Mr. Wonderful lights up the auditorium and lights out the competition

Mr. Wonderful pageant winner, Gabe Villa. Photo by Kelsey Haasch

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Written by Staff Writer - Marli Mayon

Gilbert High’s Mr. Wonderful Pageant held March 26, gave junior and senior males the opportunity to win the title of Mr. Wonderful, along with two free prom tickets.  Contestants made it clear from the beginning that they were very confident in themselves, using the “Personal Style” segment of the event to show case their rhythmic ability, or in some cases lack thereof.

Pageant and talent winner, Gabe Villa took a more modest approach in order to win the crown, until the talent portion in which he created a “Light Show”.  The auditorium went black and Gabe appeared on stage with a glow in the dark t-shirt and two glow sticks hanging from strings, where he proceeded to “glow string”.

In addition to Gabe’s “Light Show”, the talent portion involved several acoustic guitar renditions, two self-composed songs performed on the Piano, the France National Anthem sung acapella, one contestant’s version of the Evolution of Dance, Scottish drumming, and a cello performance.  Best personal style and formal wear winner, Trevor Mitchel, performed “Requiem for a Dream” on the piano sustaining his popularity with the audience.

After a prerecorded video of each of the contests explaining why they should be Mr. Wonderful, they all came on stage and participated in a brief Macarena as they awaited the Judges’ final tally. Second runner up was to Parker Schwarz, and first runner up Jared Camba.  After receiving 1^st place Gabe humbly gestured to his fellow contests, acknowledging the accomplishments of each of them. Gabe seemed to really enjoy participating in the pageant reflecting on the experience as having a good vibe and being a great opportunity to get to know his fellow peers. “[For] anybody who wants to participate, it’s definitely worth their while; it’s not a waste of time,” said Gabe who gave the Mr. Wonderful title a new spin this year, leaving the auditorium lit up by both his personality and his glow sticks.