The screams heard on Sunday afternoon at Maria Hernandez Park in Bushwick was reminiscent of a One Direction concert.
Keeping up with the ongoing trend of hosting look-alike contests, Brooklyn had its first competition that focused on Zayn Malik, a singer and previous member of the boy band One Direction. Originally started by Anthony Potero, a content creator, the success of a Timothee Chalamet look-alike contest in Manhattan in October has spilled over for similar events.
Brooklyn's contest was hosted by Bushwick residents Jazmine Arnold and her cousin Savannah Neely.
“We just made a flier. We were just joking and then a lot of people came,” said Arnold.
Details about the contest was spread through social media, with a link leading back to the Instagram account “QHIO.ANON,” shared by Arnold and Neely. The flier stated the contest winner would receive a free tattoo by hel.heart, Arnold’s roommate.
Promptly around 3:00pm, Arnold and Neely asked for all the Malik impersonators to line up as a crowd of over 200 watched with excitement.
Anson Smith, a runner-up in the competition, said he made the trek from Boston to attend the event after learning about it through friends and social media.
“It was kind of a joke one night, ‘Oh let's go to the Zayn Malik look-alike contest’ … and now we're here.”
To determine a clear winner among 13 contestants, Neely and Arnold ran the contest bracket style, and broke ties with audience cheer.
The winner was Shiv Patel, a New York resident, who went into the contest as a later addition.
“This was the real election, and this was real democracy and people’s voices were heard today,” said Kelly McCarthy, who watched the contest with scorecards and a reference photo of Malik.
Other attendees held posters asking the competitors on a date, while others watched intently while videotaping the entire event.
Post award ceremony, dozens from the crowd swarmed the winner, hoping to get a picture.
“I feel great. I've been waiting for this day since high school," said Patel, 29, who will now be able to get his 12th tattoo after his win.
Unlike Chalamet, who crashed his own look-alike contest, Malik did not attend the event.
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