On Wednesday night, the Eisenhower auditorium was filled with a competitive atmosphere as 28 THON captains danced, sang and walked the runway with hopes of being crowned the title of 2013 Mr. and Mrs. THON.
Alyssa Wasserman (senior-accounting) and Thomas “Hunter” Goga (senior-finance) were crowned the winners of the Interfraternity/Panhellenic Dance Marathon’s Mr. and Mrs. THON Pageant, and now we will get to perform their selected talents during THON weekend. However, they did not earn their title without friendly competition from the 13 other participating THON committees.
At 7:30 p.m, the lights dimmed as all 28 Mr. and Mrs. THON hopefuls took the stage, with each committee wearing their bright, respective color, and welcomed the crowd by performing a line dance to The Wanted’s “Glad you Came.”
Family Relations Captain Mike Toole and Four Diamonds child Dylan Moser were the hosts of the evening, introducing each pair of contestants before the talent portion of the competition began.
Each pair of captains took the stage and performed their talents for the judges and the crowd. Some of the acts included the merchandise committee hopefuls, Emily Banach and Seth Galluzzi, performing a dance and rap to their original song, “How to Merch”, and the eventual winners, the finance captains, performing a medley of songs dressed as glow stick figures against a dark stage.
After the talent portion of the evening came to an end, co-host Toole announced to the crowd that he “knows someone else here that has a lot of talent”, and twelve-year-old Moser took the stage, and danced to Psy’s hit “Gangnam Style.”
The next portion of the competition, the fashion show, was comprised of each pair of captains walking the runway in their specially designed costumes. Some include communication captains, Brian Kimball and Jess Steciw, dressing as a desk with a laptop, and an enlarged Gmail icon, and family relations captains Nick Hope and Chelsea Pierce carrying children on their backs and on their legs on stage.
While the judges began making their final decisions on the final 3 pairs, Moser took the stage again and shared his story with the audience. Moser said that in November of 2002, he was diagnosed with acute leukemia, and that since May 2008, he has been cancer free.
“Thank you to everyone for supporting THON and the Four Diamonds Fund,” Moser said. “You are helping kids like me and their families.”
With a ‘We Are’ chant, Moser returned to the podium, and the final three pairs were announced. The captains that would enter the question and answer round were Entertainment, Finance, and Merchandise.
Wasserman was asked what FTK meant to her for her question, and she awed the crowd with her involved response.
“I was lucky enough to go on a social visitors trip to Hershey and written on my hand, it says ‘you are the queen of the night’ because I told the kids that I was competing in pageant,” Wasserman said. “I finally realized how the kids love us as much as we love them, and FTK means doing everything we can for the kids and their families.”
After each contestant answered their questions, the Overall THON committee performed a line dance as the final judges made their decisions. Dylan Moser announced Finance as the winners, and they crowned and given a sash on stage.
With a final line dance with all 28 contestants closing the event, THON Overall Will Martin said that the night was an extreme success.
“It was cool to see how creative the contestants were," Martin (senior-communication sciences and disorders) said. "It was a great way for all of the THON volunteered to get involved and was a huge success.”
