Cheer and excitement were in the air during the Inter-Residence Council’s pageant, IRC’s Finest, last week at Central Connecticut State University.

Held in Alumni Hall, this was the first ever IRC’s Finest after being rebranded from Mr. CCSU. The event had a  Disney theme, with the contestants dressing up as various characters from beloved movies. Many people came to the event, including friends and family of the contestants, to cheer them on.

Five people from the IRC competed in the event: Ian Gracia, Liam DeLaney, Angelo Delgado, Gabe Barboza, and Lincy Valeta. At the beginning of the event, all the contestants came onstage to perform a dance to Rascal Flatts’ “Life is a Highway” as a homage to Pixar’s “Cars” franchise. Everyone in the audience whooped and cheered for them before they exited to get into costume.

Before every contestant performed, they each had a promotional video shown to convince the panel of judges why they deserved to win. The videos were all very silly and comical, making the audience laugh. It was great to see that the contest was so light-hearted and everyone was doing it all in good fun.

Barboza was first to perform and came onstage dressed as Prince Eric from “The Little Mermaid.” Befitting his costume, Barboza sang “Under the Sea” for his performance. DeLaney was up next in costume as Flynn Rider from “Tangled.” DeLaney performed a quick yet witty comedy sketch that had the audience roaring with laughter. Valeta dressed as Mirabel from “Encanto” and delivered a beautiful rendition of “I Dreamed a Dream” from the musical “Les Misérables.”

Delgado was dressed as Russel from “Up” and brought back the comedy with a goofy magic trick that involved audience participation. Fellow contestant Gracia was selected as a participant and had another audience member’s selected card on him. Gracia was the Genie from “Aladdin” and gave a delightful performance on the saxophone.

Everyone gave it their all and clearly had a good time doing so. All the performances were a delight to watch, and the audience enjoyed them immensely, applauding and cheering for all the participants.

While the judges were deliberating a winner, two raffles were held, with several people winning prizes.

At the end of the deliberations, Valeta was crowned the winner of IRC’s Finest, with Gracia and Barboza taking second and third, respectively.

After the pageant concluded, the attendees and contestants piled into Semesters for the afterparty, which functioned as the week’s Devil’s Den at 10.

Giulianna Hernandez said that she found the event to be fun to watch.

“It is pretty cute,” Hernandez said. “Everyone was having fun. It’s a really funny time.”

Matthew Krajewski said he found the event well-curated and organized.

“A lot of thought and heart was put into it by the performers, and you could tell that,” Krajewski said.

Barboza said that performing in the pageant was a lot of fun.

“It was a little nerve-wracking, but that’s to be expected,” Barboza said.

Barboza said that he enjoyed the other contestants’ performances as well.

“That was my favorite part,” Barboza said. “Just watching the others and their talents.”

Valeta said she also liked the performing part of the event.

“It was relaxing,” Valeta said. “I’m used to performing, so it was pretty easy.”

Valeta said that she was really happy that she was able to win IRC’s Finest.

“It feels good to win,” Valeta said. “I feel validated in my ability to perform in front of others.”