The Mr. Coral Gables pageant came back better than ever this year! The contest, which takes place in our very own auditorium, was held on Dec. 20, 2018. This year, the winning prize of “Mr. Coral Gables” was given to both Alfredo Wolfermann (Mr. Activities) and Juan Toranzo (Mr. JROTC) after a long night of scoring and deliberating by the judges.

Candidates were nominated from almost every club and publication to perform on the live stage. The competition was hosted by senior Ana Wolfermann and was run by the student coordinator Dominique Babin.

There were several different stages of the competition, but the first event that the judges were scoring was the beachwear modeling section. Based on that and the interviews they had before the competition started, the top ten contestants were chosen.

These contestants had to perform their best talent on the stage for about 2 minutes. They were then scored and the competition was narrowed down to the top five. After the top five were chosen, the judges conducted an interview with each contestant in front of the audience.

The Gablettes performed a dance with the top 10 candidates to the song “It Had to Be You.” The Gablettes helped organize the entire event and also choreographed many of the numbers for the contestants. They even showcased several of their own dances, such as “Savage,” “Singing in the Rain,” and “Go Off.”

“The entire experience was something I have never done before. It got me out of my comfort zone and I worked with some of the greatest people I’ve ever met. The nerves and chills ran all over my body as we were five seconds away from performing on stage definitely gave me so much adrenaline. This has honestly been one of the best experiences in my life,” senior Juan Toranzo said.

Our very own Trey Riera-Gomez, also known as Mr. CavsConnect, shined on the stage. He completed a finger painting of a flower in two minutes and impressed the judges. The charisma he brought to the stage pulled the audience’s attention right from the start. He made it to the top five along with Mr. Activities, Mr. JROTC, Mr. Best Buddies, and Mr. Model UN. In his live interview with the judges, he said that if he could have any superpower, he would want to be able to transform into any animal. His positive attitude and stage presence showed that he was a great representative for the publication.

“Considering that it was my first time attending the Mr. Coral Gables pageant since it was canceled last year, it was a blast. The energy was through the roof and all the contestants were hilarious. I was rooting for Mr. Cavsconnect because the moment he started painting the grass, he had my heart. It was funny and a change how he painted a flower for his talent portion of the pageant,” sophomore Kaitlin Duardo said.

By the end of the night, the judges had finally made their decision. For the first time in the competition’s history, there was a tie for Mr. Coral Gables!

Mr. JROTC (Juan Toranzo) and Mr. Activities (Alfredo Wolfermann) happily shared the prize. Fan Favorite, which was voted by the student body prior to the pageant, was given to Juan Toranzo as well. Udeme Ekpo, also known as Mr. Band of Distinction, earned the congeniality award for always being positive and polite to all of the other participants. Mr. Model United Nations (Cristian Ochoa) won the award for the best talent with his performance of “Let it Go” in a remarkable 28 languages.

This year’s Mr. Coral Gables contest was one for the books. Everyone who participated made the event very enjoyable for the audience. The laughter and joy that the pageant brought connected the student body before the winter break.