Mami Matsumoto and Les Graham take the title of Mr. and Ms International 2004-05
The annual Ms. and Mr. International Pageant was a show of wit, dancing, comedy and cultural spirit Friday night.
Seven international student contestants, ranging from India, Ghana to the United Kingdom, displayed their country’s culture through dance, song and jokes, while colorful costumes added to the performers’ talents.
After the performances and randomly picked questions, the judges made their decision.
Japanese student Mami Matsumoto won Ms. International and Les Graham, from the United Kingdom took Mr. International.
Answering one of the questions during the interview portion of the competition, Matsumoto explained the most important role of a teacher is “to inspire and motivate the future leaders of society.”
Matsumoto, a music therapy student, played the violin and sang for her performance.
“We didn’t focus on competition; we focused on relationships,” Matsumoto said. “We built friendships with the contestants.”
Matsumoto will serve as Ms. International until next year.
“I will serve people through all of my heart. I will share love with people,” Matsumoto said.
Graham’s talents included a display of pictures of English gardens he had worked in. Graham also sang a song about flowers and insects while wearing a hat with different garden objects on it.
“I think it’s important we come together as students and represent the countries we come from,” Graham said. “I really enjoyed being with students, and seeing the effort they put in.”
He said he never imagined taking the title of Mr. International.
With his title, Graham said he plans to be useful and serve where he can.
“I came from my country to learn and teach – to learn from others,” said James Kontoh, a student from Ghana and the men’s first runner up. “The events purpose is to promote diversity and cultural awareness.”
Cathy Han Xiao, a USU student from China, preformed a traditional Chinese fan dance. Xiao was the first runner up in the women’s competition.
Cameroon native, Brenda Bienka Suh, said an interesting fact about her country is that it has the ability to feed the whole of West Africa and provide a lot of the coffee and cocoa in the United States. Suh preformed a traditional African Dance for her talent and won Ms. World Citizen, an award given to an outstanding student who shows their culture in and outside of the classroom.
Shyam Kumar won Mr. World Citizen, explaining that in India, education is so important that the English language is taught to students beginning in the first grade.
Doing a semi-classical dance from India, Arockia Ranjitha Dhanasekaran competed in the event and performed an Indian dance.
The International Student Council planned the event to promote diversity and to close off diversity week. Gabe Carter and Brittany Duke hosted the event and Aram Arakylian played the piano throughout the evening.
The contestants were chosen from their applications. Five judges were selected for the event. The winners were chosen based on how they portrayed their culture and talent.
Youssef Filal, president of the International Student Council, said their are more than 1,200 international students representing 93 countries.
-amysueh@cc.usu.edu
James Kontoh, from Ghana, uses dual mics during his stand-up comedy routine. (Photo by Michael Sharp)
Brenda Bienka Suh, from Cameroon, performs a dance from her home country. (Photo by Michael Sharp)