The Miss Florida USA & Miss Florida Teen USA

Magazine of March 30th, 2006

Dear Miss Florida USA Family:

Welcome to another edition of YOUR Miss Florida USA & Miss Florida Teen USA Magazine YOUR information source for everything pageantry in the Sunshine State. Even though it has been a quite week with no preliminary pageants we have been very active in preparing our Miss Florida USA Cristin Duren for her big trip to Baltimore. As we write she is in transit to the national championship of pageantry. Look for reports beginning on Monday only at YOUR Ezine!

This week in World Pageant News we are doing our best to give you results from a very active Miss Universe Qualifying Season. From Bulgaria to Jamaica we have all the results and check out the pictures also! The final edition of The Road to Baltimore tells the plight of one titleholder and insight into another. Miss Florida USA News has news from the City Beautiful, Pensacola, Homestead/Florida Keys and the brand new Heartland Florida USA Pageant. Also we have all you need to know about the four prelims this weekend! Faces & Places features the final week of preparations for Ms. Duren, Miss Florida Teen USA Jennifer Wooten's photo session with Bob Lasky and lots more from the Miss Florida USA Family. Gen Art this week feature two very cool unknown designers who won't stay that way much longer. All the pageant news that fits to print updated on Thursdays and Fridays and results on Mondays only at YOUR Miss Florida USA Ezine, the only Ezine in the pageant world!

Publisher's Note: This will be the last week of our "Road to Baltimore" reports as the Miss USA delegates will all be in Baltimore by Sunday April 2nd. Starting on Monday April 3rd we will resume our daily Miss USA reports. For the only day by day report from our National Pageant Championships check out your www.MissFloridaUSA.com Ezine!

Grant H. Gravitt, Jr.

Executive Producer

Miss Florida USA & Miss Florida Teen USA

» 106 Days until Miss Florida USA!

» 2 Days until Gainesville/SW Florida/North Miami/

West Broward USA Weekend!

» 22 Days until Miss USA!

PAGEANT NEWS FROM AROUND THE WORLD

» Miss Bulgaria 2006

Slavena Vutova was the happy winner crowned Miss Bulgaria 2006. The 17-year-old girl from the town of Shumen, north-east Bulgaria, has earlier won beauty crowns, the latest being Miss Black Sea 2004. A mathematician, Slavena has had a long sports record, running on the track field four year, playing table tennis three years, swirling in sport dances two years and eventually being engulfed by swimming.

Galena Dimova from Sofia will compete

for this year's Miss Universe.

The pageantry show has moved for the first time outside Sofia taking place in the second largest city of Plovdiv. Actress Silvia Lulcheva and popular television anchor Milen Tsvetkov hosted the final of Miss Bulgaria 2006 on Saturday. Lulcheva hosted the show last year as well, but then she partnered Roma music transvestite eccentric Azis.

The contest had inspired more than 3,200 young ladies to turn in, but only 36 were anointed to step onstage in the final round. This year's beauty edition has run under a charity campaign aimed "To hoist the Bulgarian flag" at all public buildings. Funds will be used to fund giant-size three-colours, organisers from Visages agency explained.

Miss Bulgaria 2006 Slavena Vutova will for sure amaze the jury of Miss World

finals in Poland with a long sports biography and polyglot skills.

Beauty rivals had to step on the catwalk

in various swim-suits and night-gowns.

Traditional Balkan rhythms have made

the intro of Miss Bulgaria 2006 finals.

» Israel chooses its Miss

by: Leslie Bunder

A student from Kiryat Shmona in Israel has been chosen to represent Israel at this year's Miss Universe contest which is due to take place in July. Yael Nizri, 18 who says she plans to study law once she completes her military service beat 20 other Israeli women to be crowned Queen of Beauty at the event which took place in Haifa.

The daughter of a Dutch mother and Moroccan father, Yael has already won a car and was presented with her win by last year's Miss Israel - Elana Ralph. If she manages to win, Yael will become only the second Israel to scoop the crown which Israel last won in 1976 by Rina Messinger.

Yael Nizri

» Miss Sri Lanka Universe 2006

Ex-Sacred Heart School pupil Jacqueline Fernandez, 20, is now on her way to compete against some of the world's most beautiful women at the Miss Universe 2006 pageant, in June. The 5ft 7" beauty won the Miss Sri Lanka 2006 title on Saturday night at the Galle Face Hotel in Colombo by beating 11 other contestants.

