An American Idol-themed competition simply named “THON-Idol” debuted for the first time in THON’s history on Saturday afternoon. In order to perform, students needed to sign up to sing a song from a pre-determined list, submit a video audition, fill out some basic background info, and explain why they wanted to participate in this brand new event.

Three contestants — Molly, Mitch, and Gage — took the stage trying to win the inaugural singing title, accompanied by Southpaw, a local 90’s and 2000’s rock cover band that partnered with THON for the contest. Here’s how the action unfolded at the BJC:

Molly: “Sugar We’re Going Down”

Molly started things off with a classic by Fall Out Boy, while donning a yellow Dancer Relations shirt. Always a safe call on Wednesday nights at the Phyrst or at Gaffeoke, Molly’s rendition of “Sugar, We’re Going Down” got the crowd singing along with her at the BJC with a fun performance.

Mitch: “Take Me Home, Country Roads”

The contestant with hands-down the best name, Mitch decided to take us all the way back to the days of John Denver. He belted out the lyrics with a strong country twang that couldn’t be denied. We can all agree that there’s no place where Penn Staters belong quite like the BJC during THON Weekend.

Gage: “Mr. Brightside”

Gage took a similar route to Molly, going with a crowd favorite that you still hear echoing around State College on weekends, even if the song came out 17 years ago. The Killers freakin’ rule, and Gage’s bouncy stage presence had the audience head-banging as hard as they could during his short time on the stage.

Winner: Mitch

While Gage and Molly chose crowd favorite rock songs from the mid-2000’s that remain staples of any Penn Stater’s weekend playlist, they couldn’t matchup with my name twin, Mitch.

His deep voice did justice to a legendary song, and as a resident of southwestern Virginia, I am qualified to say that he did a great job performing the vintage country anthem that is “Take Me Home, Country Roads.”