All five finalists are gay adult performers from the DVD and web-exclusive worlds: Kirk Cummings (whose qualifying layout was in the magazine's November '08 issue), Trent Davis (Jan. '09), Marcus Mojo (Sept. '08), Dylan McLovin (Sept. '08) and Zack Randall (Feb. '09).
"The Freshman of the Year is an exciting star-making opportunity for the model who's had the biggest impact on our readers over the past 12 months," said Unzipped Media Managing Editor Winston Gieseke.
"This year the race has been closer than ever before. The competition has been unusually fierce because each one of the five finalists has genuine star potential."
It is the 14th year the Freshman of the Year contest has been presented. The 2008 crown prince was Mario Cazzo.
The digital and newsstand editions of the September issue of Freshmen magazine will be available August 18. Full layouts of the final five contenders are online at membership site MenMachine.com.