She was crowned by Miss Sri Lanka Universe 2005 Rozanne Diasz. First runner-up was Chathurika Fernando and second runner up was Irosha Kurera. Ms Fernandez's parents were there to see her crowned. Ms Fernandez, is one of three children of long-time Bahrain residents Elroy and Kim Fernandez and currently works as an English teacher and an anchor on Sri Lanka's ETV in Colombo.

She revealed during the pageant that she hopes to become an international political television broadcaster.Ms Fernandez has taken part in several major fashion shows, including the Jewellery Arabia and Visual Image shows, won several local beauty pageants and her face has graced many a billboard.

Her father owns Elroy Events Management and her mother is a senior advertising sales executive at Al Hilal Publishing and Marketing Group. Ms Fernandez is the second former Bahrain pupil to have won a major beauty pageant abroad in the last year. Former Indian School pupil, Lara Quigaman, won the Miss Philippines International 2005 contest and later won the Miss International 2005 title in September last year.

» Miss Jamaica Universe 2006

CINDY WRIGHT acknowledges that there is a lot of hard work ahead. She is also determined to become the first Jamaican to bring home the prestigious Miss Universe title in 2006. In fact, determination and hard work are twin factors which the statuesque, 5' 11" green-eyed beauty claims gave her the edge over 21 other contestants to win the coveted and highly-contested Miss Jamaica Universe title on Sunday.

The 19-year-old student and model seemed dazed after her victory, which initially seemed tenuous but became evident when the top five was announced. Among the five were Georgia Bennett, 25, 5'10, a teacher; Stephanie Mclean, 20, 5' 9", a TV host; Danisha-Raquel Osbourne, 23, 5'10", a student, and the doctor Tanesha Davis, 26, 5'3" and a crowd favourite.

"I have a lot of work ahead of me and I'm ready to go to work", Wright said after her coronation. "I want to be the first Jamaican to bring home the crown." If she does all the 'work' to which she has committed, Wright will have as good a chance as any of doing so.

At left: Miss Jamaica Universe 2006, Cindy Wright At Right:

Cindy Wright, Miss Jamaica Universe 2006 (centre), poses with second

place Danisha-Raquel Osbourne (left) and third-place Georgia Bennett at the

Miss Jamaica Universe Coronation Show, held at the Hilton Kingston hotel,

Knutsford Boulevard, New Kingston, on Sunday.

» MISS TRINIDAD & TOBAGO

Lightning struck twice at the 2006 edition of the Miss Trinidad and Tobago pageant on Monday evening, when 2004 Miss T&T/World winner Kenisha Thom was selected to represent this country at the 2006 Miss Universe competition.

Thom, 22, became the second successive former Miss World entrant to do so, following the success of 2005 Miss Universe representative and 2002 Miss World entrant Magdalene Walcott, when she topped a field of nine hopefuls during the pageant's showcase at Club Zen, Keate Street, Port of Spain.

"I feel fulfilled, but the work has just begun because from now on it's gym in the morning and evening for me," the WASA employee said. She said despite her international pageant experience, she still had nerves going into the final day of competition since she was unsure of the result. "I've been here before and in a competition you never know, so I was nervous and excited, but the other girls were feeding off of my experience and I was glad to assist," she said.

Pageant coordinator Adrian Raymond said the presentation was not a show, but instead "a public showcase" to select national representatives. He said the step down was due to an initial lack of funding and commended title sponsor TSTT for "coming the rescue of the pageant".

Miss T&T/Universe 2006 Kenisha Thom, centre, shares a laugh with Miss T&T/World Tineke De Freitas,

left, and first runner-up Valene Maharaj following the results of the Miss T&T competition

on Monday evening at Club Zen, Port of Spain. Photo: JERMAINE CRUICKSHANK

MISS FL USA NEWS!

