Mr. USA

Off the runway, ladies, Mr. USA is on the way
Jessica Heslam By Jessica Heslam

Boston Herald Media Reporter
Reporter Jessica Heslam covers the media for the Boston Herald.

Photo by Courtesy

Jake Hill of Plymouth made it to the top 10 in last year’s Mister Universe pageant.

There he is, Mr. USA.
A Milton man is determined to bring the first-ever all-testosterone Mister USA pageant right here to Boston.
Who says sashes and swimsuit competitions are just for women?
“It’s the male equivalent of Miss USA. I’m looking for a role model for men,” said pageant organizer Rafa Delfin, 47. “It’s very rare to have a male beauty pageant in America. Male beauty pageants are very big in Latin America.”
Delfin, a communications consultant for Verizon, is conducting a nationwide search for male contestants. He’s also the director of Critical Beauty, a Boston-based pageant news site and pageant consulting firm.
So far, he has four contenders and is hoping for a dozen.
And yes, there will be a swimsuit competition as well as a formalwear contest and interview.
The winner will compete at Mister International in Taiwan in September. The deadline to apply for Mister USA 2008 is June 10.
While Delfin said though the title has been around for some time, this will be the first Mister USA pageant. His company took over Mister USA a few years ago and it’s not associated with Donald Trump’s Miss USA.
Delfin himself handpicked last year’s Mister USA - Jake Hill, 24, of Plymouth - who placed among the top 10 at the Mister International 2007 pageant in Kuching, Malaysia. Hill will had over the sash and be a judge at this year’s Mister USA contest.
“It was awesome,” Hill said of his pageant experience. “It was an opportunity of a lifetime just to be able to travel over there.”
Contestants must be between the ages of 21 and 30, at least 5-foot, 9-inches tall and have a “handsome face, well-toned body, pleasant personality and good manners.” They can’t be married or have children and must be a natural born man.
Delfin, who has been watching Miss Universe and Miss America since he was a kid, wants Mister USA to someday win the international crown. The Mister USA pageant is set for 7 p.m. Aug. 17 at Estate nightclub in Boston. For more information visit http://www.misterusa.criticalbeauty.com/Become-Mr-USA.html.

jheslam@bostonherald.com
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