Mr. Annandale 2016

Annandale High School’s annual Mr. Annandale show took place last Friday, Feb. 26, was . Mr. Annandale brings together various juniors and seniors to compete against each other in an event showcasing their talents.

This year’s brought the likes of seniors Abdulahi Abdalla, Seham Ahmed, Shaheer Akhtar, Nana Forson, Chris Han, Tucker Mack, Gabe Martino, David Park, Ananda Poudel, Jashon Reams, Alhassan Sesay, Raphael Yu and junior Saad Farooq. The participants were judged upon their performance in a total of five categories: Mr. Elegance, Mr. Talent, Mr. Muscle, Mr. Spirit and Mr. Intelligence. Akhtar won in the first category, Mr. Elegance, in which he presented himself in a blue suit with a black bowtie. His escort, Edenia Benitez, complimented his black details with her black dress and followed by asking him to this year’s Sadie Hawkin’s dance.

Park won in the category of Mr. Talent by initially bringing out weights then shocking the crowd with his violin skills. He opened with a more sentimental Adele’s “Someone Like You” and closed with Drake’s “Hotline Bling”.

“It was impressive seeing David play because I know it took a lot of skill,” sophomore Tiana Reams said. “Hotline bling really caught my attention as well as everyone around me.”

Han won in the category of Mr. Muscle for his choreographed workout routine. The routine featured Han leading the routine with seniors Jeanine Barakat, Thida Pathammavong, Kadijah Sesay and Maria Suarez as background performers.

“I thought Chris Han’s dance routine was very creative and different,” junior Tehya Moss said. “I haven’t seen something like that done in past years.”

Reams won in the category of Mr. Spirit after coming out dressed as a cheerleader with Akhtar. They threw out shirts into the crowd with Reams’ face on them.

Forson won in the category of Mr. Intelligence after being picked out of the top five contestants. He was posed with the question “Would you rather be good looking and dumb or ugly and smart?”. Ahmed won in the category of Fan Favorite for his overall connection with the crowd.

“Everyone did really well in each category,” junior Gabriela Jordan said. “it was really cool and you could tell the contestants put in a lot of work.”

At the end of it all, the title of this year’s Mr. Annandale was given to Sesay for his excellent performances in each category. “It felt satisfying to hear my name called,” Sesay said. “All the stress it took to go through the process.” Sesay danced to songs such as Tory Lanez’s “Say It”.

“It really took confidence to go on stage and be myself and to please the crowd,” Sesay said.