» MISS CITY BEAUTIFUL USA & TEEN USA APRIL 22^nd

HELLO MISS FLORIDA USA FAMILY!!! Great news, I have just secured my date for MISS CITY BEAUTIFUL USA/ TEEN USA and MISS AVALON PARK USA/TEEN USA. It will be APRIL 22. I am having the double crowning at Timber Creek Performing Arts Center in the Avalon Park Community where I had Miss Orlando/LBV and Polk. Please email me at MCBpageantUSA@aol.com or call at 407-761-7039 for an application. Thanks so much for the kind responses to Julie and my efforts with Miss Orlando/LBV/Polk pageant it was a fun night and we love all our new titleholders. I am excited to give more opportunities to our young ladies of Florida. I am having some great sponsors for the prize package and hope to see you all there.Its going to be an outstanding year!! – Pageant Director Frank Arcidiacono.

» MISS HEARTLAND OF FLORIDA USA & TEEN USA 2008 ANNOUNCED:

Miss Florida USA finally has a pageant for our friends in the agriculture region of our state. Miss Heartland of Florida USA is for our friends in Hardee; Desoto; Highlands; Glades; Hendry; Lee; Collier; Monroe, Polk, Osceola and Okeechobee Counties. Finally the state is covered in preliminary pageants! For more information contact pageant director Grant Gravitt, Jr. at telair@aol.com or via traditional phone lines at 954 924-4949. We should have dates and a site in the near future. Look for a November pageant if all falls into place!

» MISS HOMESTEAD USA & TEEN USA NEWS

What an exciting weekend we'll have. Halavin Productions, Inc. is excited to present the 2nd annual Miss Homestead/Florida Keys USA and Teen USA on Sunday, May 7^th. Homestead Miami Speedway will again be the location and pageant time is 4pm. Tickets are $25 pre show, and $30 at the door. The location is Homestead Miami Speedway, One Speedway Blvd., Homestead, Florida 33035.

Our new sponsor will be adding to the excitement, we have Beauty products from "Fierté" providing the makeup for this pageant and as a prize package for winners. Icon Artist Group is providing a seminar for all the winners of Halavin Productions, Inc. in May which will include; Interview skills, Stage Presence, Poise, Health & Fitness, and much more. Things are lining up for a year of successful preliminaries and fantastic state pageants. For more information, tickets and application for the pageant please contact Halavin Productions, Inc. at 954-445-8181 or via email at misshomestead_floridakeysusa@yahoo.com.

A Pageant Orientation will be held on Saturday, April 15, 2006 at 12pm. Everyone is encouraged to attend. Location will be announced at a latter date. Look for updates on our web site www.halavinproductionsinc.com - Pageant Director Angie Halavin.

» MISS PENSACOLA USA & TEEN USA IN THE NEWS:

P'TOWN CROWN There she is … Miss Pensacola USA? Yep, that's right. The big sister of all beauty pageants, the Donald Trump-owned Miss USA contest, is coming to our area for the first time 6 p.m. Sunday, April 9 at the Holiday Inn, University Mall, 7200 Plantation Road.

Michael Galanes, director of Miss Florida USA, says it's time to whip out the tiara. "We're hosting small pageants throughout the state in cities to qualify these young ladies to be able to participate in the televised Miss Florida USA pageant," he explains.

The director says the Panhandle region is red-hot right now because the current Miss Florida USA, Cristin Duren, is from Panama City Beach. The Emerald Coast beauty, he explains, is slotted to compete at the main Miss USA pageant on Friday, April 21. Also, the organization's president, Paula Shugart, is originally from this area.

Because of the local ties, Galanes feels it's imperative for the organization to hold a pageant here. However, the task hasn't been easy. "We haven't done a pageant in the area before," he says. "It's been an uphill battle with our recruiting efforts in Pensacola, but we're slowly building momentum."

Galanes says that he has a few open slots for the Miss Pensacola USA (18- to 26-year-olds) and Miss Pensacola Teen USA (14- to 17-year-olds) pageants. Believe you got the goods? Contact the group at 954-924-8846 or visit www.missfloridausa.com for details.

IF YOU GO:

WHAT: MISS GAINESVILLE USA & TEEN USA PAGEANTS

WHEN: SATURDAY APRIL 1^st 2:00pm

WHERE: Holiday Inn West
7417 Newberry Road (I-75 at Exit 387)

Gainesville, Florida 32605
Phone: (352) 332-7500 http://www.gainesvillehotelconferencecenter.com

WHAT: MISS SOUTHWEST FLORIDA USA & TEEN USA PAGEANTS

WHEN: SATURDAY APRIL 1^st 6:00PM

WHERE: Lake Kennedy Senior Center

400 Santa Barbara Boulevard

Cape Coral, FL 33991.

