For the first time in 28 years, Mr. GQ, the annual talent show featuring male representatives from clubs and other organizations on campus, has been cancelled due to lack of participants.
4 boys dropped out of the competition in the span of an hour on January 7, just 2 days before the event, leaving leadership advisor Dino Petrocco with no option but to cancel the event. “We went from 8, then to 7, then to 6, and then we were at 3. Only Troy Westernoff, Shea Danforth, and Alex Gannett remained as contestants. The 3 remainders were notified of the cancellation during fourth period,” Petrocco said.
Petrocco cited busy schedules and heavy academic loads as the reasons for the lack of willing participants. “I’ve only spoken to one young man, and he said he was overwhelmed and swamped,” Petrocco said. “I’m assuming that’s probably the case for everyone else as well.”
“It’s a pretty busy time of year, as we have finals, so I wasn’t surprised,” Petrocco added. “But usually people find a way. Unfortunately this year, they did not.”
According to Petrocco, the leadership class spent over a month preparing for Mr. GQ. Auditions took place in December. No money was lost in the process of preparation or auditions. However, hard work by Toni Finanne and the class is now wasted.
Finanne still hopes that the event will return next year. “I think that (next year) it will make leadership want to do it more, and give them some incentive and some motivation. It’s a good fundraiser and it’s a really fun event as long as we can get it going again next year. Maybe it’ll make us think of different ways to go about it and that way it’ll be more successful,” she said.
Contestant, junior Alex Gannett, planned to build a bird house on stage in under three minutes, using a saw, a screwdriver, and wood. “It was quite disappointing that we couldn’t pull it off this year. I think I would’ve won, because it’s definitely a unique talent that no one has ever seen before,” Gannett said.
