‘I went to the Heath Ledger lookalike contest. It was the opposite to what I expected.'

Something that was certainly not on my 2024 bingo card would be the revival of celebrity lookalike contests. But the world has become entranced with this niche phenomenon.

It all began with the infamous Timothee Chalamet contest in New York, which somehow lured in 10,000 attendees including one Chalamet himself, and one man who got arrested.

From here, the trend exploded with hunks like Dev Patel, Jeremy Allen-White, Paul Mescal and Harry Styles all copping the lookalike treatment in cities from London to Chicago.

Watch the Mamamia podcast Cancelled discuss Paul Mescal. Post continues after video.

But what about Australia?

Never one to start a trend but always one to bandwagon when it's on the brink of oversaturation, there were tandem lookalike competitions held in Melbourne and Sydney over the weekend.

In Melbourne, the search was on for a Jacob Elordi doppelganger, which wasn't particularly fruitful: apparently, hardly anyone competed and the chosen winner was someone roped in at the last minute.

In Sydney's Newtown, the aim was to select a person in the likeness of Heath Ledger, an event that I attended.

As I arrived at Camperdown Memorial Park at 3pm sharp, my early trepidation was: is this a bit morbid?

After all, all the other global contests had been based on those who aren't just the buzzy men of the moment, but are male celebs who are, well… alive.

Heath Ledger died in 2008 at the age of 28.

It was a question I asked both the winner and runner-up who both assured me this was their chance to offer a loving tribute to one of the greats.

Samuel Preston was a crowd favourite. Image: Supplied.

Ledger's death was not something tiptoed around by organisers, Josh Khoury and Luca Trovato.

"He might make an appearance in the body of someone else," one joked.

"Heath Ledger doesn't have much to say on the matter [of this contest]. Unfortunately, the Ouija boards are broken," added another.

My other concern was that I would arrive to a sea of men in creepy costumes like I was being held hostage at ComicCon.

Ledger has had a handful of iconic roles but there's one that has stuck like glue to the collective consciousness of men: the Joker in The Dark Knight.

I like the Batman Begins trilogy as much as the next person, but the thought of having to entertain a barrage of men sniggering 'Why so serious?' was my idea of incel hell.

Thankfully, I had nothing to worry about. The Heath Ledger lookalike competition was the least toxic and most heartwarming event I've witnessed in recent memory. I literally couldn't stop smiling.

And the organisers understood the assignment: they came dressed as Ledger and co-star Jake Gyllenhaal in Brokeback Mountain. Another attendee held up a poster inscribed with the film's most iconic line.

This woman's commitment to holding up this sign for 50 minutes deserved its own novelty cheque. Image: Supplied.

As the crowd quickly grew from around 70 people when I arrived to about 200 attendees, the organisers quietened the audience, as they tapped on a microphone.

"Make some noise if you like Heath Ledger!" they asked.

"We're looking for toxic males who look surfy," another described the ideal criteria.

There were about 15 people who entered the competition, some stronger than others but overall, I was impressed. At least seven of these aspiring Ledgers had some resemblance to the Oscar-winning actor.

"If all the Heaths can move to that side of the trestle table," an organiser instructed as the contest began.

The first challenge was to take a moody photo on a disposable camera. It wasn't lost on me that there would be no time to develop such photos, but the confusion only added to the silliness that was this beautiful day.

The Heaths rushed to pose for cameras as other Heaths aided with the photography challenge.

The photo-taking portion of the day was one of the more confusing. Image: Supplied.

Then came the task I feared the most: the time to do the Joker impressions.

"I'm just getting 'The Joker Theme' from the Batman soundtrack," one organiser said, as he scrolled on his phone.

What followed was just a handful of Heaths participating, as many became too shy to offer their own Joker line.

After this task, one judge commented 'Some were good, some were doing it.'

One of the applicants who couldn't muster the courage was Jude Bailey, who stood out from the moment he sheepishly strolled up, a young man who entered under the encouragement of his supportive brother.

"My brother and all my friends sent it [the contest] to me," Jude told Mamamia.

Jude Bailey and Samuel Preston were the ones to beat. Image: Supplied.

"I was a bit nervous walking up here. There are so many people, but we're here now."

He turned to his brother and said, "He would have made me do it."

The brother had faith in Jude. "He's winning it and he's gonna get it done today. 22 years of hard work. I didn't get the genes but he's gonna win tonight," he beamed.

It was a day event but the point stands.

Then came my favourite portion of the day: when the entries had to perform a line from Frankie Vallie's 'Can't Take My Eyes Off You'.

This was, of course, a reference to Ledger's musical performance of the song in 10 Things I Hate About You.

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A+ for effort 🎶🎤 #heathledger #10thingsihataboutyou #canttakemyeyesoffyou #heathledgerlookalike #lookalike #lookalikecompetition #singing

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As each aspiring Heath sang, the crowd encouraged them providing the instrumental backing, as the 'da-da-da-da' rang in.

I can't overemphasise this enough, but it was so touching that I started to sob.

As the sing-along came to an end, one judge exclaimed 'good try!!'

Then the medals were given out. Another standout from the day, Samuel Preston, was awarded second place.

"I just wanna shout out the old lady in Cotton On when I was 16 who first told me that I looked like Heath. This is for you," he said.

The winner was humble Jude who shared that he first learned he looked like Ledger when he was told by "some old guy when I was on the beach."

The runner-up (left) and winner (right) were neck-and-neck. Image: Supplied.

The prizes were deserved as I can attest to the fact that both these men had an uncanny resemblance to Heath in person.

Neither took part in the Joker impressions, which only added to their mystique.

After fronting the media and soaking up his moment of glory, a shy Jude walked home with his brother, carrying his novelty cheque for the prize of $51, and a $50 note and $1 coin taped to it.

For an event where I expected to be incessantly asked 'why so serious?', it turned out to be a delightful afternoon of silliness.

And if Jude and Samuel ever need a side hustle, they're both an obvious pick for the sequel, 11 Things I Hate About You.

Feature image: Supplied.