Mr. Stonehill 2009

At the end of each fall semester is the ever-popular and long-awaited Mr. Stonehill "beauty pageant." It is one of the most popular events that the senior class traditionally hosts each year - and it is a TON of fun! Boys from all class years participate in the competition - which includes the swimwear, talent, and formal wear/Q&A categories. The weekend of Mr. Stonehill was very exciting for me besides the fact that it was that time of year again for Mr. Stonehill! My group of friends that has grown closer and closer over the past 4 years was reunited again! We all have been doing some exciting and important things - like studying abroad, internships, student teaching, and senior thesises - but this weekend, my friend Kathleen who was in D.C. for the semester, came to Stonehill to visit. Plus, none of us would miss Mr. Stonehill for the world, so we all got together before going to the show! Here's a picture of the girls reunited!

The first category is swimwear. Here are a couple highlights from this year's swimwear competition:

Tim Cushing, Student Government Association Executive Board Treasurer by day, body builder by night!

Real-life lifeguard, Travis Kumph, also dressed as one during Mr. Stonehill '09!

This year my friends and I were very impressed with all of the 14 guys' talents! They worked so hard to prepare their acts, and they all did really well! There was singing, dancing, magic, and more! We also had many "celebrities" participate in the talent portion of the show. We had Clenny Kravitz (Clenton McArthur), Beyonce (aka Conor Nordengren) doing "her" Single Ladies dance, and even a special guest appearance from hubby Jay-Z (Randall Stalworth). But the winner of the talent portion of the competition was Randy Jose for his dance tribute to Michael Jackson. It was fabulous!

"Clenny Kravitz"

Beyonce and Jay-Z

Some of the guys singing background while contestant Nate Illsley performed "One Week" by the Barenaked Ladies.

The final category the guys compete in is formal wear and a question and answer session. Here are a couple pictures of the guys with their escorts on stage to answer their question.

Jay Ardizonni with his little sister as his escort.

Senior Pat Higgins with girlfriend Erin Rozwat.

In addition to each category that the guys compete in, they also spend countless hours perfecting their dance moves for the opening and closing numbers, this year choreographed by senior Jill Eid, and also videotaping sketches for the opening and other intermissions during the show. This year's theme was Vegas, and they did a re-make of The Hangover as the opening video. It was pretty funny, they had everything from the beginning of the movie covered - even the baby and tiger! Right after the opening video, the guys entered with strobe lights and music and went right into the opening dance number. I loved the opening dance! Stonehill students love to dance, and I must say, we have some of the best dancers around! I took a video of the opening dance that I have been trying to upload all week - without success! I will continue to try to get the video uploaded, so check back to see what great dancers our guys are!