On Thursday, Jan. 23 at 6 p.m., the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School auditorium filled with students ready to watch the annual Mr. Douglas male beauty pageant. The pageant was hosted by the LED Dance Club, sponsored by Chelsea Briggs, to fundraise for the club’s costumes and props. Tickets were available on the MSD e-store for $7.

The event showcased one male contestant per grade level, chosen by Briggs based on their personality—specifically, their sense of humor. Contestants were freshman Colton Pattock, sophomore Aiden Graber, junior Logan Cruz and senior Dylan Shinn. Each participant had an escort, who walked them onto stage, and each performed in three categories: silly swim, Q&A and talent.

“I think it brings school spirit; it’s something fun and then a kid gets to hold the title of Mr. Douglas all year,” Briggs said. “I feel like we don’t have a lot of school spirited events that are not academic-related.”

In preparation for the event, the dancers, announcers and contestants practiced after school on Jan. 17, 21 and 22. They rehearsed from 2:30-4:30 p.m., except for at the last rehearsal on Jan. 22, which went until 6 p.m. During practice, dancers ran their numbers, Mr. Douglas contestants practiced their routines and the technical crew ensured music and lighting functioned properly.

Along with the contestants that were picked for the show, students were also assigned to be announcers. The announcers introduced the four contestants and were given scripts approved by administration, with space for improvised sections.

“It was so much fun, the only part I didn’t like was the practices obviously, because we would have to stop a lot to fix things, but once the show actually came around I had a great time,” announcer Michael Elahi said.

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Gabie Soivilus

Sophomore Aiden Graber fills the auditorium with laughter while explaining why he chose to be here, what his ideal date is and what is the most important to him. The Mr. Douglas pageant was held on Thursday, Jan. 23 in the auditorium. "I think I made everyone laugh the most with my fun jokes here and there, it was a fun experience," Graber said.

In the silly swim category, each contestant entertained the audience with a beach-themed skit that they came up with. Afterwards, each student was asked a set of questions including, “What is the worst thing about Gen Z?” and “Should women be in sports?” to answer on the spot. In the talent category, each representative came up with their own comedy routine. For example, Pattock did pick up lines.

“I spent most of my time going over my skits and really making sure they’re good,” Shinn said. “My talent was a funny ‘Cobra Kai’ skit that imitated the show and its qualities.”

In between the three categories, the LED Dance Club and step team performed, and the contestants did a lip sync battle. The LED Dance Club choreographed and practiced their dance and made adjustments for hours throughout the days leading up to the pageant.

“Mr. Douglas is super fun,” LED Club president Saoirse Popen said. “It’s nice to get to know the boys more and it’s always super nice to see everyone collaborating and the production coming together. Also, it’s one of the only events at school that the audience can interact with.”

QR codes were given out to students to vote for who they thought did the best, which counted for the popular vote. Teacher judges chose who they thought should win, which outweighed the popular vote. Senior Dylan Shinn won the pageant by a landslide with the popular and judge vote.

“I’m very upset that I could not represent ninth grade like I wanted to, and I’m sad that I lost, but I’ll be back and I’ll try to win next time,” Pattock said.

The beauty pageant gave students the opportunity to show off their talents and be more involved with the school. The annual event will be held next year for the ninth time at MSD.