Mr.Sterling

THE “KNIGHT” OF MR. STERLING

--NICOLE MASNICAK

The Tuesday of Spirit Week brought with it the Mr. Sterling competition--a fierce competition between twelve of Sterling’s finest senior knights to be crowned the victor. (It could also be seen as a manly pageant, as the rules draw clear parallels to other pageants such as Miss America.)

The night begins with the dimming of the lights, and the twelve knights join forces for a synchronized dance number to impress the audience as well as the judges. It is always wildly entertaining, even for the contestants themselves!

Next, the agenda calls for each contestant representing a specific month of the year; he must come out and give a simple statement about that month, and it is crucial to be creative.

Mr. January -- Thomas DiPaolo

Mr. February -- Ryan Smith

Mr. March -- Dean Troilo

Mr. April -- Paul McGroarty

Mr. May -- Tony Fedoriw

Mr. June -- Sean Macpherson

Mr. July -- Jonathan Glimp

Mr. August -- Darius Coppage-Belt

Mr. September -- Mike Ivins

Mr. October -- Liam Fisher

Mr. November -- James Carman

Mr. December -- John Macaluso

Afterward, the contestants must display a talent, and the acts usually range from the typical to the strange. Thomas DiPaolo sang the country song “Cowboys and Angels” and Ryan Smith performed his own version of “Honorable Mention”, in the end shining the spotlight on his best friend. Dean Troilo performed an entertaining dance skit with a number of crossdressing guys and girls. Paul McGroarty gave the Super Mario Bros. a new twist, and it was one for the books; that performance is something I’ll never forget. Tony Fedoriw helped heat up the auditorium by dancing to a compilation of different songs alongside friend (and Homecoming Queen) Sharon Tang. Sean Macpherson slowed down the action by singing his own rendition of the song “Dead or Alive” with his father (Sterling Geometry teacher Mr. Macpherson) playing the guitar; both men also wore over exaggerated ten-gallon hats. Jonathan Glimp performed a dance routine with two friends, and Darius Coppage-Belt followed suit by co-rapping an original song with a comrade close by. Mike Ivins, with the help of another one of Sterling’s ladies, performed an interpretive dance to the hit “Chandelier” and Liam Fisher followed with a tribute to Drake & Josh by dancing to the renown song “Soul Man” with one of his own cronies--tux, hat, shades, and all. James Carman came out on stage under the impression that he would sing “American Idiot” and play the guitar, but a last-minute change led him to sing a beautiful opera song. John Macaluso ended the night with his own tribute to the movie Napoleon Dynamite and dancing all by himself on stage exactly the way Dynamite did in the film.

From there, the show moves on to its formal wear portion, where the men dress up in their nicest evening attire and give their arm to a lady knight to hold...and you can’t forget the lovely flower arrangements that the girls receive as well!

The end of the night brings three finalists who are chosen to answer a question, each question being something different. The first finalist, opera-singer James Carman, was asked how he would represent Mr. Sterling if he won. Basically, his answer was that he would continue to be himself and be an outstanding individual. The next finalist, John Macaluso, was asked what his favorite two things about Sterling were; the answer that melted the hearts of the audience included that he transferred to Sterling in the middle of the year and he was awed at how welcoming the students and staff were. The third and final finalist was Tony Fedoriw, who was asked what his best experience at Sterling was. He stated that he was tempted to say something about volleyball, but then decided to go against it and declared instead that it was joining the varsity soccer team: this year, the boys’ soccer team became the Conference Champions for the first time in 28 years.

Ultimately, a new Mr. Sterling is knighted based on his overall score, and the People’s Choice is declared at that time as well. The People’s Choice this year was a surprising tie! The honor was split between Ryan Smith and Paul McGroarty. Mr. Sterling himself, however, was awarded to John Macaluso.

All of the contestants did a wonderful job, and an extra congratulations to John--have fun, and make our school proud!