WHAT: MISS NORTH MIAMI USA PAGEANT

WHEN: APRIL 1^st 8:00PM

WHERE: MIAMI SHORES COUNTRY CLUB

10000 Biscayne Blvd,

Miami Shores, FL 33138

*NOTE: Tickets are $40.00 and includes dinner and the pageant.

WHAT: MISS WEST BROWARD USA & TEEN USA

WHEN: APRIL 2^nd 6:00PM

WHERE: The Township Center For The Performing Arts

2424 Lyons Road

Coconut Creek, FL 33063

*All Prelim Directors & Titleholders need to RSVP for free tickets.

» 2007 Miss Florida USA Preliminary Season Schedule

UPDATED 3/30/06

April 1 Miss Southwest Florida USA & Teen USA Pageants

April 1 Miss Gainesville USA & Teen USA Pageants

April 1 Miss North Miami USA Pageant

April 2: Miss West Broward USA & Teen USA Pageants

April 8: Miss Gold Coast/Palm Beach County USA & Teen Pageants

April 9: Miss Pensacola USA & Teen USA Pageants

April 14: Miss USA Presentation Show – Baltimore

April 21: Miss USA Finals – Baltimore

April 22 Miss City Beautiful USA & Teen USA Pageants

April 23: Miss Ormond Beach USA & Teen USA Pageants

April 30: Miss Emerald Coast USA & Teen USA Pageants

May 6: Miss Northwest Florida USA & Teen USA Pageants (Ocala)

May 7: Miss Homestead USA & Teen USA Pageants

May 7: Miss Alachua County USA & Teen USA Pageants

May 11 Too Hot for Fashion – Hollywood Beach Community Center

May 13 Miss Miami USA & Teen USA

May 20: Miss Boca Raton USA & Teen USA Pageants

May 21: Miss Space Coast USA & Teen USA Super Pageant – Melbourne

May 21: Miss Ft. Lauderdale USA & Teen USA Pageants

TBD Miss Magic City USA & Teen USA Pageants

June 1 – 4 Final Pre Tape Weekend - Hollywood

June 3: Miss Florida USA Seminar Day

July 11: Miss Florida USA Registration Day

July 14: Miss Florida USA Preliminary Night

July 15: Miss Florida USA Finals & Telecast

MISS FLORIDA TEEN USA TV LISTINGS:

JACKSONVILLE

WAWS FOX

Channel 47

TBD

» Slight of hand for Miss Utah USA

HEIDI TOTH - Daily Herald

Miss Utah USA Soben Huon got a little lost in transition. The Brigham Young University senior, who leaves next week for Baltimore to participate in the Miss USA pageant, was left scrambling to find funds after the Utah pageant franchise changed hands and she was suddenly without sponsors.

So she turned to her friends, and now Rick Kinateder, the bishop of her LDS ward, pulled out all the stops to throw Huon a festive fund-raising dinner party on Wednesday and send her off in style.

"I know that she's very sensitive to not badmouth the former group or hurt the name of the program," he said of Huon, whom he has known about two years. "I think it was just kind of an in-between unfortunate thing that just happened."

Huon declined to talk about the mishap, preferring instead to focus on the fund-raising effort and the pageant, she said.

The Miss Universe organization awarded the franchise to a different company this year, which had sponsorships lined up for next year, Kinateder said. The original sponsorships shouldn't be affected by a change in management, though, said Tricia Langa, the director of domestic license for Miss Universe.

"The outgoing state director does in fact have an obligation to fulfill the sponsorships," she said. "To our knowledge, everything is OK."

So instead, Huon's raising money the old-fashioned way; Kinateder is making paella, the national dish of Spain, the BYU Ballroom Dancers are providing entertainment and Huon will display her dresses and mingle with the crowd. It's also a chance for participants to wish her well, as she's leaving Sunday for Baltimore.

"It's a fun presentation dish," Kinateder said of the paella; it's full of chicken, pork, chorizo, calamari, mussels, clams and prawn shrimp, as well as saffron rice. It's named for a pan, which adds to the fun of it, he said. He got the idea when trying to figure out what he could cook, and that he could cook.

