Unlike in previous years, the annual queen pageant marked the first event of homecoming week. In this competition, the five queen candidates took to the stage in Ground Zero, partnered with their kings, for a series of challenges. Afterward, the student body voted by secret ballot for their favorite queen, Oct. 11.
When the student body took a vote last month for their senior homecoming court, Allison Camden, Morgan Childs, Darlene Idsinga, Katelyn Miller and Brooke Stobbe emerged as the contestants for queen. Chosen by their peers, the candidates accepted both formal honors and the oncoming array of messy challenges.
“It was way better than previous pageants,” Camden said. “It was super fun and I was really nervous but it ended up being a lot more fun than I thought it would be. They [the candidates] actually surprised me; Brooke got into it which was really good and so did Morgan, so I was really happy that everyone got into it.”
After leadership adviser Robert Foshee and Associated Student Body President Chandler Vargas, ’12, introduced each candidate, they made their way to the stage for their first challenge of arranging their king partners with hairstyles. Once the task was complete, the crowd cheered in order to declare their vote of the best hairdo. Although the vote was close, Childs emerged victorious with her fizzy, protruding manipulation of Josh Hopper’s hair.
As the kings and queens cleared the stage to prepare for their next challenge, the time-honored bash video was screened for the audience. The video provided a mock insight into the catty world of queen competition and the feuds between candidates.
When the lights came up, each candidate presented their king, who where donned in outfits selected by their queen. The outfits were bought before the candidates were aware of their partner’s identity, so the attire was chosen without knowledge of the king’s size or personality.
Although outfits ranged from western-themed to that of an aspiring fashion designer, senior Brady Lee undeniably garnered the most cheers and laughter. He was dressed by Stobbe, who chose a leather getup and punk makeup for her partner.
“I think my favorite part was the fashion show because it was really funny to see everyone dressed up, ” Childs said. “I dressed up Josh as a fashion designer with a beautiful hood, sweatpants that are velour and maroon and shiny and pink heart boxers. He looked amazing, and I know he has a future in designing.”
Next, the queens were in for a classically-messy rendition of trivia. After Foshee presented the candidates with questions, they rang in by shoving their heads into trays filled with whipped cream, chocolate, Rice Krispies and water. As they answered, their faces progressively became filthier with layers of food. Camden, Idsinga and Stobbe tied with one point each.
Adding to her bedraggled appearance, Tyler Krigbaum dumped the remaining chocolate on Idsinga’s face after she had completed the challenge.
“My overall thought about the queen pageant is: messy,” Idsinga said. “It was a lot more fun than I thought it would be and I did a lot better than I thought I would. My favorite moment was when Tyler threw the bucket of chocolate on my face, which was pretty funny.”
Having recently enrolled in FC from San Joaquin Memorial High School, junior John-Paul Caprioglio was intrigued by the unusual event, especially the kings’ fashion show. He looks forward to the possibility of participating in homecoming court activities next year, he says.
“All the guys dressed up really nice and I thought the ideas were cool because it changed up everyone’s personal attire,” Caprioglio said. “I look forward to me being in it if I can; that would be cool, but we’ll see how that goes.”
With the messy aspects of homecoming over for the queens, they can now reflect on their formed camaraderie.
“I think we’re a lot better friends now because I think we spent a lot of time together preparing for it [the pageant],” Camden said. “So it’s actually really cool because I was never really friends with some of them before and now we’re good friends. The entire pageant was all in good fun.”
Although Childs regrets it being the last year to partake in homecoming activities, she appreciates the chance to recover from the spectacles.
“I was a little bit nervous, but then I got really excited,” Childs said. “I’m sad that this is my last year doing this, but I’m glad that it’s over because now I can go wash the chocolate off of my face.”
The princess and king pageants will be held, Oct. 13 and 14, respectively.
The 27th annual homecoming event will take place on the North Field at 6:45 p.m.
For more information on homecoming, read the Oct. 10 article, Chess-themed float captures juniors’ imagination (VIDEO) or the Oct. 7 article, BRIEF: Homecoming week schedule, 2011.
Nick Avery, Danielle St. Marie and Maddie Yee also contributed to this article.
