Nine boys competed in the annual male beauty pageant trying to win the title of Mr. PHS on Feb. 23.

Many were wondering how the competition would go since the contest usually has twice the amount of competitors that they had this year, but the competition seemed to be just as stiff as usual.

After modeling with their escorts, performing their talents, and going through a Q&A portion, seniors William Pirrie (Mr. Thespian), Josh Royal (Mr. Chamber Choir), and Yohanes Mulat (Mr. AAA) were chosen as the judge’s final three. They were subjected to more questions that they had to answer

After short deliberation amongst judges Ms. Jessica Dalton, Ms. Jacqueline Saxton, and Ms. Andrea Eagle, senior Yohanes Mulat was chosen as 2018’s winner.

His talent “Evolution of Dance” in which he covered multiple different dance fads over various decades was a highlight for many in the audience. He credits chemistry teacher Mr. Christian Dornhoefer for giving him the idea, that he was able to perfect himself.

“Choosing my first song in the mix to actually finishing it, took about two weeks since I was pretty occupied with doing the black history program at the same time.”

Many onlookers felt as if he sealed the deal to his win through his answers in the Q&A session. One of the questions was “If you could be any color, what would you be” to which Mr. African American Achievers replied, “Black, because black is beautiful.”

He admits, “If there was a hard question, I would have wanted to put it back and pick up another one. I, luckily, got some good questions. It felt like it was set up for me in a way; I thank the hosts for picking the perfect questions for me.”

Mulat, who is also the senior class president and plans on attending Washington University in the fall, gets two free prom tickets, the crown, the “Mr. PHS” sash, and eternal bragging rights for his victory.