With flashing lights, the quick heavy thud of boys’ feet racing around, and the strong power voices carry, Mr. Norristown is an event that holds a special place in the hearts of seniors. It is here our seniors have had the night to express themselves in ways free, or not, of embarrassment and judgement. Produced by the Blue and White Society and hosted by Zoey Alvarado and Ian Rosen, Mr. Norristown 2026 truly reached the audience, as well as the judges, with deep, emotional, and exciting performances.
The event consists of six segments: fashion, formal wear, casual wear, swimwear, the talent portion, and finally the Q&A.
Around 7:10 p.m. as the audience was fully seated, Mr. Norristown contestant Evan Bartlett began the event. He introduced the remaining ten contestants, and as he finished, music, lights, and cheer filled the auditorium. Suddenly, there were men running up to the stage from all parts of the room, and just like that, songs from multiple decades took over the ears of everyone in the audience.
The sight of funky, unrhythmical dancing brought everything together messily. Though the fashion category made up for that messiness with astonishing, fly, composed outfits.
In the formal wear category, there is a big theme of love. Whether it’s Michael Flynn in his elegant suit escorted by his most cherished teacher or even Jalen Traylor in his sleek black tux and sunglasses escorted by his guard, Eddie Baldwin, being crowded with paparazzi. However, the biggest appearance of love comes with Evan Bartlett in a stunning blue suit and his mother (and Blue and White advisor) Kate Bartlett in a matching blue dress escorting him down the stage. All of these moments of love were different, but no matter how different they were, it brought a deep, meaningful feeling to this event.
The casual wear section brings the right amount of opportunity to show off the differences in everyone’s daily style. The swimwear section, on the other hand, brings out humour, as Jalen Traylor is scuba-ing shirtless in a straw beach hat with a rubber duck while Jaden Pullman is taking off his shirt to reveal the colorful bikini top that does not match his favorite blue and white swim trunks.
So much energy filled the room during the talent portion. People chanted for “Mr. Aura” and people sang along to Brandon Purdy’s “Party in The USA” performance.
Michael Flynn started off powerfully with an attention grabbing performance with the shredding he did on his electric guitar and the singing of “New Dawn Fades” by Joy Division, with the help from his bass player Lucas Longenburg, drummer Brandon Purdy, and other electric guitarist David Baranowski.
Dario Rojas Zurita followed this performance with the playing of “Entry of the Gladiators” on his trombone, then quickly switching to a puppet show with his beloved Kermit the Frog. Rojas sang “The Rainbow Connection” by Kermit the Frog with six of his friends in rainbow colored shirts as his background dancers swung their hands side to side in unison. The stage was adorned with eye-catching decorations and bubbles surrounding the stage.
Next up was Kymeer Wilkerson, who lip-synced to the song “Risk it All” by Bruno Mars as he salsa danced with Jessica Tellez. That’s not where the show stopped though, because suddenly “America has a Problem” by Beyonce came on, and Wilkerson was on stage with three of his close friends. They pulled out their best dance moves, put on an amazing show, and used this time to spread I.C.E awareness. Not many people have the platform to stand up for our Latino population, but Wilkerson did and used it meaningfully.
Alex Armas brought out his guitar, beginning with the classic Argentinian rock song “Francés Limón” by Los Enanitos Verdes, where he not only was jamming on his guitar but bringing out the deep vocals. His voice came out especially in the second song “Hotel California” by The Eagles. By the end of this performance, the auditorium was filled with cheers so loud, it nearly muffled the sound of his guitar.
The next performance had the crowd cheering before it even started. As many teenagers fight through insecurities everyday, Traylor took this opportunity up on stage to bring awareness to the fact that insecurities are always able to be overcome. He began with singing the song “Dark Red” by Steve Lacy, followed by the song “Television/So Far So Good” by Rex Orange County. Mixed with the baritone voice of Traylor, these songs let out drove the crowd crazy.
David Broome walked onto the stage already singing. He sang the song “My Way” by Frank Sinatra with two of his friends in the back, slow dancing. As Broome’s gone through many trials throughout his life, he took this song as a chance to show off his self-determination and that surprising vocal range. With the power from his voice, the crowd was singing along before his performance was even over.
Coming up next is the “dancing man” Kevin Montes Torres grooving with five of his dearest friends. They performed a high-energy choreographed dance to a Tyler, the Creator “Don’t Tap the Glass” medley, while everyone but Montes himself was painted in rainbow colors. At the end of “Big Poe,” the dancers came out with baskets of glowsticks for the crowd. You could really tell Montes was having fun.
With his best friends backing him up, David Baranowski started off singing the song “Everlong” by Foo Fighters. He then began to shred his electric guitar and rock on to “Killing in the Name” by Rage Against the Machine, where he protested against police violence, played in the act by Jaden Pullman, while blue and red lights flashed all over the stage.
Now a party sounds good, especially to Evan Bartlett and his Beastie Boys consisting of Brandon Purdy, and Gavin Kunicki. With D.J. Eddie Baldwin almost stealing the show, the Beastie Boys rapped the night away with “Aliens” soon after taking over the stage. Continuing the performance, Baranowski came out shredding his guitar once again, getting chased off the stage as Bartlett and his boys came back out finishing off another amazing performance with more rapping, then getting arrested.
With the help of the NAHS marching band Brandon Purdy started the party right back up playing “NFL on Fox” with an outstanding drum solo to finish it off, and as before, Pullman came back and took him. The band continued the performance until Purdy came back with a loop pedal on his guitar playing the song “Party in The USA” as the crowd took over the vocals.
Jaden Pullman was “Walking on Sunshine” with the last performance of the night, he gave an important message: no matter what kind of person you are, mentally or physically, you are still a person. He performed three songs with the help of his friends. He then belted multiple show tunes with his own protest flags. Pullman’s performance was heartwarming, his vocals left a lasting impression on the crowd.
Every performance highlighted the effort and originality that proved how much work went into them.
As the top five contestants, Traylor, Bartlett, Armas, Purdy and Pullman, were standing on stage, everyone’s heart was beating out of their chests. The crowning of Mr. Norristown was about to happen–but not until after Sabor Latino took the stage with a series of astoundingly choreographed dances.
This far into the show, the energy was still higher than ever. Then the announcement started. Brandon Purdy was named runner-up, but in the final moments, Jaden Pullman was crowned the 2026 Mr. Norristown. The audience went crazy, and every cast member rushed the stage to crowd Pullman with praise as they carried him down the stage. It was the best way to close out the night.
