1st Mr. Collins will be crowned this weekend

Seven Collins freshmen will perform musical numbers, magic acts and experimental art pieces during Mr. Collins, the residence center’s first-ever male pageant.

The event will take place at 8 p.m. Friday in the Collins Coffee House in the Edmonson building.

The pageant originated as a project sophomore Matt Starr was assigned in a Collins class. All residents of Collins Living-Learning Center are required to take a “Q-class” in which they create a project on getting involved, Starr said.

“It’s a competition for everyone in the class to have the best project,” said freshman Marianna Eble, co-director of the pageant. “This is going to blow everyone else’s out of the water.”

Starr said he believes like everyone at Collins is different in his or her own way.

Through the pageant, he said he hopes to change the image of Collins and show off the contestants to other “Collinsites” and the rest of IU.

“I want to steer away from the hippie persona,” he said. “I don’t think I’ve met any hippies here.”

The pageant will begin with an introduction video and an opening dance number, Starr said.

“There’s also going to be a chocolate fountain,” he said. “It’s crucial.”

Participants of the pageant will partake in three rounds: talent, dress and question-and-answer. For the dress portion, each male member will display an outfit that represents his personality, Starr said.

The talents of the contestants are very diverse, Eble said.

“They range from musical numbers to tests of physical merit,” she said.

Contestants such as freshmen Jeff Ubelhor and Ronak Shah will be performing musical numbers, while freshman Evan Voss will be performing a magic act while singing a Killers’ song.

Shah said he came up with the idea for his musical piece last summer after a serious fly problem in his house.

“The story is inspired by the struggle against the flies,” he said.

After writing the lyrics for the number, Shah said he put music to them to convey what the words could not.

Local Collins celebrities have been chosen to judge the pageant, Starr said. There will be six judges, with two judges’ votes combined for a total of five votes. The judges include Ellen Dwyer, director of Collins LLC; Yara Cluver, associate director of academics, publications and art; Sarah Eaton, assistant director of finances, admissions, programming and alumni; Madeline Wolfe, Starr’s “Q-class” professor; Debbie the lunch lady and a Collins resident who dresses as Indiana Jones every day.
Cluver and Eaton share the combined vote.

“I compare them to the two old men in the Muppet show that sit in the balcony and comment on everything,” Starr said.

A guest celebrity will crown the winner of the pageant after the judges have made their final decision, Starr said. The celebrity will remain a mystery until the crowning of Mr. Collins.

Starr said he hopes the event takes place annually, with a Mr. Collins one semester and a Miss Collins the other. If the event is a hit at Collins, Starr said he would like to spread the pageant campus-wide and invite other residence centers to participate, with a final round including the winners of each center’s pageant. 

“I’m sure there are a lot of hidden talents in other dorms,” he said. “There are endless possibilities.”