From blowing bubbles to beatboxing, thirteen senior boys demonstrated their talents Saturday night at Mr. Whitman. In the end, senior Nikhil Gupta was crowned Mr. Whitman 2011 for his hilarious teacher impersonations.

Mr. Whitman is an annual spoof on a beauty pageant, where one winner is chosen based on his talent and answers to questions. A panel comprised of English teacher Prudence Crewdson, social studies teacher Greg Herbert and Mr. Whitman 2010 Sam Lilek judged the show. All proceeds from ticket sales went to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

At the beginning of the show, the Mr. Whitman candidates, outfitted in pink T-shirts, jumped out on stage to Britney Spears’ “Toxic.” The fast paced dance, choreographed by Poms captain Alexa Ciesinski, featured the boys dancing to a collection of songs, including “All I Do is Win” by DJ Khaled and “Bye Bye Bye” by N’Sync.

The candidates then demonstrated their individual talents, which ranged from senior Adam Polis’ trumpet rendition of the Circle of Life to senior Neill Robertson’s comedic slideshow of his life  and senior Tony Atkinson’s demonstration of his cooking prowess, when he made the Dr. Goodwich, a giant fried sandwich made of pizza, burritos, bacon and cheese. Gupta won the competition by taking the audience on a tour of his typical school day and imitating various teachers.

After the talent stage, only eight boys could advance to the semifinals. Emcees Rachel Norris and Jamie Norwood asked each boy a predetermined question.

After a brief question and answer period, the field was narrowed down to three finalists: Gupta, Robertson and senior John An. They were asked the secret question, “What piece of advice would you give to a potential Mr. Whitman candidate?”

“When you’re trying for Mr. Whitman, don’t aim for the title,” Gupta said. “Just try to live for the experience.”

Eventually, Gupta was named Mr. Whitman 2011. Gupta, a crowd favorite, stood up in happiness as the crowd roared. Polis was named Mr. Congeniality, an award all candidates vote for.

“Even though there were a couple technical problems, it was really good,” senior Michael Fratt said. “It was really fun to go to as a senior.”