The five homecoming king nominees demonstrated their rhythm and personality in the king pageant, one of the most anticipated events of the year. The performance was held during rally period in Ground Zero, Oct. 22.
After emcees Bree Ainley and Ashlyn White, both seniors, opened the event, the stage darkened for the king dance to begin.
Nominees Zach Camden, Alex Campama, Andrew Evans, Josiah Ford and Danny Ibarra gradually entered from the sides, as Justin Bieber’s “Need Somebody to Love” reverberated throughout the auditorium.
Once together on stage, Campama broke from the group for his solo, performing Lady Gaga’s “Alejandro.” Following Campama, the focus shifted to Ibarra’s presentation of “I Will Survive,” by Gloria Gaynor.
“My favorite part of the king pageant is always the dance,” Ibarra said. “This year it was my turn, and it was a good experience. Alex had the best dance with ‘Alejandro,’ because Alex and Alejandro sound the same.”
Each of the other king candidates took center stage for his own performance: Evans with “Every Time We Touch,” by Cascada; Camden with “Yeah!” by Usher; and Ford with “Can’t Be Tamed,” by Miley Cyrus. All five guys concluded the dance with “Everybody (Backstreet’s Back),” by the Backstreet Boys.
“My favorite part [of the pageant] was seeing the guys dance, because I got to see my friends dancing crazy,” Martin Moreno, ’12, said. “The songs fit their personalities.”
After the king dance, the emcees played the king bash video, a traditional project in which the candidates respond to questions about the other nominees. (The 9-minute video is embedded below.) At the same time, student leadership members distributed ballots to the audience and subsequently tallied them.
Following the video, king and queen nominees returned to the stage for pick-up lines — a traditional king pageant activity. Each king candidate attempted to sway his corresponding queen with a clever saying.
“The pick-up lines were really funny this year,” Jessica Healy, ’13, said. “But I feel like the dancing was the best, because they [candidates] were all in coordination. They all picked really good songs, and people were really enthusiastic about it.”
The king nominees then performed an encore of the dance, under different lighting effects. After the encore, 2009 homecoming king Landon Martens ascended to the stage to announce and crown this year’s homecoming king.
Martens read Evans’s name from a slip of paper, then placed the homecoming crown on his head.
“It was thrilling [to win],” Evans said. “We talked about it [who would win] before we went out and danced, and decided that we didn’t really care who won; we were just excited that we all got to do it. The most exciting part was coming out with these guys.”
In preparation for the dance, the candidates devoted time over the last two weeks to practice their routine, which was choreographed by ’09 king nominee and alumnus John Dinsdale.
“Last week we had to sacrifice every lunch to practice, and afternoons after football practice we’d all go and practice for the dance,” Campama said. “I think all the practicing paid off; I had a lot of fun, and I think everyone else did.”
The homecoming game will begin at 7:30 p.m. at the North Field. Floats will be on display throughout the evening. The queen and princesses will be announced during half-time.
For more photos of the king dance, check out Tall Freshman’s royal side, Please don’t stop the music, Literal pick-up line and ‘Don’t call my name.’ For more information, read the Oct. 15 article, Homecoming week schedule, 2010. For more coverage of homecoming events, read the Oct. 21 article, Queens prove caliber at pageant.
Nick Avery, Mary Hierholzer and Ashley Ward also contributed to this article.