Huon is majoring in political science and after graduating plans to attend Stanford Law School. The dinner party is at 7 p.m. Wednesday in the ballroom at Provo's Academy Square; tickets are available for a minimum donation of $20. Tickets are available by calling (801) 491-5052.

» Child Clown to Beauty Queen

No fooling, this Hoosier is preparing for the Miss USA pageant

By T.J. Banes

Who: Bridget Bobel, 25, Miss Indiana USA, and a volunteer tutor with Indy Reads, an affiliate of the Indianapolis-Marion County Public Library, a free literacy program-serving adults.

Personal: Bobel, a native of Peru, Ind., is a graduate of Maconaquah High School and Ball State University. She works as an assistant manager of mall marketing for Simon Property Group.

She will compete in the Miss USA pageant next month in Baltimore. Bobel turns 26 on April 14, the date of the preliminary competition. The pageant will air live on NBC on April 21.

Greatest challenge: In December, right after she was crowned Miss Indiana USA, she was admitted to the hospital with swelling in her right arm. The cause? A blood clot near her collarbone. To eliminate it, she had one of her ribs removed. She remained in intensive care for a week and was off work for a month. "I've had a good life . . . not too many things to overcome, but this was definitely a scary time for me. It came on so suddenly when my parents were in Australia and my sister was in Florida. My pageant 'family' never left my side."

Volunteering for literacy: "In the past, I've volunteered to tutor children, but I wanted to tutor adults. I just think it's so important to help them in getting ahead in life. I became a certified adult literacy tutor in 2002. I've been matched with the same adult for two years. We meet for about two hours a week. She's 55 and works full time. We'd like to meet more, but with our schedules, it's hectic."

Peru, Ind., the "Circus Capital of the World": "I started performing in the circus at the age of 7 as a kiddie clown. Later, I performed the Spanish rope, where I hung upside down and spun around, and also did trapeze acts. I was in the circus for 13 years. It was a family affair. My dad provided music equipment, my mom was an artist, and my sister also performed."

Pageants: "I started competing in 1994 in the 4-H fair queen pageant. I won that and was later the Circus City Festival Queen. When my sister (Betsy Bobel Opyt) became Miss Indiana in 2000, I watched her and knew I wanted to be involved in the Miss Indiana pageant."

How many crowns? Nine. "Like every little girl, I like the crowns, but they don't define me. I tell people who want to compete: 'Don't do this for the crown; do it because you want to gain confidence, leadership skills and friends.' It's like training for the Olympics. You set goals and work toward them."

If named Miss USA: "It will become a full-time job. I will live in New York City for a year. In the past, Miss USA has gone on USO tours to entertain the troops. I expect to promote awareness of important issues such as breast and ovarian cancers, and literacy."

Advice to young women: "I want to draw a distinct line between those who compete in pageants and celebs who lose massive amounts of weight and look unhealthy. Competing in pageants motivates me to exercise and eat right, but you have to be happy with who you are on the inside."

DAY JOB: Bridget Bobel, an assistant manager of mall marketing at Castleton Square Mall, will compete in the Miss USA pageant next month in Baltimore. - Jeri Reichanadter / The Star

Go Underground - With Two New Designers

Despite not having runway shows during fashion week, two little-known designers are making exceptional pieces that are worth trying on.

Ladies, delicate jewelry can only make you look more feminine and beguiling. Design pair Ho Yok Ng and Wen Wei Tong create tantalizing leather neckwear. Under their label Shaoo, they trace the silhouettes made by expensive diamond necklaces like those on Reese Witherspoon at the Oscars. Using the ancient art of Chinese paper cutting, the collection is not only finely produced, but slightly rebellious and definitely downtown.

Onto bags... everyone seems to be carrying the same one these days: oversized and scooped with a buckle. Boring, so get original and snag a bag from November XVII. With their rounded, elongated shapes, they echo body parts with their gently sloping lines. No, they're not gross - just fabulous. Novemeber also makes clothes (pictured above) that are worth a peek, too!

It's nice to be able to rock pieces from Marc Jacobs, but really... everyone knows exactly where you got it. Mix it up and field the most desirable of questions: "I love that. Who made it?"

RANDOM TANGENT:
Joaquin Phoenix temporarily changed his first name to "Leaf" around the age of 6, dropped out of school in the 9th grade, and dated Liv Tyler for a time.

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