Plans are set for this year’s Mr. FHN

6 p.m.  It’s time for the main event. The audience, filled to capacity, waits eagerly for the first contestants to take the stage. They in turn wait one by one for their moment in the spotlight; all hoping not to flub an answer or mess up the talent portion.


This is a tradition here at North; they all want to win. The show has begun.

“This has been like our tenth or eleventh or twelfth or thirtieth year,” StuCo officer Ashley Campise said. “We’ve been doing this for a long time.”

If you hadn’t already guessed, this show is a beauty pageant. However this isn’t a traditional beauty pageant. Yes, most of it is the same; there’s a question and answer portion, a talent portion and the contestants even model. However, there is one significant difference: the contestants are all guys. It’s time for Mr. FHN.

On April 16, StuCo will be hosting its annual Mr. FHN contest, a male beauty pageant, that will take place at 6 p.m. in the auditorium.

Representatives will be chosen from various clubs throughout the school, who will then have to go through a selection/preparation process to get ready to put on the show. However Mr. FHN isn’t exclusively on a club by club basis, other students can participate if they choose to.

“Anyone can participate, but we usually ask the clubs for someone,” StuCo sponsor Shelly Grimshaw said. “We sometimes get Mr. Someone’s 2nd Hour, and that’s OK.”

After the 15-20 contestants are chosen, they are required to attend meetings for the show. There, they will prepare for their talent portion, their Q and As, and the opening number: a dance between all of the contestants choreographed by Campise.

“They all do a choreographed dance together,”  Campise said. “I think I’m going to make it a little girlie, actually [I'm going to make it] a lot girlie; it’ll be fun.”

The contestants aren’t the only ones who have to prepare for the show, StuCo has the responsibility of making sure the show runs smoothly, which includes everything from setting up the stage, to making sure the seats are filled.

“My job is really easy,” Grimshaw said. “I go to the dress rehearsals and the meetings; the kids run everything, they take care of it all.”

Even with the added responsibility, the focus of the show isn’t on StuCo; come showtime, it’s on the contestants, and whether or not they can come through on stage.

“The pressure is way more on the contestants than it is on us,” Grimshaw said. “We just set up the structure, the contestants make or break the show. Usually they do pretty good.”