By MICHELLE ADAMS / Community Columnist  

“Did you see his dress?” “He was so funny on stage!” “Wow! His make-up looked too good!”

In just a few responses to the first-ever womanless beauty pageant, students describe the hilarity of such an event.

The Bulldog Beauty Pageant, a fundraiser for the mass communications class, was held last Thursday in Montevallo High School’s Performing Arts Center.

Unlike the serious and competitive nature of a typical beauty pageant, this event was meant to be funny, giving young men the opportunity to experience the beauty rituals of pageant contestants worldwide.

“While preparing for the upcoming Montevallo Day of Pageants, students thought it would be comedic to have a parody event as a fundraiser,” History and Mass Communications teacher Jennifer Turner said.

Each male contestant had a female student sponsor him to help him get ready for the pageant, providing a dress and make-up and even giving the contestant a stage name.

“This was an entertaining night,” senior contestant Jose Menjivar said. “I can now say I know what it’s like for a woman to get ready in the morning, and I have a higher respect for what women do every day. I had a fun time and am glad everyone in the audience got a good laugh.”

This year’s event was just a beauty walk, but if this becomes a tradition, the pageant may add a talent category.

Contestants were judged on personality, confidence, appearance, posture and overall impression. First place, the “Bulldog Beauty,” was awarded to junior Xavier Powell, first alternate was freshman Demetrius Smith and second alternate went to junior Blake Smith.

“At first, there was hesitation to participate, but a lot of our girls wanted to see their friends dressed up and on stage, so they recruited their guy friends to help us raise money. We ended up with 20 contestants, which is a great turn-out for our first time to offer this event,” Turner said.

The money raised goes to help fund a trip to New York for the mass communications class.

This class, which produces the news broadcast for the school, will be attending Columbia University’s journalism workshop, hosted by the Columbia Scholastic Press Association.

The workshop provides students the opportunity to meet other aspiring journalists from around the country and learn the latest trends and developments in journalism and news broadcasting.