View slideshow Time-honored pageant showcases kings' flair (VIDEO)
Candidates vie for students' votes through dance, bash video
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As the lights darken, the few whoops and shouts of the crowd begin to build until they culminate into a cheering that is almost deafening. Through the darkness, movement can be seen, and, in an instant, blinding lights flash on, revealing the five homecoming king candidates of 2012 in athletic attire and brightly-colored socks.
These kind of eccentric activities would be odd for a normal school day, but, for the annual king pageant, this is ordinary and expected by the student body. Showcasing the senior candidates' aptitude in areas like dancing, bashing and flirting, this long-awaited occasion took place in Ground Zero after classes concluded on a rally schedule, Oct. 14.
Beginning with "All of the Lights" by Kanye West, the traditional king dance opened the pageant, as each nominee slid onto center stage. In time, the candidates advanced to their own song and dance-solo: Trevor York with "Feeling Good," by Michael Bublé; Tyler Krigbaum with "It's Raining Men," by The Weather Girls; Brady Lee with Old Time Rock and Roll by Bob Seger; Josh Hopper with "DJ Got Us Fallin' in Love," by Usher; and Jeff Roseth with "Shawty Get Loose" by Lil' Mamma. In addition to this, several other group numbers were displayed, featuring a musical selection that included "Baby," by Justin Bieber, "Thriller," by Michael Jackson and "Party Rock Anthem," by LMFAO, among others.
Alumna Bree Ainley, '11,, who provided assistance choreographing for the dance, only spent a few days working everything out. The rest, she says, came from the guys.
"All the boys kind of practiced by themselves; I kind of just told them what to do and they did it," Ainley said. "A lot of it had to do with them practicing on their own, so I'm really proud of them. The boys really put on an A-plus show."
"I think dancing was the best part because we all practiced so much for it -- like hours and hours every night. It went by really fast, but it was so much fun dancing out there with the crowd, the applause and the intensity." --Trevor York, '12
After watching the dance for four years, Roseth said that, though nervous at first, the experience proved to be a memorable one for him.
"The dance is unforgettable, and you only do it once a year, so it's something that everybody looks forward to," Roseth said. "It's just a great experience dancing in front of all these people. I was [nervous], but it was like those nerves you get before a big game, but you get into it then it's great."
Some songs required props and costume changes in addition to routine. In a rendition of the iconic scene from the 1983 film, Risky Business, Lee glided onto the stage in boxers and a dress shirt, microphone in hand. He then proceeded to strum along to a solo on a Rock Band guitar.
"I wanted my dance to be different then how I usually am," Lee said. "I wanted it to be fun and crazy and like an old, home video where you're just dancing around and having a good time. There were a lot of moves that I could do with the song I picked, so that's why I chose it."
Following their routines, the kings were guided through a challenge -- during which they were given two minutes to draw a portrait of their queen -- and questions. This all ultimately led up to the king bash video, a classic piece where candidates answer inquires about their fellow nominees.
"I've always wondered if I was asked the bash questions what I would say," York said. "You think you'd have so much fun and you'd make some serious jokes, but then, when you're actually asked the questions, you like the guys, so you don't want to tear them down too much. But either way it was a lot of fun and I was not insulted by it; it's all fun and games and I know it's not really serious."
After the video, the kings were sent back on stage with their queens, this time for pick-up lines -- a long-established installment of the king pageant. Each candidate was given one shot to capture their queen's attention.
It was at this time that a secret ballot was distributed, as, after all, the king pageant is partially geared towards catching student attention in order for candidates to garner votes. The event concluded with this action.
"I thought it [the pageant] was awesome; it was funny and it was real," junior Rachel Quiring said. "This pageant changed my opinion of who I was going to vote for. More than in past years, each boy showed their own personality in it."
Though this marks the contestants' last king pageant, many saw it as one of the most notable of their high school experiences.
"I think dancing was the best part because we all practiced so much for it -- like hours and hours every night," York said. "It went by really fast, but it was so much fun dancing out there with the crowd, the applause and the intensity and it was fun feeding off all that. It's definitely something I will remember as one of the highlights of high school."
The 27th annual homecoming event will take place on the North Field at 6:45 p.m. Floats will be on display throughout the evening. The homecoming king, queen and princesses will be announced during half-time.
For more information about homecoming, read the Oct. 13 article, Princess nominees endure nauseous challenges (VIDEO) or the Oct. 11 article, Eccentric pageant ignites queen rivalry (VIDEO).
