Mr. WHS event brings laughs, raises money for Make-A-Wish
Senior Reece Watanabe accepts the Mr. WHS crown at the SAB-run Mr. WHS pageant Thursday, Nov. 20. The event raised $600 for the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Photo by Aren Rendell
And your 2014 Mr. WHS is… Reece Watanabe!
After a night of pageantry and comedy, the 2014 Mr. WHS competition concluded in Watanabe, a senior, taking the first-place prize, senior Max Petersen taking the second-place prize and senior Alex Zimmerman taking the third-place prize.
Watanabe picked up the victory thanks to a laughter-inducing, clap-starting performance in the talent show. Watanabe took the stage in jean shorts and a Reagan-Bush ’84 t-shirt with a ukulele in hand.
Watanabe proceeded to strum his ukulele to the popular tune of Wagon Wheel, the country hit single. Watanabe’s performance started with laughs, as the senior took a deep breath before unleashing the vocal portion of the song.
Watanabe’s performance lasted several minutes, and got the crowd clapping to the beat.
Watanabe also used a hilarious series of responses in the Q & A portion of the competition. The answer that elicited the most laughs from the crowd was Watanabe’s response to the question, “What song best describes you?”
“I’d like to express this in song,” Watanabe said.
He proceeded to sing the Hannah Montana (Miley Cyrus) hit single Nobody’s Perfect.
Another component of the competition were the Minute to Win it competition, which was called “Hanky Panky.” Contestants had to clear all of the kleenexes from a kleenex box, and the first to do so would win. The winner of the competition was unclear, as each competitor appeared to claim victory.
The final component of the competition was the swimsuit competition. Watanabe, once again, got laughs from the crowd when he came out in a bikini top.
Other highlights of the night were Petersen competing against himself in badminton for the talent (Petersen was introduced as the best badminton player in the world then as the second best badminton player in the world), Zimmerman jumping rope while jumping a pogo stick for the talent competition and seniors Danny Coyle and Jacob Andrews performing a duet as Troy Bolton and Gabriella Montez. Andrews donned a red dress for the duet and for much of the competition.
“Jack & Jack,” also known as seniors Tom Kutilek and Ariel Larios, also made appearances, performing a medley of Jack & Jack hit tunes.
Another highlight came when second-place finisher Max Petersen responded to the Q & A question, “What is the ideal length of chest hair?”
Petersen responded with, “As someone who has a ton of chest hair that gets in the way sometimes,” before an audience member shouted out “Let’s see [your chest hair]!” Petersen stood up, lifted his shirt, and pointed at his hairless chest saying, “Do you see it? That hair right there.”
Toward the end of the event, just before the Watanabe crowning, the seniors in the competition brought out flowers to thank seniors Gabi Christensen and Halie Platt, who were the SAB members in charge of the event.
Once Watanabe had been crowned, he gave his victory speech. In the speech, he thanked the judges — social studies instructor Jon Preister, business instructor Brad Metzler, math instructor Brian Stevens and math instructor John Tigani — the “love of his life” — senior Anna Hoyme — and everyone who came out for the event.
Ultimately, the event was a success in comedy and in raising money for the Make-A-Wish Foundation. The event raised just over $600.
The emcees for the night were senior Michaela Mapes and junior Hannah Keator.
Your donation will support the student journalists of Omaha Westside High School. Your contribution will allow us to purchase equipment and cover our annual website hosting costs.
