By Kayla Williamson
Nick Camillo, Trevecca’s 2019 winner of Mr. Trevecca, was watching reruns from the TV show “Drake and Josh” on YouTube when he got his idea for the talent portion of the male pageant.
Camillo sang and danced to the “Soul Man” episode, equipped with the iconic sunglasses, fedora and black and white suit.
Other rounds consisted of introduction, spirit, and Q&A.
On Friday, Feb.1, the social life committee hosted Mr. Trevecca, an all male pageant showcasing 10 Trevecca students. The audience voted after four rounds and ultimately crowned Camillo as winner.
“I had a lot of fun doing the show,” said Camillo. “I got to compete with a lot of amazing people.”
There was a wide range of talent represented during the show including solving five Rubrics cubes in under two minutes, translating English to Chewbacca using a blow gun, and a very popular segment of stand up comedy.
As the winner, Camillo was presented with a $150 check. He plans to use the money for a summer internship in England, working with the children and youth ministry of a Nazarene church.
Shelby Morrison, social life director and organizer, said Mr. Trevecca is the event that she’s most proud of this entire school year.
About 150 more students showed up than there was room for. Organizers for the event set up a “viewing room” where the event was live streamed for the overflow. Students in the viewing room were still able to cast votes.
“People wanted to be in the [main room] of course, so it might not have been ideal,” said Morrison. “But people were happy we accommodated, and they were still able to view the event.”
Morrison was trying to come up with an idea for a potential “non – traditional” event. When she explained the event to Matt Spraker, associate dean of students for community life, he said that it resembled an event that was done in the past. An event that was banned for “pushing the envelope.”
“I had to make sure it was viewed as a comedic event and that the guys knew what they were getting into,” said Morrison. “I wanted to remake it into something that was healthy, positive and clean.”
Both Camillo and Morrison said they made new friends because of the event.
“I just want to thank them,” said Morrison. “I have a lot of respect for all 10 contestants and everyone who put in applications and put themselves out there.”
The application was in place of traditional auditions.
Paige Suckley was the host of the event. She introduced contestants, read the results after each round, and was responsible for reading the Q&A questions picked out of the jar.
Suckley’s lively attitude is what prompted Morrison and the social life committee to pick her to be the host. She was glad to be part of the event.
“To me, [being the host] was another way to get involved at Trevecca and be a part of the community,” said Suckley. “Most of [the contestants] I didn’t know very well, but now I feel like I’ve gotten to know a little bit about all of them.”
Suckley’s favorite part of the show was the talent portion.
Jonathan Smith, junior, was one of the students who attended the event.
“I think it was well done,” said Smith. “I’d like to see a Ms. Trevecca.”
His decision to attend the event was based solely on his curiosity.
“I was interested in how it would function because it’s a men’s pageant,” said Smith. “I was interested to see what different talents they would have.”
Carolyn Johnson, freshman, also enjoyed the event, but was disappointed that some students had to leave the main room. She also felt there was a lack of diversity in contestants.
“I didn’t like [that students had to leave the room],” said Johnson. “I felt like they should have planned better.”
Johnson said she goes to a lot of events, and this one sparked her attention.
“I thought it would be funny and interesting, “said Johnson. “I wanted to support the people that I knew were in it.”
Ronessa Hart, freshman, thought the event was great overall.
I think the event was really fun,” said Hart. “It was awesome because you got to see something that was typically female done by men. I loved being able to see people that I wouldn’t have normally seen in a different light.”
Morrison is hoping to encourage the next social life director to continue the event.
