The first Mr. Flash pageant took place in the KIVA Thursday night in front of a lively crowd.

The event was so successful the KIVA was fully packed and students had to be turned away at the door.

The competition featured 12 students, representing 12 different Kent State organizations, in five rounds: men’s formalwear, celebrity impersonations, swimwear, talent and questions.

Each competitor walked down the aisle to center stage in their formalwear and introduced themselves to an enthusiastic crowd, but that was only the beginning.

Competitor Vince Dangerfield, representing Sigma Alpha Epsilon, flexed his muscles and gave his best Hulk Hogan impersonation.

Tyler Dodley, representing Sigma Gamma Rho, gave his best Diddy impersonation and free styled on the piano during the talent round.

Laurent Che, representing Modista, took the stage as the ‘King of Pop’ and showed his dance moves as Michael Jackson.

Stephen Fischer, representing the athlete advisory committee, made the crowd laugh with his best Borat impersonation.

At the end of the competition two awards were given: Mr. Flash and Mr. Congeniality.

Michael Stover, representing the Any Form of Expression organization, won Mr. Congeniality with his rapping, dancing and Rick Ross impersonation.

“It feels good,” Stover said. “I’m going to have to go home and find out what [Mr. Congeniality] means though.”

The title of the first Mr. Flash belongs to Joseph Cancelliere, representing Campaign for Change, who appeared in goggles and a swim cap during the swimwear round and got the cloud clapping to the Rebecca Black song ‘Friday.’

“It feels pretty awesome,” Cancelliere said. “This is definitely for our whole organization. I’m going to celebrate with homecoming activities and then get back to studying.”

Ephraim Butler, sophomore communications studies major, said the event was fun.

“The talent competition stood out to me,” Butler said.

Evan Gildenblatt, executive director of the Undergraduate Student Government, said he loved the enthusiasm the competitors showed.

“It was great,” Gildenblatt said. “We had an overflowing crowd and so much excitement. We had wonderful contestants, who are great guys, and showed their Kent State pride. I’m hoping this is the first of many Mr. Flash pageants.”

Contact Matt Orsagz at [email protected].