The grand finals of the 22nd Street – Street Bodies Competition was held on November 15, 2007 at the Las Pinas Branch of the 22nd Street Comedy Bar. It was the culmination of the year-long search for the best male and female models to represent 22nd Street. 19 pairs of models walked the ramp in ravewear, sleepwear and swimwear to showcase their best assets in the said competition. Notable celebrities who graced the occasion were Chokoleit, Aleck Bovick, Maria Isabel Lopez, Jobert Sucaldito, Maryo J. delos Reyes, Paolo Serrano, Ynez Veneracion, and Mr. Boy Abunda. Also present during that night’s pageant was 22nd Street owner Mon Confiado, together with his sister and brother-in-law who happen to be his partners in the comedy bar venture. The show was hosted by comedienne and Pokwang-lookalike, Rubi-rubi.

I was at the venue at 10 o’clock in the evening and hurriedly paid the entrance fee to get the best seat for taking pictures. But despite being there early, the place was already jampacked with guests awaiting the main event and I just had to settle for a cramped seat. A lot of groups consisting of handlers, talents and regular patrons of the comedy bar were present during the show; and while the contestants were at the backstage preparing for the show, the mainstay stand-up comics / singers Tetay, Chubby and Wendel Valdez were on stage to keep the audience members entertained. (I would have to commend this goup of comedians – they were able to keep the audience member’s spirits alive during the almost 3-hours of waiting for the show to commence).

The show started with the parade of contestants in their ravewear. Most of them wore body-hugging, goth-inspired, punk/rock-themed constumes as their personal interpretation of what they would wear to a rave party. Subsequently, these 19 pairs of contestants were made to walk th ramp in their sleep wear and finally in their swimwear. The special prizes, given at the end of each segment, were handed out to the following: Best in Ravewear (male division) – Hataw Superbodies Bikini Open alumnus and All Out model Mark Santos; Mr. Body Beautiful – Patrick Rivera (aka Ken Nash). Best in Swimwear – Kish McBride; Face of the Night (male division) – Adrian Asor (aka Adrian Montefalco).

Following the awarding of the final set of special prizes, was the announcement of the Top Ten for each division and the Grand Winners for the competition. The Top Ten for the male division were: Adrian Asor (aka Adrian Montefalco), JR Robles, Jadel Lee, Mark Santos, Patrick Rivera (aka Ken Nash), Ace Bernal, Kish McBride, Jeff Surio and Juan Miguel Montemayor (Sorry, I failed to get the name of the 10th guy). Declared as the 22nd Street – Street Bodies Competition male division runners up were: 3rd Runner-Up – Jadel Lee; 2nd Runner-Up – Mark Santos; 1st Runner-Up – Jeff Surio. The competition ended on a very controversial note, with the judges handing out the grand prize to Ace Bernal. The contestants, their handlers and most of the audiencce members were stunned at the judges’ decision, but respected the latter’s choice nonetheless.

The Street Bodies competition was well-organized and well-directed so kudos to the organizers of the show. Just a few words of caution for future 22nd Street customers: make sure to count your change before leaving the receptionist’s area. She has a bad habit of short-changing the customers for ticket purchases.