This year’s Mr. GQ pageant featured everything from techno violin performances to singing cowgirls and “minute to win it” games, making for an unforgettable night for both the contestants and the audience.
6 seniors and 1 junior competed to win the coveted title of Mr. GQ 2013. This year’s competition follows the 2012 victory of Matt Haley, who won with his original guitar composition. This year featured an unprecedented turn of events, in which 2 contestants, Charlie Farber and Nate Pergamit, were jointly crowned Mr. GQ 2013.
All contestants battled through 3 categories; introduction, talent, and question time. Each contestant was sponsored by a club or organization at the school, and was introduced wearing clothing that was representative of their sponsoring organization. A crowd favorite of this category was study body president Ryan Gannett, who sported an authentic girls lacrosse uniform.
Between each portions, spirit commissioners David Reynolds and Zach Remotto played “minute to win it.” Contestants had 1 minute to perform a task, such as removing tissues from tissue boxes, keeping 3 balloons up in the air, and catching 3 whiffle balls in a basket attached to the contestant’s head. This category was a crowd favorite and was an excellent transition between acts.
The talent portion came next, where each contestant showed off their special abilities. Farber performed a tuba arrangement of a Bach composition. Pergamit preformed a country tune, with backup from Annie Guo, Marie Martin, Alison Reiches, and Sam Clark. Another acclaimed aspect of the talent portion was Luther Kuefner rapping and improvising violin to the house song “Justice,” by Parisian duo.
The final category was “question time.” Each contestant was escorted out onto the stage, to be asked an humorous question by Reynolds and Remotto. The answers provided to these questions were the final criteria that went toward the contestants’ final scores.
After the judges deliberated, faculty supervisor Dino Petrocco announced that for the first time ever, 2 contestants had tied and would both receive the title of Mr. GQ 2013.
“I am so honored to be Mr. GQ,” Pergamit said, “and I think it’s even better that there were 2 of us. Charlie’s such a great guy he totally deserved it.”