Students compete for 'Mr. Dartmouth' title

Mar 9, 2016

From casual wear to formal wear, from Adele to Celine Dion, the Class of 2016’s “Mr. Dartmouth” event showed that the young men of Dartmouth High have range.

Ten contestants showed off their skills during the annual male pageant. Senior Patrick Kitchen, who knocked everyone's socks off with a rousing rendition of Adele's "Hello," won the title of Mr Dartmouth. It is a tradition for the junior class to host and receive the proceeds from the Mr. Dartmouth event.

The night's judges were guidance counselor Melissa Fitzgerald, special education teacher John Breault, English teacher Marek Kulig, and history teacher Caitlin McCarron-Deely.

“It’s been everything and more,” said Fitzgerald. “This is my first Mr. Dartmouth, and I love it.”

Nate DeMello, also known as “Asap Rocko,” performed a rap number, followed by the “Slash” of Dartmouth, Austin Couto, who performed a guitar solo.

“[DeMello] definitely could contest for a Grammy,” said Breault, as the co-hosts asked his thoughts on DeMello’s performance.

The co-hosts, Alice Goodman and Nash Biddle, asked a variety of trivia questions throughout the show about the contestants, only pausing to give their thanks to the Class of 2017 Advisors, Chace Howland and Jesse Grieve. It was the tenth anniversary of Howland winning his class’ Mr. Dartmouth.

“It was so much fun,” said Goodman. "The best part was preparing for the show.”

Goodman loved having a connection with the crowd, as the co-hosts were able to crack jokes and interact with the audience.

James Cassell received a large applause for his rendition of “Chandelier” by Sia, keeping the audience wondering if Cassell took dance lessons from Maddie Ziegler, the dancer made popular in the music video.

Shawn DaSilva came onto the stage to “tickle our funny bones,” as he told the audience some of his favorite jokes.

“Young Beethoven,” also known as Cooper Smith, surprised the audience with his talent as he played “Mary Had a Little Lamb.” He went even further, awing the audience as he played a second number, “My Heart Will Go On,” by Celine Dion.

After a brief intermission, the scantily clad contestants put their acting skills to the test in a beach production.

The “Christiano Ronaldo” of Dartmouth, Sousa sang a “Portuguese Song,” a parody of Adam Sandler’s Hanukkah Song.

“Portuguese or American, we’re just one big family,” sang Sousa.

Class of 2016 President, Bryce Boswell, participated in a dance routine from “Napoleon Dynamite” with dynamic duo Callie Dulong and Elissa Tetreault.

Ben Szteliga whipped across the stage during a dance number, as Cam Clark followed with a lip sync performance of Drake's “Hotline Bling,” which was interrupted with a fake phone call from his mother.

Winner, Kitchen, sang “Hello” by Adele, unveiling a fur coat and golden locks underneath his bathrobe and towel, as a fan blowed his hair back.

“It’s a tremendous honor,” said Kitchen. “I want to thank Violet Maher for operating my fan and my escort Tory Dias.”

“This was really awesome,” said senior escort Tory Dias. “I’m really proud of Patrick. He deserves it.”

Class of 2016 Advisors Nicole Heath and Angela English announced the top three contestants, and ultimately the winner.

Sousa received third place, while Boswell took the second place title.

“I want to thank my awkward, but lovely backup dancers,” said Boswell. “This was a lot of fun. We all had a great time.”

Junior Class Secretary Sydney Amaral said she was excited to see everything come together so well.

“It was hectic, but enjoyable,” said junior class treasurer Alexias Soares.