Mrs. International Pageant ....... in living color !!!

Whew, a vacation does a WORLD of good!  I am back, feeling nice and refreshed.  The mountain air, cool crisp breezes and lots of rest has totally rejuvenated me!   A lot happened while I was away.

Three new School America system queens were crowned in Orlando (more on that later this week) and the Mrs. International pageant kicked off in Chicago.   Known as one of the BIG THREE, this pageant always provides LOTS of great looks and surprises.

I've decided (as I can do, because it's my blog) to highlight some of the women of color in this year's Mrs. International pageant. Ironically, the very first Mrs. International was an African-American - Joanne Brown in 2000.  

There has been one other Mrs. International titleholder of color - Armaiti Shahidi-Fitzgerald in 2009.

Now let's look at some of the 2013 contestants:

Ceylone Boothe Grooms, Mrs. New Jersey International 

Nedjy Jean-Charles, Mrs. Haiti International

Afoma Eguh-Okafor, Mrs. Africa International

Quynci Joyner, Mrs. Arkansas International

Karli Bose, Mrs. Asia International

Leila Fraga, Mrs. Brazil International

Tenisha Dotstry, Mrs. District of Columbia International

LaSheila Yates, Mrs. Iowa International

Joyce Lee Mei Hui, Mrs. Malaysia International

Lailani Gatdula Llanto, Mrs. Manilla International

LaSonja Coleman, Mrs. Maryland International

Gisel Merrifield, Mrs. Mexico International

Andrea Bennet Xiong, Mrs. Minnesota International

Bola Harpprecht, Mrs. New Zealand International

 

 Sanam Azeem, Mrs. Pakistan International

Alicia Almendral, Mrs. Phillippines International

Octavia Ephraim, Mrs. South Africa International

Mireya Rangel, Mrs. Latin America International 

Charlotte Shores, Mrs. Washington International

I don't know about you, but I am pretty impressed!!!!  This is a significant number and a great amount of diversity.  Learn more about the contestants (I've linked where I could)....I am sure you'll like what you read.

I've had a couple of great friends compete in this system and believe me when I tell you - doing well is NO easy task.  These women put tons of work into developing their platform, working hard for Go Red, fund raising and making appearances!  I should know, I've seen my fair share of Mrs. International titleholder "work" ;-).

 with Mrs. All-American Classic and Mrs. North Carolina International 2009 at a MLK Day Parade in Baltimore, MD

with Mrs. Maryland International 2011 at a press event

with Mrs. All-American Classic and Mrs. Maryland International 2009 after speaking at a Health & Fitness Fair in DC.

 with Mrs. Maryland All-American and Mrs. Maryland International 2006 at a roller skating fundraiser

This could be the year that the Mrs. International pageant runs off with the lead!  Of the "BIG THREE" - Mrs. International is the only pageant to have crowned more than one woman of color with it's ultimate title.  Mrs. United States has only crowned one - Stephanie Hunt of Michigan in 2007.  The Mrs. America system has crowned, two Hawai'ians in the last 12 years, but not a woman of "brown skin".  Interesting!

Good luck to all the contestants!!! Don't forget to make lots of memories and have a blast!

 

Miss Elementary Mid-Atlantic Pageant

Well lookey here!  There is a new division in the Multi State School Pageant system.

The Jr. High, High School and Collegiate America state preliminaries for Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York & Pennsylvania are held together annually in Lancaster, PA - usually during the first weekend in August.  

This year state director, Tracey Jamison, has elected to add an elementary division - to offer younger girls (perhaps siblings or older contestants) a chance to see the pageant first hand and compete in their own right.   The pageant is comprised of three area of competition, which are equally scored, are:

1) On-­stage presentation/Fun Fashion - Fun fashion is where each girl should have fun showing her personality and personal style.  Fun fashion will be worn DURING on-­stage introduction.

 
2) Introduction/poise - Each girl will give a brief introduction to show her level of comfort speaking in public.  The script will be the same for all contestants - Name, Grade, School, City & State.

3) Evening gown - The evening gown segment may be a “flower girl” type dress or pageant dress.

If you're in the market for a pageant for younger girls, check this one out!

System Spotlight

A crown, is a crown, is a crown right???   Okay, maybe not.  But with so many systems out there and so many types of pageants to choose from, how does one decide where to compete?

As we've mentioned before, some systems "choose" for you.  Come on, I know I can't color you shocked with this statement - every system has parameters - no matter how you slice it.  Whether is an age-out, talent vs. no talent , swimsuit vs. fitness vs. none of the above, must be in school vs. education doesn't matter - every system has certain criteria that you dissect to determine if you want to give that state/local or national director your money. 

With all that said, I figured this was a good as time as any to start our "System Spotlight" section!   Every now and again, we'll choose a system - at random - to spotlight and give you, our dear readers, a chance to learn a little more about it.................. and compete, if you so choose!

It's been so hot lately, I decided to look to HOT-lanta to profile the U.S. United System and their 10 year anniversary!!! The system, under the direction of Marcia Mickens, is dedicated to recognizing outstanding women for outstanding achievements

This July 25 - 28, girls and women ages 3 and up will travel to the southern city to compete in the following divisions:

Tiny Miss (3-5 years old)
Little Miss (6-9)
Junior Miss (10-12 years old)
Teen Miss (13-16 years old)
Elegant Teen Miss (13-16  size 12 plus and above)
Miss - (17-27 years old)
Ms. - (28-39 years old)
Mrs. - (21 and older) "must be living with husband"
Ms. Woman (40-54 years old)
Elite Ms. (55 and older)

Competition in this pageant falls into four categories: 

1) Personal Interview - (35%) Each contestant will be interviewed by a panel of judges for 5 minutes. Judges will ask questions from your personal questionnaire.

2) Outfit of Choice (25%) - This is an outfit that expresses your personality. 

3) Personal Introduction (15%) In this portion, you will introduce yourself to the judges in approximately 20 seconds.

4) Evening Wear - (25%) - This outfit must be a floor-length formal gown

This is an extremely diverse and engaging pageant. So much so that there are also optional categories of competition.  These optional categories have no bearing on the overall pageant scores and do require an additional fee, above and beyond your pageant entry fee.  If you are so inclined you may also compete in: Photogenic, Performance Talent, Community Service, U.S. United Scholar, Peoples' Choice, Cover Girl & even Portfolio for all you photographers out there!

Now for the important part - PRIZES !!  All U.S. United Pageant division winners receive numerous prizes and awards including: Official Rhinestone Crown, Official Embroidered Banner, Banner Pin
Floral Presentation, Rhinestone Jewelry, Fashion Watch, Business Cards, an Engraved Commemorative Award and more!   Some prizes are given upon crowning while others are awarded at the end of your reign.  An important fact to note is that division winners MUST make at least 9 appearances !!! 

 

 Introducing the 2012 U.S. United Royalty - click on their names to visit their Facebook pages!

U.S. United Queen of Queens - Melissa Brown (Georgia)​​

Teen Miss U.S. United - ​Whitney Serauskas (North Carolina​)

Miss U.S. United - Amber Miller (Ohio)​​

Mrs. U.S. United - Ashley Horsely (Ohio)​​  

Ms. U.S. United - Janet Bierer (Montana)​​

 

Elegant Ms. U.S. United - Kia Smith (California)

Elegant Elite Ms. U.S. United - Karen Hauck (Pennsylvania​​​)

Not traditional, but certainly something for everyone.  So, keep this system in mind when you're thinking about competing in a pageant!