After an evening of unique and diverse talents, senior Graeton Tripp was crowned this year’s Mr. Mason at the third annual Mr. Mason pageant last night. The event, moved from February 8 due to weather and scheduling difficulties, raised over $500, which will be donated to charity. The benefiting charity will be determined by which class wins the fourth annual Coin War.

Senior and SCA president Kate O’Hara emceed last night’s event. A panel of students and faculty judged each round of the competition, with Mr. Brian Dickson, Ms. Kristin Kurowski, and Mr. David Applegate representing the staff. Senior Stephanie Melkonian, junior Luisa Fairfax, sophomore David Oglethorpe, and freshman Julie Dorsey acted as the student judges for the contest.

Contestants are nominated by individual teachers and then voted on. They are chosen on the basis of their scholarship (3.0 GPA or higher), involvement in school and community activities, personal integrity, and how well they personified the characteristics of the George Mason student body.
 

Greenwich Street members Graeton Tripp and Grant Sabatier perform as the judges tally up the scores to determine the Mr. Mason finalists. (Photo by Michael Miller)

The twelve contestants, two from each of the classes with the exception of the senior class, who were granted six representatives, each presented their talents to the audience and the judges before the picks were made for the final round. This year, multiple contestants submitted videos for the talent portion of the pageant. These included junior Bill Bacon’s “SuperBill” video, senior Nick Huizenga’s “goofy” video, which featured instant replay of Dr. DeFazio stuffing him in a recycling bin, senior Mark Murchie playing the trombone with his dog, and freshman Gregg Curtain presenting his skateboarding skills.

Other talents included exhibitions of freshman Michael Coleman’s unique “throat music,” junior Zach Barret’s diving skills, and senior Chris Sabbatini’s techno dance performance. Some especially interesting highlights from the talent portion of the competition also included Dan Bray cutting fellow senior Peter Osterverchy’s hair and sophomore Farrel Oxley’s imaginative display of how to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Senior Grant Sabatier read some of his own beat poetry while classmate Graeton Tripp serenaded the audience with a rendition of John Mayer’s hit, “No Such Thing.”

At the end of the talent competition, the five Mr. Mason finalists were announced. Sophomore Chad O’Hara was the only non-senior left standing, having wowed the crowd with his performance of the Pokemon theme song. Seniors Mark Murchie, Nick Huizenga, Grant Sabatier, and Graeton Tripp also made it to the next round.
 

Following a musical performance by Luke Rabin, Nate McFarland, and Nate Mitchell, a lady of their choice escorted each of the finalists onstage before the contenders selected a student or faculty judge to interview them in the evening wear/short answer portion of the pageant. Each judge asked one candidate a different question and gave them 30 seconds to respond. The gentlemen rose to the occasion, giving insightful and spirited responses to questions such as, “If you could be on any reality TV show, which would it be and why?” and “What is your favorite memory of your time here at Mason?”

The Mr. Mason Final Five are all dressed up with no place to go as they await the judges' grueling questions. (Photo by Michael Miller)

In the end, senior Tripp came out ahead, with close friend and bandmate Sabatier right behind him in second place. Huizenga, Murchie, and O’Hara were third, fourth, and fifth runners up, respectively.

All participants and judges received gift certificates for assorted local restaurants and businesses for the time and effort they put into coordinating the event. The wide array of talents shown last night already has students looking forward to next year’s Mr. Mason competition.