We have Mr. College of Charleston every year, and the important thing to remember with a male pageant is to keep it lighthearted and fun. First, we open it up to all campus orgs, not just Greeks. We usually get a local band to play during intermissions and between parts of the pageant. We have a formal wear competition with tuxes donated by Gingiss. We have swimwear with board shorts donated by Quicksilver, but every year there's some guy who thinks it's really funny to come out in Speedos.
We have a Q&A section, but the questions are funny - not like "How would you solve the illiteracy problems in America?" Fun ones have been "if you could be any cartoon character, what would you be?" etc. We call our talent competition the "Lack of Talent Competition." Some guys come out and sing or play an instrument. Some guys recite original poetry. But most are ridiculous. One year a guy sang a song about Winny the Pooh. One guy did an American Pie-esque strip tease. One guy took a pitchfork and threw hay all over the stage (hey, this is south carolina). Another guy chugged 2 cans of root beer while his fraternity brothers did drinking cheers in the audience. Overall, it's just supposed to be funny. We also get a local TV news personality to MC, but remind them that they don't have to be all serious. We had one anchorwoman sport club pants and a leopard print cowboy hat, and she cracked jokes the entire time. And usually if you do that, they'll include something about the pageant on the 11 o'clock news - good FREE PR!
Another good thing to consider, if you're making a t-shirt for the event, make sure it's something that both guys and girls will want to wear. Like pink might not be the best color, ya know?
Moneywise, we charge a $25 entrance fee, and $3 for advanced tix and $5 at the door. We get local businesses to donate either money or prizes. The biggest donors go on the t-shirt, so it's free advertising for them. The prizes are included in the prize packets for the winners, and the rest are used for door prize raffles. We sell raffle tickets at the door for $1 each and announce winners from the audience throughout the pageant.
Our first place winner gets free modeling classes at Millie Lewis (I think one of the sisters has connections there or something). One of the judges is always the lady who runs MIllie Lewis here. One of our past winners, after attending the modeling classes, actually got "discovered" and is now out in Hollywood pursuing an acting career....all thanks to Zeta *sigh*
Good luck with you pageant! It's a great fundraiser and a lot of fun! Let us know how it goes. (BTW, my mom went to Clarion!)
