Student wins big on MTV thanks to irresistible Princeton charm

Unlike other students on Spring Break in Cancun, Gary Baumwoll '02 didn't spend his time preying on the opposite sex. But when MTV was looking for game-show contestants, his vacation took a sharp turn, in which he ended up dropping a pick-up line on Carmen Electra and brushing shoulders with Dr. Dre, Eminem, Sisqo and Carson Daly on the VIP beach.

"I have a girlfriend at NYU so when MTV asked me if I had picked up any girls while I was down there, I said 'no,' " Baumwoll said.

"They then asked me what I would say if I were to pick up any girls," he added. "They knew I was from Princeton so I said I would use the intellectual approach."

MTV liked Baumwoll's approach and invited him back the next day to "drop his best pick-up line on stage to a random girl."

"I immediately thought she was really hot," Baumwoll said. "You could tell from the back though. You couldn't see her face."

But when he tapped her shoulder, he stared not into the eyes of some "random girl," but into the eyes of Carmen Electra.

Baumwoll said though he was shocked, he did not think he really showed any emotion.

While many guys would hesitate, Baumwoll said he did "what he had to do" and dropped his line: "Three-thousand years ago, the Mayans settled Cancun and never has there been a girl as beautiful in this city."

"All my friends were making fun of me and told me they were going to stamp 'reject' on me," Baumwoll said.

Despite his friends' comments, Baumwoll and his words of romance won the competition, giving him a ticket to VIP beach where he met MTV vee-jays and performers.

Though the line worked on Carmen Electra, Baumwoll said he did not think the line would succeed with any Princeton girls. He added that he probably would not be using it any time soon on the 'Street.'

MTV will broadcast Baumwoll's winning performance April 5 at 10:30 p.m.