Freshman Crowned 'Mr. Heights 2012'

Move over Miss America. In Hasbrouck Heights there is only one pageant that matters – Mr. Heights.

In front of a packed house Wednesday night, 13 high schoolers vied for the title by wowing all with their talents, sporting their own styles and, of course, showing off their swimsuits.

A tie for the final five resulted in six finalists and after the traditional pageant-styled question and answer session, judges named freshman Anthony Stefanelli “Mr. Heights.”

Nick Delcalzo, middle school vice president, also known as “the original Mr. Heights,” who sported the title on his T-shirt, was special guest host along with students Haleigh Mactemes and Lauren Robertson.

The audience went wild welcoming each contestant as he made an entrance on the arm of a lovely escort. The talent competition began immediately, first with junior Adam Cordova who did a jungle themed dance routine with the help of some friends. Elwinson Miranda, a freshman, followed also doing a dance routine with some help from backup dancers.

Chris Verdi, a sophomore, wowed all as he sang the Backstreet Boys’ “I Want It That Way” and a group of male backup singers and dancers helped out.  James Fitzsimmons, a junior, showed off some strong man weightlifting by demonstrating his strength by bench pressing and lifting some of his friends.  Anthony Stefanelli showed off fancy footwork as part of a group dance routine with friends.

Junior Chris Golio sang “Barbara Ann” coming down into the audience and right up to the judges, even getting teacher Mike Warren to chime in on a chorus. Robert Klenk brought up some 70s nostalgia with a rendition of "YMCA" by the Village People. Matt Sproviero and friends did a “King Tut” song and dance routine.

Freshman Khaled Abdelmegad and friends did some dancing to some Michael Jackson and even some MC Hammer. Kenny Hesse brought out a friend to do a rap medley duet working in pieces of everything and anything from the “Humpty Dance” to some Naughty by Nature, even some DMX, Fresh Prince and Biz Markie.

Tom Pellegrino ran up onto the stage to join his friends in one big dance frenzy. Frank Altamura did a tribute to John Travolta and "Saturday Night Fever" dancing to a BeeGees dance classic. Senior  Mike Pitkowsky did a stand-up comedy routine complete with a guest star Sgt. Joseph Rinke who played an officer in his skit.

While waiting for the judges, made up of teachers, administrators and school staff members, Delcalzo brought audience members up on stage to take part in a dance-off.

The "Mr. Heights" pageant is hosted by The Spirit Club and teacher Barbara Kritzer helps put the event together.

Prior to the pageant, the high school student council hosted a pasta and meatball dinner, a fundraiser for the group's scholarship fund. Student council members were on hand to help serve guests in the cafeteria about two hours before showtime.