DJ senior Tom Cuppernull spun the best of Biggie Smalls, Third Eye Blind and Far East Movement as 500 students gathered in the Hall of Presidents last Wednesday night for the Mr. Colgate event. Ten male students competed for the annually awarded prestigious title of “Mr. Colgate.” The contestants represented Beta Theta Pi, Brothers, Delta Upsilon, the Hamilton Fire Department, Link Staff, Phi Delta Theta, Phi Kappa Tau, Rugby, Sigma Chi and Theta Chi. Senior Sam Christie of Phi Tau captured the crown. Mr. Link Staff, junior Gianni Pizzitola, was the first runner-up and Mr. Beta, sophomore Tucker Johnson, was the second runner-up.

The event raised about $2,500 for a scholarship to help Greek-affiliated fe­male students pay sorority dues. A panel of judges took into consideration the volume of applause the crowd allotted to each contestant and then submitted silent votes. The judges included President and Dean of Students Scott Brown, President of the Pan-Hellenic Association senior Jocelyn Hinman, junior Kelly Dwyer of Kappa Kappa Gamma, junior Hilary Nicholson of Delta Delta Delta and President of Gamma Phi Beta senior Julie Wallan.

Juniors Addison Miller and Pete Stein were the hosts of the evening. Miller, who is the president of Kappa, promised the crowd that the male contestants would make the crowd feel uncomfortable, embarrassed and ashamed. Stein, a member of Phi Tau, smiled. Miller did not lie.

The competition kicked off when the ten contestants took the stage in swim shorts and Speedos. Sophomore Brad Anglum of Sigma Chi wore a women’s one-piece suit. As the hosts introduced Anglum and his passion for fingerpainting, Anglum turned his back to the crowd, pinched his suit into a thong and showed his rear end to the crowd. Most students laughed.

Johnson (Mr. Beta) was the first contestant to perform in the tal­ent portion of the competition. Johnson was the only contestant who elected not to change out of his bathing suit.

“I didn’t know I was going to be playing in my bathing suit,” John­son said, placing his fingers on the piano keyboard set up on the stage. “So, you’re welcome.”

After a somewhat brief self-introduction, Johnson played Jason Segal’s “Dracula’s Lament,” from the soundtrack of Forgetting Sarah Marshall.

Pizzitola (Mr. Link Staff) acted out the process of making a pizza with raw dough while “We No Speak Americano” by Yolando Be Cool played in the background.

Sam Christie (Mr. Phi Tau) wore a kimono and performed to the Disney song, “I’ll Make a Man Out of You,” featured in Mulan. Christie rode onto the stage sitting on a cooler attached to a mo­torized scooter. Four fellow Phi Tau members who played the part of warriors-in-training accompanied him. Christie sang every part and the crowd could not help but laugh at his energetic, convincing performance of a master warrior.

Other talents, in a loose sense of the word, included singing a cappella, rapping, playing the guitar and ribbon dancing.

After the crowd had a chance to applaud for their favorite contestants, the judges selected five contestants to continue to the interview portion of the event. In addition to the three eventual winners, junior Andrew Wylie (Mr. Phi Delt) and senior Evan Zimmerman (Mr. Theta Chi) advanced.

“What would you do with 13 dollars if you couldn’t build a school?” host Stein asked Wylie.

“I would take you on a date,” Wylie answered with little hesitation.

In the end, it was Christie’s Mulan perfor­mance and description of the kind of Rog­ers’s sub he would be that most impressed the crowd and judges.

“I figured a well-known Disney song would be a good route to go for the type of competition and crowd,” Christie said.

Christie said that his favorite part of the event was the crowd.

“It was pretty cool to have people laugh and applaud after getting on stage in various forms of undress or driving a cooler down the aisle,” Christie said.

At least a few members of the audience thought that the crowd’s responses were largely based on the particular fraternities or groups that the contestants represented, rather than their performances.

“I think a lot of the audience’s support relied on the audience’s opinion of the fraternity itself,” junior Cal Crawford said.

Crawford suggested that Wylie (Mr. Phi Delt), who played the guitar and sang, might have been overlooked.

“[He] had an impressive song he had mashed himself – both humorous, but classy and really talented,” Crawford said.

Regardless of the outcome, though, the contestants and crowd enjoyed the event, which was a success for the Pan-Hellenic Association.

The night finished with an embrace between the top two contes­tants, Johnson and Christie, each seemingly appreciating the levity of the night and their well-deserved victories.