The lights dim, and a hush flows over the audience sitting in the auditorium of FHN. Senior emcees Jordyn Klackner, Nathan Bryant, and Sarah Henke walk onto the stage and begin the show.


On April 16, FHN’s “ultimate male beauty pageant” was held, commonly known as Mr. FHN.

Seniors Jason Higgins, Zach Bruno, Brad Hunt, Lou Tzerov, Aaron Walker, Tyler Kirk, Eric Peters, and juniors Eddy Connell, Sam Fitzwalter, Dylan Henry, Ryan Theis, Ryan Firle, and JT Thomas were contestants in this beauty pageant, some new, some returning. After a choreographed dance to start off the show, the boys competed in the first category, sports wear.

“I thought [the dance] was really funny,” surprise judge Katie Stock said. “You could tell they had fun with it, some people were really serious. It was fun to watch. My favorite [sports wear contestant] was Tyler Kirk, he was really original. No one else had a water gun; no one else had floaties.”

The talent portion of the show followed next. This was the longest section of the competition. All acts were very original and kept the audience interested, but Peters seemed to win the judges over with his creativity; not only was he an exceptionally skilled pianist, but his act had a twist. Peters also hooked up his MacBook to an amp, and played the piano with extra beats in the background. Peters also sang, and wore sunglasses similar to Ray Charles.

“I was really surprised because I was thinking it was going to be something funny and I didn’t know he could play piano, so it was really good and unexpected,” Stock said.

The show concluded with asking each contestant a random question from the judges, which were made up of mostly staff. After the votes were collected from the judges, the winners were announced. Third place was Lou Tzerov, second place and Mr. Congeniality was Ryan Firle, and Mr. FHN was Eric Peters, for the second time. Peters did not win last year, but his sophomore year, two years ago.

“I really liked it,” Stock said. “I wish I would have gone the past three years, but it was really cool because I was friends with a lot of people that were in it.”