The Smoke Signal

MSJTV’s Live Coverage

By: Leah Feuerman

At 4:15 PM, the relayers enjoyed a performance by Seniors Shivani Ariathurai and Ciara Lunger. They sang a mash-up of “Rocketeer”, “Paparazzi”, “Thinking About You”, “Somewhere Only We Know”, and “Suit and Tie” accompanied by Senior Victor Viramontes on the ukelele.

By 5:15 PM, Relay For Life’s first Mr. Relay male pageant began. The pageant kicked off with a rendition of “Safe and Sound” performed by Senior Lucy Shen. Afterwards, 11 members from various groups participated in the first round, a catwalk, from which the Relay for Life student judges chose six quarterfinalists: Eighth-grader Tanish Ambulkar; Freshmen Chaz Nagata, John Wang, and Sougat Pradhan; Sophomore Mohan Saxena, and Senior Brian Chen.

In the second round each contestant shared a unique talent with the crowd. Chen started the round with a hulu dance, followed later by a hip-hop dance by Nagata, and a martial arts demonstration by Pradhan. Chen, Nagata, and Pradhan each moved on to the semi-finals, where they appealed to the audience by describing their perfect date night. After a quick decision from the judges, Chen and Pradhan were chosen as finalists.

The final round gave both contestants 10 minutes to raise as much money as possible for the Relay for Life cause. Pradhan raised $11, and Chen raised $48, crowning him the first winner of Mr. Relay.

At 7:00 PM Sophomores Justin Seo and Ricky Chu played guitar to the song “Break Your Little Heart”. Later they were followed by Sophomore Sandhya Chari singing “Rolling in the Deep.”

Photos: Shirby Wang