Impressing judges with his performance, senior Isaac Cortez was selected as Diamond Bar High School’s “Big Man” last Friday. Twelve other seniors competed in the annual Big Man on Campus event, showcasing their talents to woo the audience and win the title.
Judges Emily Clark, Shari DeCambra, and Matthew Brummett followed a three criteria section—introduction and formal wear, individual’s talent, and best pickup line—to determine the winner. The judges also rated the competitors by their confidence and self-portrayal, and quality of performance.

“I think everyone did a great job. I’m pretty sure all of them put a lot of hard work into each one and I respect them all for that,” Big Man Champion Cortez said.

Beginning with the introduction, USB read off a short description of each contestant to the audience. Several of the introductions included hashtags that the seniors used to represent themselves. Each individual competitor also gave shout outs to several groups or individuals in the audience.

The next part of the competition exhibited each competitor’s talent. Some gave the crowd a big laugh such as Lukas Ozaeta’s bird calling talent while Cortez wooed the audience with his rendition of “Your Man.”

“[The performances] were pretty great. They did really well in that they already knew what was going on and they were totally prepared for everything,” Commissioner of Social Activities Ian Chang said.

After the main performances, each competitor said a pickup line. Cortez ran off the stage to Clark and sat on her lap. He took out his cellphone, quickly took a selfie, and said “I just wanted to show Santa a picture of who I want for Christmas.” Everyone, including the other competitors, applauded him for his well-thought out pickup line.

To wrap it all up, the final performance was a collaboration of all the seniors dancing to “Shake it Off,” by Taylor Swift.

“I think all of the guys really put some effort into competing against each other and also getting a lot of fun out of the event, they all looked like they enjoyed themselves and the audience obviously enjoyed it as well,” Clark stated.