No Capes, Only Men

It's a bird, no it's a plane, NO it's the Mr. Heritage Competition!!

So the past month has been filled with jokes, push-ups, and dancing as I helped organize and choreograph the Mr. Heritage competition. Mr. Heritage is a spoof of a beauty pageant put on by RHA every year, complete with evening wear, talent, and world peace.

Working hard at Mr. Heritage practice

 These boys worked their butts off for Mr. Heritage. Every week, they gave up 5 to 6 hours to do whatever we choreographers asked them to do. For example, first night of practice, Aubree had them do V sit-ups (basically, sit-ups with your legs in the air forming a V). They didn't need to do that. It was just a source of laughs for us in charge. hehe.

Crazy fans with awesome signs

At last the big day arrived. We estimated that about 400 people would attend. In reality, 500 people showed up for the big event. The crowd was crazy!!! People made signs. People started loud chants, screaming the name of their candidate.
one kid even brought one of those trumpet horn thing from the World Cup. The energy in Wilk 3220 was intense. So intense that no could hear the music for the opening number! I was freaking out a little, but the boys pulled through despite the complications and rocked the opening number. I was so proud of them. I was screaming their names, bouncing in my seat, even blowing kisses like an energized italian, they were that amazing.




After a short game of Superhero trivia, the boys showed their personalities during the Evening wear and Question and Answer section. Some honorable mentions were Tyson's pjs and pillow pet and Sam's top hat and cane. The answers to the questions and situations were hilarious. When asked what he would do if he walked in on his roommate making out with a girl in his room, Tysum replied, "Well, it depends on if the girl is hot." Um...

Then it was the fitness routine. I was backstage where I totally made a fool of myself. My job was to set the props needed for the fitness routine. I was taking a yoga ball onto the stage when I tripped and face-planted onto the stage with a loud thud. I was mortified. But luckily, everyone was too enthralled with the contestants' physiques to notice my fall. Whew! The fitness routine featured push-ups, tricky jumping jacks, jump ropes, yoga balls, and steps. When the music stopped and the boys fell to the ground in exhaustion, the crowd was hysterical.



Next was the talent portion. All the boys had great talents. James B and crew wore Glow-in-the-dark stick people suits and did... well I don't what they did, but it was pretty cool. Jordan performed a Mario skit, which the audience really liked. And Michael performed a Napoleon Dynamite inspired dance, complete with the Happy Hands Club.

The studly men themselves: (from left to right, back row) Sam,
James B, James K, Michael, Jordan, RT, Tyson (front row) Josh, Tysum,
Jared, and Matzen

Before I knew it, it was time to announce the winner. And the 2011 Mr. Heritage winner was... Michael Gebhard!!! Way to represent the BYU 68th ward Michael!! But all the boys could have been Mr. Heritage. They are all so amazing! A great group of young men, fo sho!

So Mr. Heritage is over and I once again have free time. Still, Mr. Heritage will live on as an incredible memory from my freshman year at BYU.