On Nov. 13, NYU Shanghai held the inaugural Shanghai Phenomenon competition, which aimed to raise both money and awareness for the Deans’ Service Scholars Program. The competition incorporated the traditional format of a beauty pageant, but became a lot more than just looks and appearances. The event was all about giving the audience a good time through humor. Freshman Ryan Friedman took home first prize, after surprising the audience and rapping about life at NYU Shanghai. Sophomore Meizhi Ng won second place and Adan Kohnhorst, the sole study away contestant, came in third. The show was split into three main segments: an opening dance, a talent portion, and an interview section. Following the interviews, the winners of the raffle and the top three contestants were announced. In addition to the winning competitors, Ricardo Rodríguez won Mr. Congeniality for raising the most money for the DSS Program during the Penny Wars in the week leading up to the show. During the show, contestants brought a wide range of talents to the table. Sophomore Natalie Todd sang a rendition of the comedic song “Taylor the Latte Boy”, while Freshman Susan Shi read an original poem about the life of a Foundations of Science student whilst playing a traditional Chinese instrument. Dancing was also popular this year amongst the contestants, as the audience was treated to four original dances by participants. However, the cherry on top was Ryan Friedman’s performance. “I wrote a rap because I am, number one, not talented in anything besides writing to some degree, and two, I was listening to Wu Tang [Clan] at the time.” He went on to comment that whilst the competition involved a lot of preparation, it was “super fun,” and that “the people in the crowd were super supportive and nice and all of the contestants cheered for each other.” Contestants for the event were nominated by Resident Assistants, though not all of the nominated individuals chose to participate. Resident Assistant Roxanne Roman thought it was important that each contestant showed confidence and charisma, and that’s why she chose Ryan as the representative for the 11th floor. “I couldn’t be happier or more proud of Ryan, and I’m supremely pleased that others were also able to see how great he is.” With prizes for contestants and enough free food for all those in attendance, it is no surprise that the event was well received. On top of the gifts distributed to all, there were a number of raffle giveaways, with all members of the NYUSH community able to participate, regardless of whether they were students or GAFs, portal students or study aways.

This article was written by Kadallah Burrowes. Send an email to [email protected] to get in touch. Photo Credit: Zhang Zhan