing what she wanted to dance for Asian Idol – Bollywood with hip-hop – and how she was denied her proposal.

Fazier Adznan sang “Rolling in the Deep” for her first round and sang an Indonesian song for her second round.

Guest performers included: Motion Sickness, an ISU dance group, and last-year’s second place winner, Kimberly Woo, who performed an original song entitled “Why.”

Tom Hill, senior vice-president of student affairs, sat in the front row and expressed how much he enjoyed the show.

“They accomplished a fantastic job,” Hill said.

The third place winner received $100, the second $200 and the first place $400.

Wang said he would use his prize money to pay for his tuition.

The audience was reactive to performers by singing along, clapping and cheering, and filled up almost every seat available in the hall.