my @items = ( ... );
my %count;
$count{$_}++ for @items;
# presuming at least one item in @items:
my ($winner, $winner_count) = each %count;
while (my ($maybe, $maybe_count) = each %count) {
  if ($maybe_count > $winner_count) {
    $winner = $maybe;
    $winner_count = $maybe_count;
  }
}