February 24 is the night that many Falcons have been waiting and endlessly preparing for. It is the night of Perry’s annual “Mr. Falcon” competition. Each school year Creative Writing Club hosts the competition as a fun way to raise money for printing “The Litmag.”
The mastermind behind “Mr. Falcon” is Jacqui Sheehan. To Sheehan, the event is about fun.
“Someone who doesn’t care about winning, but cares about putting on a good show. Winning isn’t the most important part, doing really well is,” Sheehan said when asked about what makes a good contestant. “People who are super encouraging to other contestants and willing to put it all out there and not be afraid.”
Even before stepping on the stage, the contestants take part in an interview with all of the judges.
“Each contestant comes in and faces the ‘firing squad’ of judges,” Sheehan said. “It’s like a conversation about themselves and their high school experience.” A major part of the rubric is contributions to the school, specifically as a leader.
Every Mr. Falcon candidate is supported by a “Mrs. Falcon” coach. Contestants and coaches work together for almost a month before the competition preparing for the talent show portion of the competition. All of the Falcons and coaches take the stage together to begin the show with a choreographed number. This year’s dance will be to a medley of popular, maybe even Oscar-worthy, tunes.
After their opening dance, each pair is introduced by the emcees as they each make a grand entrance. Their sashay across the stage is the first part of the scoring for stage presence and first impression categories.
Then comes the most anticipated part of the night, the talent show.
Their noteworthy performances are critiqued, not only by the judges, but by the audience too. After a lively display of comedy, dancing or maybe even magic, the audience gets to help select who will win the title of “Mr. Falcon” by casting a vote for who they feel best demonstrates what it means to be a Perry Meridian Falcon. The audience vote is 20% of the final scoring, making every second of the talent portion vitally important.
Once the votes are tallied, the contestants are gathered and the top five competitors are announced. The final category of scoring takes place during the live interview of the finalists. One by one, each person is asked a final question by one of the judges in which their answer could earn them the coveted title.
The driving force behind the evening of fun and camaraderie is finding a student who embodies what it is to be a true Falcon at Perry.
“My ideal ‘Mr. Falcon’ is someone who I feel would be the best spokesperson for Perry Meridian High School to kind of show the world our best and brightest and put our best foot forward,” Ben Tatum, seasoned Mr. Falcon judge, said. “Someone who knows how to take school seriously, someone who knows how to not take themselves too seriously and have fun and who kind of is a nice mixture of those two things.”