The audience eagerly awaited for the Mr. Mav winners to be announced. The 10 boys lined up on stage in their tuxedos as the judges finished writing their scores and the announcers tallied the last votes.

The 14th annual Mr. Mav pageant hosted by Student Council took place Feb. 23 in the cafeteria.

The 10 participants included Nayan Shashidhar, Kenny Nguyen, Jonathan Mathews, Nabil Ahmed, Will Kohman, James Nguyen, Numi Latif, Varun Saravanabavan, Ethan Tran, and Franklin Mao. The Mr. Mav winner was Saravanabavan and the Mr. Congeniality winner was  Mathews.

StuCo hosts the Mr. Mav pageant every year to recognize male students and their talents and personalities. Each participant represented an organization of their choice, and the winner received two free prom tickets.

“By participating, I not only wanted to have a good time on stage, but I also wanted to represent McNeil HOSA and its values and overall image well,” Nguyen said.

The event opened at 7 p.m. with the sassy dance that the 10 contestants choreographed.

“Learning the dance with all the guys was honestly my favorite part,” Nguyen said. “It was cool to watch us make progress, and I got to learn more about the structure of dance.”

After the hip hop dance, the event continued with a casual wear segment where the boys showed off their personal style.

In the talent portion, contestants wowed the audience with their secret talents. Nguyen and Kohman showed off their Chinese yo-yo and weight-lifting skills, respectively, while Latif and  Tran spoke their truths via slam-poetry and rap. Ahmed took the audience back to their childhood by performing a medley of children’s show songs, and Saravanabavan performed a piece from the well-known musical Hamilton. The most common talent showcased in this segment of the show was singing and serenading the audience, as exhibited by Shashidhar,  Mathews and Mao.

The event wrapped up with the formal wear section where the boys wore tuxedos supplied by  Men’s Wearhouse. Contestants strutted out with a staff member of their choice. Finally, after the judges and audience made their decisions, the results were ready.

“Although part of the reason I signed up was the free prom ticket, I was not expecting to win any award, so winning Mr. Congeniality was a nice surprise,” Mathews said. “I’m glad I participated because I got to hang out with nine other great guys, and I got to represent McNeil orchestra well.”