As is to be expected, this year’s Mr. Etown was filled to the brim with dance-offs, men in women’s clothing and lip syncs to a variety of songs. The theme was the ‘80s and began with a video and a group dance with all of the men in colorful wigs wielding inflatable guitars.
This year’s hosts junior Adam Moore, assistant sports editor for The Etownian, and Mr. Etown 2012 winner and alumnus, Sean Deutsch brought their own variety of comedic transitions to the show. The lip syncs began when Moore and Deutsch introduced Mr. Schlosser, first-year Ryan Supplee. His act was based heavily on the a capella movie “Pitch Perfect.” His group of fellow dancers put their own choreographed spin on the movie, ending with Supplee showcased amongst a group of dancers.
Following this was Mr. Off-Campus, senior David Kirchner, whose routine was based off of ‘80’s television shows like “Three’s Company,” “Full House,” “The Cosby Show,” and comically, the “Knight Rider,” which had one dancer wheeling across the stage on a scooter. Next was Mr. Ober, sophomore Phillip Spector, whose dance was a competition between the baseball and soccer teams, and after that Mr. Brinser, senior Paul Whitman.
Mr. Quads, senior Eric Capece, then joined the stage with a heavily choreographed dance number involving a variety of songs, including a version of the song “Friday” by Rebecca Black. A scene involving a bunch of male students in dresses. The announcers then brought out a competitor from 2011, Dan Silver, who appeared in a mermaid suit and was met with laughter from the audience. Next Mr. Royer, sophomore Ryan Carson, came on and began his routine with a display of glowsticks appearing on a dark stage. His group then began dancing to “Thunderstruck” by ACDC.
Mr. Founders, sophomore Matt Walters performed his lip-sync based on how he became the Asian Dragon, a nickname he began using at the end of high school. It began with the song “I’ll Make A Man Out Of You” from the Disney film “Mulan” and had Walters taking down his foes in a karate costume. Then he went to the gym and got buff to the tune of “YMCA.” Following this he showed how to eat a healthy diet as the dancers came out in various fruit and vegetable costumes to the Wiggles’ fruit salad song. Walters finished the number with his own rendition of “Gangnam Style” as he wooed the ladies. The audience erupted with applause.
The next contender, Mr. Myer, first-year Cole Goodman, danced and lip-synced to a multitude of Michael Jackson songs. The dancing techniques included moonwalks, hip thrusts, and all of other iconic moves that Jackson made his own. The final contestant, Mr. Apartments, senior Sean Post, showed all of his Elizabethtown College firsts in song and dance form. This included the first-year walk, TGIS and his first time being a peer mentor. A particularly notable moment came when Post literally had sugar poured on his head during a rendition of “Pour Some Sugar On Me” by Def Leppard.
Once the lip-syncs were finished, a brief intermission was held to give the judges time for their decisions. But, before a brief intermission after which the winners were announced, there was a question and answer session. Each contestant had to answer one randomly selected question out of a hat. These ranged from “If there was a movie made about you, what would it be called?” to “If you could be someone else for a day, who would you be?” Walters replied “Carl Strikwerda,” and then shared his impression of the College’s president.
When this segment concluded, the hosts announced the third, second and first place winners. Post was in third place, and Capece placed second. This led to the final announcement, first place. After a drum roll from the audience, Moore and Deutch crowned Mr. Founders, Matt Walters, Mr. Etown 2013. The crowd applauded, and Walters, who began tearing up, accepted his crown and flowers. “I couldn’t have won Mr. Etown without the awesome people helping me every step of the way,” he said. “We practiced as a team, we competed as a team, and we won as team. When I thought of each person who gave up their time to help me, I couldn’t help but cry a little.”