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Posted by "angel rodrigez" on January 30, 2012 at 1:01 a.m.
Super hot guys dancing! I am SSSSSSSSSOOOOOOO transfering schools! LOL :)
Posted by "jason swain" on January 8, 2012 at 1:01 a.m.
This was my first king dance and probably going to be the best. they were all very willing to have fun and not care what people think of them and they were all great people.
Posted by "Bree Ainley" on October 31, 2011 at 1:01 a.m.
See those arms and exciting looking movements going crazy in the front..? Yep that's me. Know why? Cause I was/am soo proud of the boys! They did such a great job, I felt like a proud Mother!
Posted by "Brianna Carlson" on October 21, 2011 at 1:01 a.m.
I love the senior class of 2012!
Great job, boys. I loved the characterization. And the variety of songs. And the way that you all exposed a new side of you. Fresno Christian must be a little more interesting this year... :)
Thanks for posting the video. It was almost like I was there!
Congrats, Brookie and Brady!
Fort Worth, TX
Posted by "Jessica Healy" on October 19, 2011 at 1:01 a.m.
I'm pretty sure I almost died from laughing during the king pageant this year. The guys' dances were amazing, and really brought out each nominee's personality. It's always fun to watch, and the dances get better every year.
Posted by "Rayna Endicott" on October 19, 2011 at 1:01 a.m.
The king pageant was awesome this year! The kings did such a good job! I look forward to the king dance all week and you guys definitely brought it!
Posted by "garrett hill" on October 18, 2011 at 1:01 a.m.
Man i had a great time watching those guys dance! it was amazing, i wasn't expecting them to do that kind of thing you know? but i got to commend them and say great job. p.s: brady's dance made me think of that commercial from 1 or 2 yrs ago
Posted by "Eric Cowin" on October 18, 2011 at 1:01 a.m.
I enjoyed watching the dance, and I look forward to seeing another one next year.
Posted by "Trevor Beal" on October 18, 2011 at 1:01 a.m.
Thee dance was awesome; you guys were so funny.
Posted by "Grant Flammang" on October 18, 2011 at 1:01 a.m.
Brady, you did awesome; it was hilarious watching you dance on stage!
Posted by "Andrew Hindes" on October 18, 2011 at 1:01 a.m.
Awesome job to all the kings, and to Brady Lee for winning. i loved the king dance and it is hard to think how it could be better. Great job.
Posted by "Chris Chon" on October 18, 2011 at 1:01 a.m.
The king dance was a lot of fun and the dances were really funny! This article and the slideshow captures the fun! Great job!
Posted by "Jon Agao" on October 18, 2011 at 1:01 a.m.
I was looking forward to the king dance so much but a cross country meet kept me from going. It sounds like people had a great time.
Posted by "Brie Winchell" on October 18, 2011 at 1:01 a.m.
I love the article. This was such a fun event to see and I can show my parents more details about it on The Feather. This is my first time seeing the king dance. I loved it. Nice job, kings; you're dances were amazing.
Posted by "Andrew Guthrie" on October 18, 2011 at 1:01 a.m.
Wow... This was amazing! I loved the whole homecoming week! Being a freshman, this was my first homecoming i was actually involved in it! Cannot wait until next year!
-Also, great job on the article!
Posted by "Raine Hayes" on October 18, 2011 at 1:01 a.m.
Definitely one of the funniest dances I've seen! It made my day and I can't wait until the videos get posted! Awesome job to all the kings!
Posted by "Clint Wells" on October 18, 2011 at 1:01 a.m.
I look forward to this pretty much every year! Ha ha, I really like that Fresno Christian can do this!
Posted by "Darlene Idsinga" on October 18, 2011 at 1:01 a.m.
I honestly have not laughed that hard as I did at the king pageant. They were all so funny and so into it. Very entertaining. Great job, kings!
Posted by "Katie Barisic" on October 18, 2011 at 1:01 a.m.
This year's king pageant was the best! I loved Brady's dance. All you guys are awesome, and so are the queens and princesses. Homecoming was awesome! Way to go Brady and Brooke! The pictures are great and it is a wonderful article.
Posted by "JP Caprioglio" on October 18, 2011 at 1:01 a.m.
Such a fun event. I hope I get to participate my senior year!
Posted by "Tyler Krigbaum" on October 18, 2011 at 1:01 a.m.
This article was amazing!! And the King Dance was such a success! A huge thanks to Bree Ainley, who put our dances together!
P.S. Darlene Idsinga was the best Queen nominee! ;)
Posted by "Alex Tedeschi" on October 18, 2011 at 1:01 a.m.
