‘Mr. USU’
When some think of beauty pageants, they may visualize elegance, prestige and beauty.
But the annual Mr. USU competition held Tuesday was something different.
With everything from spandex and floaties to mullets and cowboys, Mr. USU brought something for everyone.
Kevin Gunnell, with his Lord of the Dance performance and Sponge Bob Square Pants outfit during the swimsuit competition, took the title of Mr. USU.
Gunnell performed as Lord of the Dance in sync with a video of the real Lord of the Dance projected on the screen behind him.
The routine, he said, took 20 hours of practice.
Clint Knapp, who performed a ballroom dance routine and Brock Bower, who deftly performed a ribbon dance, tied for runner-up.
The pageant opened with an introduction of its witty hosts and former contestants, David Ackerman and Ricky Hacking.
“We wanted to come out here and get the crowd a little more involved,” said Hacking.
In order to achieve this, he and Ackerman led the entire audience in their own version of “Do what I’m doing.”
The two then proceeded to do improvisational comedy with the audience who threw out various locations such as Taco Bell and Africa, as well as characters like Taco Bell employees and Victoria Secret models.
Each skit ended in a brawl between Ackerman and Hacking which had the audience rolling in the aisles.
“It was physically challenging matching up knuckle to knuckle with Ricky “The Rock” Hacking,” Ackerman said.
The competion got underway with the introduction of the contestants.
This year’s line-up consisted of 11 USU students: Smitty Meads, Clark Pierson, Peter Harris, Clint Knapp, Brandon Halford, John Newhall, Jon Potter, Shane Thompson, Brock Bower, Spencer Watts, and Kevin Gunnell.
The Kent Concert Hall was filled to capacity with an energetic audience who seemed to enjoy many aspects of the show.
“I thought it was really good. I like Ricky the best because I’ve worked with him before, he’s very comedic,” said Christopher Saunders a junior art major.
“I liked Peter Harris. Don’t tell my wife, but I thought he was really hot,” said junior Jeffery Balls a politcal science and economics major.
Each of the contestants were asked to give a pick-up line as a way to introduce themselves.
Shane Thompson took a simple approach by merely stating, “You’ll do.”
“If I could change the alphabet I’d put I next to U,” said John Newhall.
After the introductions were complete, the men came together and danced to “I will survive” by Gloria Gaynor. The dance included many forms of back-flips, the can-can, and solo moves by various contestants.
The segment of the competition that recieved the most attention from the female portion of the audience was the swimsuit competition.
Jon Potter, who adorned what he claimed was his grandmother’s swimsuit, dedicated his ensemble to the women in his life.
Brandon Halford strutted his wetsuit across the stage saying only, “I think it shows that I work out a lot,” about his swimsuit choice.
After the swimsuits came the talent competition in which the men had to prove they had brains in addition to their brawn.
Hacking and Ackerman opened the segment by doing a stunt they called, “super ball,” in which Hacking held a giant inflated ball while he and Ackerman ran at each other full-speed.
Some crowd favorites included Clint Knapp’s ballroom dancing, and Peter Harris’ creative dance to the ringtones on his phone. Brandon Halford’s talent came through his voice as he sang while a band played backup.
“I’m still dying,” Hacking said after Halford finished. “He was horrible.” After the Talent Competition the men put on their ‘sunday best’ to compete in the evening wear competition. Part of this competition consisted of the judges asking various questions to each of the contestants.
Brandon Halford was asked, “What’s your most embarassing moment, and what would you do if you could change it?”
Halford then told a story about being pantsed by one of his friends in middle school, saying, “If I could change it, I would have him just pull down my pants, instead of my underwear also.”
John Newhall was asked, “If you could create a merit-badge what would it be?”
Newhall’s reply was, “How to get your first kiss.”
Shane Thompson was asked how he would combat obesity and replied by saying, “I would combat obesity with my diet which consists of Santitas Chips and Easy Mac.”
Finally, came the moment of truth when the judges tallied the votes, and decided who would be crowned Mr. USU. But before the winner was announced, Hacking shared some childhood stories about Deoderant woes and an oversized head as an infant.
The title of Mr. USU 2004, went to Kevin Gunnell. His Lord of the Dance performance included other dancers who came at as the video played on the screen behind them. As the dancers came out exactly as they did in the video, the crowd seemed to be begging for more.
Runners-up Clint Knapp and Brock Bower both took home a $50 paintballing gift certificate and a one month gym membership to Spring Creek.
“I’m so ecstatic; I never thought this day would come It was so fun to dance,” said Gunnell about his win.
“Stay in school, don’t do drugs and get women as often as possible,” said Gunnell as a piece of advice.
-dpitcher@cc.usu.edu
Mr. USU pageant contestants shimmy to the music for their opening number. (Photo by Jennifer Wheatley)