12
FEBRUARY 2013
fellowship
Crowning
the
Next
“
Mr.CKI
By the end of the night,
everyone could tell that
choosing Mr. CKI 2013
was going to be a tough
decision to make.
Connie Phan
UC Irvine
Twelve Greek gods from all over Southern California
stood in the shadows of the colosseum, waiting for
their battle to begin--the battle they’ve been training
three long and relentless weeks for. Who would be
the ultimate Greek god? Who would be crowned Mr.
CKI 2013? Which one of these divine and almighty men
would bring home the glory and honor to their family?
The crowd waited patiently and finally, at 6:30p.m.,
one by one, the gods, adorned in their silk togas and laurel head wreaths, walked down the aisles of the room,
entering the arena. For the next 4 hours, this would be
their battlefield.
This competition consisted of three parts. First, each
contestant had to emulate the god they thought they
most closely depicted. Along with their togas, they also
had a prop or two that they modeled as they cat-walked
across the stage. Just to name a few…there was Aros
with his enchanting bow and arrow. Hermes with his
metallic winged sandals. Poseidon with his dashing trident. Helios with his scintillating sun. In addition to their
props, each also came up with a clever introduction for
themselves. “Helios… god of the sun—he could melt
the earth, but he would rather melt your heart.” “Apollo, god of music.. he could strum his harp, but he would
rather strum your heartstrings.”
The next portion of the competition required each
of the contestants to demonstrate his talent. Perhaps
the most essential component of this battle, this would
definitely give the contestants an opportunity to set
themselves apart from the rest. Every god had interesting and unique talents, ranging from using mental
strength to rip phonebooks in half to swallowing two
spoonfuls of cinnamon without water. Some talents
had the crowd swooned. Once when the ever so charming Aros sang an acoustic love medley. Or when Hermes
stepped off the stage and into the crowd to find his wife
and dedicate a rap/song/spoken word to her.
The last and possibly the most challenging part of
the battle was the interview. Separated into groups of
three, the twelve gods had to answer a series of questions. This portion helped demonstrate to the judges
each contestant’s ability to think on their feet.
By the end of the night, everyone could tell that
choosing Mr.CKI 2013 was going to be a tough deci-