By Michael Tricca and Alicia Sabnis
Staff Writers
The annual Mr. Westford Academy Pageant on Friday, September 19 flooded the Performing Arts Center with an ocean of people. The crowd roared when the contestants were announced; the dashing men in tuxedos ambled down the aisles, exchanging handshakes and phone numbers and the audience was treated to a small dance party before the performers went backstage to prepare.
The charming posse was made up of seniors Satish Bisa, Connor Burke, Tommy Chen, Peter Hurley, Brandon Jurewicz, Jon Ko, Stephen Koehler, Tommy McDonough, Sam Nudler, Adam Peternell, and Neeraj Satav.
Phase one of the competition was a fashion show, with each of senior men being escorted on stage by their own senior girl, while Bisa, a crowd favorite, was the only member of the competition to be flanked by two ladies, one on each arm. All the seniors from tonight’s event wore tuxedos from Men’s Wearhouse, who sponsored the show.
After posing and showing off their formal attire, the contestants were asked questions pertaining to their life at WA and the competition in general.
Nudler started off the night’s performances with a soothing song sung in his signature low, smooth voice. His act garnered solid applause.
Following, there were two comedy acts by Burke and McDonough. Burke had a slideshow labeled “The Realities of Westford Academy” followed by a dance routine with a quartet of black-clad dancers. McDonough’s stand up comedy act was focused around the ironies of recent current events.
There were also two vocal acts by Peternell and Jurewicz. Peternell’s performance was a compilation of three songs with a guitar accompaniment, intended as a sing-along. Though the voices of those who joined in were only a low murmur, the act still got mild applause.
Jurewicz sang “Run Away With Me,” a tender song he dedicated to his friend Samantha Garrett. The crowd raved when he announced this, and a faint “I love you, Brandon!” could be heard from the crowd.
Another two performers rapped. Satav started his rhyming with two slow beats, causing the audience to clap along with the solid bass, then picked up the pace into a staccato that got the crowd going. Bisa, the resident lady-killer who admitted, “I’m good-looking,” also rapped, shifting effortlessly into different tracks on a moment’s notice.
Following these, Ko’s Chinese yo-yo act started with the PAC enveloped in complete darkness. Then, out of the shadows, a blue orb appeared, dipping and swirling like a ball of fire. The yo-yo feats got even more intense when the lights came on. Ko sent the yo-yo diving and swirling, frequently flinging it off the cord, only to spin and snag it again. In his repertoire of impressive tricks he had several sequences of through-the-legs moves, as well as the introduction of two separate yo-yos on one string. He was the only contestant of the night to receive a standing ovation and achieved to leave some of the audience members wide-eyed when he finished.
Chen then serenaded the crowd with a gentle melody strummed from an acoustic guitar, a pleasant break from all the wild acts, and Hurley sang and played the piano, performing a rendition of Stevie Wonder’s “Isn’t She Lovely.” Partway through the song, though, he stopped singing. He asked the crowd about why Stevie Wonder was so special. As the crowd thought, he pulled out a blind fold and tied it around himself and continued his song, seeking to achieve the feat of playing without vision, as the blind Stevie Wonder has done.
Koehler, switching things up, recited an inspiring piece of slam poetry titled “This Is Me”, warranting much applause and another “I love you!” from the crowd. He dedicated his performance to any individual who had ever suffered with issues of self-image.
The audience waited in suspense as the judges decided on the winner. In the end, Ko, the yo-yo master, was crowned Mr. WA, with Koehler and Hurley coming in second and third, respectively. The pageant closed with Ko’s crowning. As part of Ko’s prize, he received two free prom tickets, as well as a Mr. WA tee-shirt. The night came to a close with the pop of confetti cannons, marking the new 2014 Mr. WA.
