Captain Planet crowned Mr. Eastern

On the night of Nov. 20, at about 7:50 p.m., an eager crowd gathered outside the Walton Dining Commons. Why? In ten minutes, the Mr. Eastern 2008 competition would begin, and people were eager to see these gentlemen strut their stuff.

Mr. Eastern was sponsored by SGA and the contestants were sophomores Jason Collier, Jon Hodge and Mike Montgomery, junior Mike Miles and seniors Robert Hornak and Drew Krupp. The audience was all abuzz waiting for the competition to begin. Juniors Janice Liberty and Alyssa Miller, hostesses for the night, introduced the judges: Bettie Ann Brigham; Sodexo’s Eileen; last year’s Miss Eastern, junior Bethany Skinner, and last year’s Homecoming King and Mr. Eastern, Mike Skinner.

Liberty and Miller then stoked up the already excited crowd by asking, “Who’s going to win?” The resounding replies were unintelligible, as it seemed that each of the contestants had avid supporters.

As the contestants were announced, each walked up the aisle with a lovely lady (or two, in the case of Hornak) on his arm, except for Krupp, who was carried in a chair by four friends.

The competition began with a new addition: a fitness section. Some of the routines included the use of a Wii-mote, a volleyball and martial arts moves. The lip-syncing section saw Hodge with a keyboard, Hornak with a Guitar Hero guitar, Miles with friends in colorful get-ups, Krupp in spandex as Captain Planet, Collier on a bicycle and Montgomery prancing in a lacy skirt.

The talent section proved to be the real meat of the competition. Hodge entertained with his comedic flair. Hornak played guitar and sang a Damien Rice song. Miles preached an Eastern twist on the Good Samaritan parable. Krupp performed some yoga. For Collier’s routine, he called out for angels. Literally, he called out some friends from the Angels of Harmony to accompany him on an original and soulful praise song. Montgomery performed a Switchfoot song with a band.

The “Whose Line” section had the audience in stitches with the ridiculous situations and the resulting improvisational acting by the contestants. The Q&A Section was last. Each contestant was asked a question with thirty seconds to answer. When that was over, the judges deliberated, and a winner was chosen.

Miles was the runner-up, and Krupp was crowned Mr. Eastern 2008. “I’ll be back next year,” Miles said of being runner-up. He said that it felt good to get out there and get out of his comfort zone. Krupp’s older brother won Mr. Eastern some years back. “I had a great time. I wanted to keep it in the family,” Krupp said of winning. He mentioned that wearing spandex was nice too.