On Friday, February 23, 12 senior boys got ready to take the stage in the Eitel Theater after countless weeks of preparation for one of the most looked-forward-to events of the school year.

Kingsway Live is an annual event in which 12 Kingsway senior boys get voted for by the student body to see who comes out on top after a night of lip-sync battles, escort dances, and more.

This year’s Kingsway Live boys were Ian Farls (Mr. January), Thomas Popoff (Mr. February), Thomas Bui (Mr. March), Michael Tracy (Mr. April), Ian Monteith (Mr. May), Jacob Hamaty (Mr. June), Robert Scott (Mr. July), Benjamin Jacobs (Mr. August), Dillon Dukes (Mr. September), Harrison LaBarbera (Mr. October), Demarcus Rogers (Mr. November) and James Legg (Mr. December). Escorts included Morgan Rambler, Milan Quiones, Margaret Shableski, Grace Bowman, Rylie MacFarland, Madeline Hicks, Dakota Goraj, Ava Spicer, Alyssa Endres, Morgan Meloy, Catherine Woody and Luke Legg, respectively.

Judging the competition were teachers Mr. Carey, Mrs. Carpenter, Mrs. Fiorentino, Mr. Coller, Mr. Laverty, Mrs. Reynolds, Mr. Schaffer, Mr. Stanton and Mrs. Young.

Each boy spent the week leading up to Kingsway Live competing in Penny Wars to collect donations for their charity of choice. Ben Jacobs, the winner of Penny Wars, chose Maya’s Magical Mission, Rayna Dadhania’s charity. The boys collected over $890.

The night began with a themed video introducing each of the boys while they prepared to make their entrance onstage. This year’s theme was detention. The fun video showed a clip of how each boy received detention and then came to Kingsway Live.

Following the video was an exciting group dance performance done by all the boys, who each got introduced separately afterward. Hosts Ava Paoletti, Mia Bucs, Milani Parikh and Anjuli Nair introduced the contestants, who each wore a costume and danced to music relating to their month.

One of the most highly-anticipated parts of the contest, the Lip-Sync Battle, came next. Each team of two boys danced their hearts out to a different song, including Moves Like Jagger, Big Time Rush, and I Will Survive.

After a brief intermission, the boys returned to the stage with their escorts in competition for the best “Strut,” which was followed by the “Formal Questions” segment of the show. Each boy was asked a randomly selected question about themselves and why they chose the charity they chose.

A tribute video to the 12 boys showing baby pictures and behind-the-scenes moments closed out the night, as well as a mom dance and an escort group dance.

Ben Jacobs received the Biggest Heart Award for raising the most money. Jacob Hamaty took the People’s Choice Award. Ian Monteith and DeMarcus Rogers won Best Lip Sync. Dillon Dukes and Alyssa Endres took Best Strut. James Legg and Robert Scott received first runner-up and second runner-up, respectively.

At the very end of the show, the King of Kingsway was finally announced. Congratulations again, Jacob!