The king pageant, is definitely something that myself and many other people look forward to! It was so fun to watch the senior boys dance up there in front of their fellow students. You could tell that they had a lot of fun, and were enjoying it. Good job guys!
Posted by "Jonathan Passmore" on October 18, 2011 at 1:01 a.m.
For the size of our school, we have an amazing percentage of fan support that made the chapel feel as though it would erupt from the cheering. It was intense the moment the lights were dimmed!
Posted by "Chris Grossman" on October 18, 2011 at 1:01 a.m.
Title says it all. That pageant left all the others behind.
Posted by "Victoria Hindes" on October 18, 2011 at 1:01 a.m.
The dance and the rest of the pageant was so much fun to watch! Great job coordinating everything to be awesome!
Posted by "Matthew Jenkins" on October 18, 2011 at 1:01 a.m.
It was really cool and exciting for the kings to dance. I always laugh every year. Great job guys; you did good. I can't wait till next year!
Posted by "McKay Mohun" on October 18, 2011 at 1:01 a.m.
This was the best homecoming week of my life.
Posted by "Jeff Roseth" on October 18, 2011 at 1:01 a.m.
Great article, Nick! I had a great time doing the dance and you did an awesome job of capturing what happened!
Posted by "Taylor Neufeld" on October 18, 2011 at 1:01 a.m.
WOW!
Posted by "Josh Hopper" on October 18, 2011 at 1:01 a.m.
These pictures are so incredible! I'm truly amazed at the quality of these shots! I might frame a few!
P.S. No, TK, MORGAN is the best nominee!
Posted by "Brooke Stobbe" on October 17, 2011 at 1:01 a.m.
I look at these pictures, and I still can't believe that's Brady.... we all saw a whole new side of him that none of us would have ever imagined even existed!!!
Posted by "DeAnna Avery" on October 17, 2011 at 1:01 a.m.
Nick, I thought you did a fantastic job at capturing the fun, team spirit and comradie of this year's senior class! You wove together great quotes, pictures, and descriptions of the events in such a way I felt like I was there!
Posted by "Tynin Fries" on October 17, 2011 at 1:01 a.m.
I had a lot of fun watching the king dance the first time, as well as making the slideshow and remembering how awesome they all did.
I agree with Brooke, Brady surprised us all when he came out in his boxers and sang with a hairbrush!
Good job, Bree, in choreographing the dance; it was epic!
Posted by "Caitlin Gaines" on October 15, 2011 at 1:01 a.m.
This was the most hilarious thing ever! My favorite part was when Josh sang Baby and Tyler started singing "I'll make a man out of you!" from mulan.
SO FUNNY!
Posted by "Aaron DeWolf" on October 15, 2011 at 1:01 a.m.
For my first king pageant...it was awesome! Congrats on the win Brady!
Posted by "Celeste Camacho" on October 15, 2011 at 1:01 a.m.
The king dance was amazing this year! You did a great job depicting what happened, Nick; keep up the good work!
Posted by "Sarah Lim" on October 15, 2011 at 1:01 a.m.
The king dance was awesome this year! Had a blast watching it! And great job on the article, Nick! Keep up the great work!
Posted by "sabrina" on October 15, 2011 at 1:01 a.m.
Great article! The king pageant was great!
Posted by "ileana see" on October 15, 2011 at 1:01 a.m.
I'm soo sad that I missed this years' pageant :( From what I've heard, it was really good. I'm looking forward to next years' though!
Posted by "Mary Hierholzer" on October 15, 2011 at 1:01 a.m.
Nick, thank you so much for taking the time aside to put together this article! I know that it was time-consuming and complex, so you did a great job!
Kings, thank you for making our final king pageant amazing! Your dances and pick-up lines were so much fun to watch. We all thoroughly enjoyed it! Definitely a brilliant final homecoming pageant! You guys are great.
Posted by "Daniel Moore" on October 14, 2011 at 1:01 a.m.
Unfortunately, I wasn't at the pageant due to a cross country meet, but I'm glad that The Feather is covering it so I can still see what happened.
Posted by "Brady Lee" on October 14, 2011 at 1:01 a.m.
Nick, you did an awesome job writing this article. The fact that you wrote it in a few hours is very commendable. Thank you for capturing what happened. It was such a fun event and I had a great time dancing!
Posted by "Sierra Duffy" on November 7, 2012 at 1:04 a.m.
All the kings did an awesome job in the dances! They were so entertaining to watch!