What does it take to be fresh? It takes style, talent, and the ability to be confident in who you are.  The biennial Mr. Pascack Hills competition, hosted by teachers Edward Sandt and Eric Ganz, embodies this term as eight students and two teachers competed this year to take home the title of Mr. Pascack Hills and be the “freshest” male in the school.

How did the show go? In the words of host Mr. Sandt, “It was a beautiful mess.”

Judges included two history teachers Mr. Brooks Alexander and Mrs. Deborah Horn, as well as former Mr. Pascack Hills winner and alum Vinny Lambert. Although there was some drama behind the scenes, the show was an overall success.

“Mr. Sandt and Mr. Ganz’s opening act was a nice way to open the show. I liked the tribute to All in the Family,” says Senior Matt Wikfors.

One low point was an audio issue that persisted throughout the entire night. There were points where the microphones would suddenly cut out and the entire flow of the show was interrupted. Sandt and Ganz kept swapping microphones among people in order to find one that worked.

The judge’s table also faced a similar problem. Whenever their microphones were touched while someone was speaking, the connection to the mic was instantly cut off. This happened many times throughout the evening to Horn whenever she grabbed the microphone to hold it closer to herself while speaking.

Horn offered insight into the issue with the microphones. “The problem is that the microphones are activated by your voice. So it was my fault. Now was there a proper tutorial? Probably not. But it wasn’t the actual microphone that was malfunctioning, it was the speaker.”

Contestant Michael Ruberto even worked the microphone problem into his opening joke, saying “I didn’t realize I had to bring my own mic to this thing. I was gonna do some stand-up, but I guess the AV department is the real joke here.”

Clearly, Senior Michael decided to take the comedic route, opting for a standup routine for his talent portion. He told a joke, very John Mulaney-esque, involving his athletic ability, a stick, and a very angry teacher.

“Michael’s jokes killed me, it was actually funny, but I think I was one of the few who appreciated it,” says senior Alexandra Truszkowska.

One of his jokes went as follows: “I have suits for every occasion. I have a wedding suit, a debate suit, and even a bathing suit.”

“The acts were hit or miss, there were some that were really good and showed real talent like Frankie and Carnig. Abilio’s showed real courage,” said Wikfors.

“I liked Mr. Comanto’s because it looked like he put a lot of effort into it and his poem was really good,” says sophomore Jun Hong.

Even those who didn’t attend were able to form an opinion about the event since there was so much talk following it. Sophomore Emma Kofitsas said, “I heard that the show wasn’t very well organized but, but it was still a good time.”

After watching the event and seeing the student winner being crowned, Riley Solomon commented, “Frank deserved to win because he put a lot of effort into his performance. His opening with the team of security people was really interesting and entertaining.”

But, others who were at the event had different opinions about the results.

“I thought that the judges were being biased. It’s like they knew the winner before the competition even started. Some of the contestants thought that the competition was fixed,” says an anonymous senior.

Although Mr. Pascack Hills earned his rightful crown and matching jacket, it does seem unsurprising that the winner is none other than the Cowboy Roundup news editor, morning announcements co-host, and lead actor in all of the school plays: in other words, the true embodiment of this school before even getting on stage to compete for it.

Out of all of the contestants Frank Scott showed to be the freshest of all the students and Mr. Dore for the teachers. With Mr. Dore’s amazing culinary skills using just an iron and Frank’s wonderful song My Way, by Frank Sinatra, the judges, Ms. Horn and Mr. Alexander were extra decisive in their decision. While some students thought the winners were not the best choice, the majority agreed that Frank and Mr. Dore were deserving, making the event even more special.

In addition, after the Mr. Pascack Hills show, there were many talks about how a lot of people enjoyed the show and would definitely go again the next time that Mr. Pascack Hills has an event.“I heard in class that someone told Mr. Ganz that if the kids didn’t like the show then Mr. Pascack Hills would be discontinued” said by sophomore Jun Hong.

Due to the success of the show, there is no doubt the Hills community will see another Mr. Pascack Hills in two years.