MISS FLORIDA USA PRELIMINARY REPORTS

Miss Tampa & St. Petersburg USA & Teen USA Pageants

The Miss Tampa USA/Teen USA and the Miss St. Petersburg USA/Teen USA will be produced by Citrus Productions on Saturday and Sunday, December 4 and 5, 2004. Citrus Productions is excited to host this event as the reigning Miss Florida Teen USA, Victoria Ratliff, held the title of Miss Tampa Teen USA before she won the coveted crown of Miss Florida Teen USA and will represent FL at the nationally televised Miss Teen USA Pageant owned and operated by NBC/Universal and Donald Trump Productions!

The private interviews will be held at the Hilton Clearwater Beach Resort on Saturday night (12/04) and the pageant will be held on Sunday (12/05) at the Harbor View Center in Clearwater! This preliminary pageant was very successful last year as Lori Duncan, Miss Tampa USA and Kimberly Duncan both made the Top 10 at the state televised Miss Florida USA Pageant!

Tiffany Terrell, Miss St. Petersburg Teen USA also accomplished a Top 15 spot at Miss Florida Teen USA. All of these titleholders will be in attendance to pass the torch to four other deserving young ladies! Michael Galanes and the entire staff of Citrus Productions wish everyone a happy and safe holiday season! Why not start your holidays competing for one of these four titles...............Miss
Tampa USA, Miss Tampa Teen USA, Miss St. Petersburg USA, Miss St. Petersburg Teen USA! For more information contact director@missvermontusa.com for this great tradition in the Miss Florida USA system.

PRELIMINARY PAGEANT NEWS!

» Miss Seminole County Registration Closing: The Miss Seminole County USA and Miss Seminole County Teen USA 2006 Pageants are closing registration. To avoid last minute disappointment’s as this should be one great pageant, contact Pageant Director Charles Lee either at Phone (407) 310-9106 or via email at DebonairCreations@cfl.rr.com. The pageant is next Sunday November 14 at The Orlando North Hotel in Maitland.

» MISS TALLAHASSEE USA TO BE TELEVISED: For the second year The Miss Tallahassee USA & Miss Tallahassee Teen USA Pageants will be broadcast in the Capital City. NBC Channel 40 will air the telecast on a week delay Saturday November 13^th at 6:00pm. Check out this link for more information. http://www.leadingladymagazine.com/misstallahassee/home.php.

» Miss West Broward USA Seminar News

The Miss West Broward USA Pageants will be having an Orientation Meeting Sunday, November 14 from 1- 3pm at the Marriott Hotel 11775 Heron Bay Blvd Coral Springs. They will be having their Official Gown Sponsor in attendance for anyone who is still searching for pageant attire. She has everything you would need for the pageant. They will be giving away a 1 month gym membership and 1 personal training session from our Official Gym Sponsor Studio 4 Fitness, one to a teen and one to a miss contestant. They also will give away a free nail care service also to a teen and miss contestant from Nails By Kathy. The meeting is open to anyone that would like to attend. Please RSVP to misswbrowardusa@aol.com

» Miss Tampa/St. Petersburg USA Seminar Day This Saturday!

If you are interested in competing in the Miss Tampa USA/Teen USA and Miss St. Petersburg USA/Teen USA Pageant on December 4 and 5, 2004, Citrus Productions is hosting a training/information session at John Robert Powers on Friday, November 12, 2004. We will cover modeling and interview. The address is the following: 5660 West Cypress Street, Suite G, Tampa, FL 33607. The time is from 6:00 p.m. until 9:00 p.m. Please arrive when you can! Miss Tampa USA/St. Petersburg USA will crown two Miss and two Teens and we hope to secure enough delegates to crown three young ladies in each division. The Christmas themed pageant hopes you all will attend! Call 407-896-5787 or e-mail director@missvermontusa.com with any questions!

