Mr. Freshman at home in Hillside

Abby Sullivan / contributing photographer Mr. Hillside Scott Holcomb, the winner of the Mr. Freshman pageant, performs a ballet routine Tuesday night in Wilson Hall for the talent portion of the competiton.

JMU welcomed a variety of "celebrities" to the stage of Wilson Hall auditorium Tuesday night. Impersonators of Chris Tucker, Eminem, Christina Aguilera, John Mayer and Miss Virginia all made appearances in the talent portion of the Mr. Freshman Pageant 2003.

The pageant was won by Scott Holcomb, Mr. Hillside, who received a $100 cash prize. He made the audience laugh during his ballet routine and when he shared his fear of frogs.

Holcomb said, "I thought I didn't have as good a chance as other guys, but they never saw my best in practice."

The third annual Mr. Freshman Pageant was sponsored by the Freshman Class Council with all proceeds benefiting Up 'til Dawn.

According to Wesli Spencer, freshman class president, each contestant was elected by the residents of his dorm. Each freshmen hall was featured in the pageant with the exception of Dingledine, Poplar, Maple and Willow, whose representatives were unable to make the commitment, Spencer said.

Due to a voting discrepancy, McGraw-Long Hall had two contestants in the Pageant, Mr. McGraw and Mr. Long.

Spencer said the Freshman Class Council began planning the pageant in December, and the contestants had dance practice for the opening dance number for an hour each Monday for two months, with some of the practices lasting two hours.

There were 21 contestants this year, up from 10 or 11 from previous years, according to Spencer.

"This year we knew that we had such a large class council that we could get people really spirited about it," Spencer said.

The emcees were junior Jessica Lumsden and senior Lyndsey Walther-Thomas, who dressed in an angel and a devil costume, respectively. The contestants also were divided into angels and devils for the opening dance number.

According to the Mr. Freshman 2003 judging criteria, the competition was judged on creativity, stage presence, charm, audience appeal, sincerity and enthusiasm in three categories. The categories included beach wear, talent and formal wear.

The beach wear competition heated up as the guys strutted onstage in various states of undress.

Attire ranged from a contestant in an inner tube and water wings to one contestant holding up only a sign reading "censored" to cover his his genitals and posterior.

The talent section of the evening drew raucous applause as the contestants presented talents that were drawn at random the weekend before the pageant. Phillip Berneir, Mr. Shorts, was an audience favorite as he displayed his talent as an "American Idol" dance instructor. Holcomb stirred up laughter with his ballet routine.

According to Holcomb, he spent two hours before the pageant working on his ballerina routine, which included spouting water from his mouth and incorporating Raggedy-Anne as his dance partner.

Some of the other talents included kung fu fighting, stand-up comedy, ribbon dancing and a poem recital.

Following the formal wear portion of the evening, Diamondz in the Ruff, a dance group that formed last April, made a guest appearance to perform and give the judges a chance to vote on the top five pageant finalists.

The five judges included freshman Katherine Ross, representing the University Program Board, junior Kendall Rice, representing Delta Delta Delta sorority, sophomore Janeine Berryman, a theater major, Rick Larson, assistant vice president of student affairs and senior Beth Bardeau, Miss Madison.

The finalists included Reid Attaway, Mr. Potomac, Berneir, Arthur Athens, Mr. Gifford, John Kingman, Mr. Long and Holcomb.

A Mr. Enthusiasm award was given to Mike Kuzma, Mr. McGraw. Mr. Enthusiasm was chosen by the contestants prior to the pageant.

"This pageant among men is about enthusiasm, and I won," Kuzma said in his acceptance speech.

Attaway said, "It was a whole lot of fun, and I got to hang out with a lot of really cool guys."

Participants said the crowd was great and Ross said, "The people kept flooding in."