Here he comes… Mr. USU
The Little Mermaid never looked so good.
Ricky Hacking stole the show with his song and dance to “Part of your World,” from “The Little Mermaid” for his talent in the Mr. USU pageant Tuesday night.
Hacking was the last to perform of the 12 contestants in each area of the competition but finished first when the votes were tallied and he was announced the winner.
The audience couldn’t have agreed more.
While waiting for the judges to tally their votes, the emcees of the pageant, Dan Moench and Raghar Hartzheim, asked the audience their favorite part of the pageant.
“Anything that had Ricky in it,” one student yelled as the audience agreed with cheers and applause.
The contestants in the pageant were Bill Munns, Lance Brimhall, Steve Morrill, Jon Smith, Dave Ackerman, Milo Andrus, Brett Thomas, Tagg Archibald, Bryan Hurd, Taylor Willingham, Jason Cone and Ricky Hacking.
Thunderous applause and laughter was heard in the ballroom for more than two hours as the contestants performed for students and judges in talent, swimwear and formal-wear categories.
The pageant started out with all of the contestants dancing to “Heaven is a Place on Earth” by Belinda Carlise, which included leaps and toe-touches.
“It’s been funny [to watch],” said Emily Sara, a junior majoring in music therapy and the choreographer of the contestant’s dance. The moves they’ve been taught, have been these really girly moves and some of these guys can execute them.”
After the dance, a mockumentary was shown of the contestants working on the dance. They all had something to say for the camera. After the film, the swimwear competition started.
Jon Smith wore a skin tight hot pink swimsuit in the swim wear competition. A judge asked why he choose his swimwear.
“I’ve always been told I look good in pink,” he said.
Dave Ackerman wore just a plastic pumpkin for his swimwear. When judges asked why his swimwear reflected him, he answered with a straight face.
“We both have bad teeth, but there’s a light inside [of us],” he said. “We only go out on one date a year and after that we’re smashed.”
The talent portion of the pageant had the audience continuously laughing and cheering and at the end the audience gave a standing ovation.
Brett Thomas came out thinking it was time for the formal-wear competition. After realizing his mistake, he ran backstage for a minute then came back with a torn shirt showing his tattoos. He said he was upset because he thought the contestants were going to get free tickets to the Homecoming dance. Because they didn’t, he wrote a little song about his disappointment.
“I know I’m not Kevin Bacon, but if you could just pretend with me and sing along,” he said to the audience. He then broke out in song and sang Twisted Sister’s “We’re Not Gonna Take It” with his band, Final Warning.
Taylor Willingham sang and played his guitar to the song “Hanukkah” by Adam Sandler with his own rendition. His last phrase was “Homecoming night, is this Friday night. If you want some, go and get some.”
The final event of the evening was the formal-wear competition, where the contestants dressed “formally” in their own way. Some wore suits or tuxes; one wore a full Spanish ensemble – including a sombrero.
The contestants then had to answer questions, some more difficult than others.
Bill Munns had to tell the difference between a a bull, steer and heifer. He said he knew and was very specific with his answer.
“A steer has testicles,” was part of his answer.
Tagg Archibald was asked what kind of furniture he would be.
“That’s easy,” he replied. “A love sac.”
Jason Cone said the Mr. USU pageant is a time for USU students to let their hair down.
“Students at this school need to untuck their shirts and un-comb the part in their hair,” he said.
Runners-up for the competition were Dave Ackerman and Taylor Willingham.
-acbailey@cc.usu.edu
Lance Brimhall performs his talent for the Mr. USU 2003 pageant. His friends helped him do a demonstration of a flight crew skydiving. (Photo by K’Leena Murphy)
Mr. USU 2003 Ricky Hacking, performs a rendition of the Little Mermaid to the song “Part of Your World,” from the Disney movie. (Photo by K’Leena Murphy)