Senior homecoming candidates compete in annual dance battle

Shining lights and music fill the stage as the queen and king homecoming candidates challenge each other in the dance and lip-synch battle known as the Royal Battle, Oct. 3. Standing as a tradition since 2015, the Royal Battle continues to be one of the many anticipated homecoming events.

The king candidates consist of Braden Bell, Ty Coffman, Max Munoz, Jason Olson and Angel Ruelas and the queen candidates consist of Shauna Howard, Macy Little, Kayden Marquez, Bekah Micu and Kayla Vanderlinden. All nominees chose songs to perform to and choregraphed dances to compete against each other with.

The kings and queen began preparing for this event after the announcement of the homecoming court in the first week of September. Leading up to the big event, Olson explains how the kings have prepared for the Royal Battle and what he is looking forward to.

“The kings practiced multiple times a week for a couple hours at a time to get prepared for the Royal Battle,” Olson said. “I am looking forward to dancing on stage in front of everyone with my boys. I think the kings are going to win because we are very prepared and we are going to take that crown.”

This year’s battle was hosted by former English and drama teacher, Kyle Dodson. Dodson now teaches English 10 and ROP theater production at Clovis West.

In the following podcast Kyle Dodson talks about why he came back to host the Royal Battle and his favorite part of this event.

Each nominee led their own chosen song as well as a duet with their assigned partner for the week. Each playlist consists of different songs with varying beats to differentiate the types of dances.

Although this event has been a tradition for five years, new students and incoming freshmen experienced the Royal Battle for the first time. New student Bradley Cheney, ’22, explains why he is excited to watch the kings and queens battle and what he is expecting.

“I think this is going to be a really fun event,” Cheney said. “People have been telling me about it before and I think it is going to be a really cool experience. I am excited to watch it because people have been hyping it up and I am excited to see what the kings and queens have to offer.”

The following tweet features some additional photos from the Royal Battle.

The homecoming kings and queens compete in the yearly Royal Battle, Oct. 3! The seniors dance and lip-synch to various songs, ending with the kings winning. Check https://t.co/MELs3PvHCI later today for more coverage of #FChomecoming19. #thefeather @fresnochristian pic.twitter.com/u34hjlpK70

— The Feather Online (@thefeather) October 3, 2019

The queen’s performed first and danced to six songs such as “Old Town Road”, “Sucker” and “Gasolina”. After they completed their dances, the kings took the stage and performed seven songs. Their playlist featured songs such as “Crank that Soldier Boy”, “Suavemente” and “Poker Face”.

As the kings and queens came back out on stage to thank the crowd, Dodson had an unexpected twist for all ten candidates. Each senior pair had to battle against each other to randomly chosen songs selected by a song generator.

Duo Bekah Micu and Braden Bell performed first to “Senorita”, followed by Ty Coffman and Shauna Howard dancing to “You’re the One that I Want”. The third couple, Macy Little and Jason Olson battled to the song, “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart”. With only two duos left, Kayden Marquez and Max Munoz competed with the High School Musical song, “I Don’t Dance”. Lastly, Kayla Vanderlinden and Angel Ruelas performed to “Beat It” by Michael Jackson.

Vanderlinden shares her impressions of the queens performance and her favorite part of this homecoming event.

“I think the queens did such an amazing job today,” Vanderlinden said. “We were a little nervous at first, but once we started dancing it was so much fun! My favorite part was seeing everyone get hyped for our dances and my partner dance with Angel. It was just a really memorable event for me and I am so happy I was able to participate in it.”

As the candidates performed in front of the high school students and teachers, five judges were appointed to decide the winner of the Royal Battle. Faculty Nate Case, Michelle Logan, Hope Villines, Greg Stobbe and Susan Ainley casted the deciding vote for the Royal Battle winners.

With the help of the students, the judges used the volume of cheers to assist them in their decision. Congratulations to the 2019 Royal Battle winners . . . the kings!

This year’s theme, “Homecoming: Game On” will be featured homecoming night as the Eagles host Riverdale Christian, 7 p.m., Oct. 4. The homecoming court will take photos at 5:30 p.m. and introductions of princesses and queens at 6:30 p.m. Announcements of winners and the crownings will be held during halftime.

The video below shows this years Royal Battle in its entirety:

For more articles on homecoming, read Homecoming Floats connect, challenge students and BREAKING: Bonfire rally connects, hypes students for homecoming.

Megan LeBlanc can be reached via Twitter and via email.

The slideshow below includes images from the 2019 Royal Battle.

Gallery • 11 Photos