THE ROAD TO HOLLYWOOD
MISS PANHANDLE USA

& MISS PANHANDLE TEEN USA 2006

October 30, 2004

What an evening it was in North Florida as the second annual Miss Panhandle USA & Miss Panhandle Teen USA Pageants were held in Chipley. Eight delegates competed in the official Panhandle qualifier for Miss USA and eleven delegates competed in the Miss Teen USA qualifier. The place was packed with the attendees abuzz as the lights went out and the competition began.

As vocalist Cayce Griffen sang “This One is for The Girls” the delegates paraded onstage in the high energy opening number. Then it was our announcer for the evening Miss Emerald Coast Teen USA Kimberly Wright who introduced our host and hostess for the evening, from Panama City Paul Golding and Miss Panhandle Teen USA 2005 Noelle Stevens.

After their welcomes it was time to announce the first winners for the evening. The Miss Panhandle Teen USA Results for these special awards were:

Miss Amity –Sarah Zurell

Miss Photogenic – Sally Wusstig

Peoples Choice – Sally Wusstig

Then the Miss Panhandle USA special awards were as follows:

Miss Panhandle Results

Miss Amity – Amanda Willis

Miss Photogenic – Katie Laughlin

Peoples Choice – Amanda Willis

Miss Panhandle USA contestants in Evening Gowns.

After the awards were presented it was time for the remaining competition to begin. Up first was the Miss Panhandle Teen USA contestants in swimwear provided by The Leading Ladies. Then it was on stage one last time for comparison judging. Following the teen delegates it was the Miss Panhandle USA delegates in their Leading Lady swimwear.

Then the final phase of competition featured the delegates in evening gowns of their own choosing. The Teen USA delegates were up first followed by The Miss USA contestants. Then it was time for the judges to narrow down the group to the finalists. Judges included international best-selling romance novelist Gloria Dale Skinner, BeachTV correspondent Leann Lenard, ThinkCreative Advertising CEO Mark Marsiglio, former Teen Vogue staffer and Fashion focus editor Tara Thompson and Colleen Green, former southeast director for Miss USA.

After an intermission it was time to select the five finalist in the Miss Teen USA division and four finalists in the Miss USA division. But the first surprise of the evening was that due to a tie, five Miss USA delegates would be selected. Then Mr. Golding and Miss Stevens called out these names:

The Miss Panhandle Teen USA finalists were Trisha Forbes, Sarah Zurell, Sally Wustig, Keely Shannahan and Aubrey Henderson. Then the finalists for Miss Panhandle USA were Brook Francis, Amanda Willis, Liberty Williams, Rachel Cole and Katie Laughlin.

The finalists were then asked questions selected at random and presented by host Paul Golding. This allowed one final review for the judges who had to make a very difficult decision. Before their selections were announced it was time for Miss Panhandle Teen USA to take a final walk and thank her audience.

Then it was time for the announcements.

Miss Panhandle Teen USA Results:

4^th Runner Up – Keely Shannahan

3^rd Runner Up – Sally Wustig

2^nd Runner Up – Aubrey Henderson

1^st Runner Up – Sarah Zurell

Miss Panhandle Teen USA is Trisha Forbes!

Miss Panhandle USA Results:

4^th Runner Up – Rachel Cole

3^rd Runner Up – Katie Laughlin

2^nd Runner Up – Amanda Willis

1^st Runner Up – Liberty Williams

Miss Panhandle USA is Brook Francis!

The crowning moment for Miss Panhandle Teen USA!

Leading Ladies Amanda & Samantha

pose with Miss Panhandle Teen USA.

Congratulations to The Leading Ladies Samantha & Amanda along with their wonderful family and dedicated volunteers for another great pageant. Miss Panhandle USA 2006 was quite the success! Also congratulations to Miss Francis & Miss Forbes on their victories! Up next for these young ladies is state next year in South Florida.

The Road to Hollywood travels a few exits east on I-10 for next weeks Miss Tallahassee USA & Miss Tallahassee Teen USA Pageants. See you next weekend in Tallahassee!

A great photo opportunity for the new titleholders

with our Miss Florida Teen USA.

STATE PAGEANT ELIGIBILITY STATS

Miss Florida USA 2006

Delegates Entered: 2

Delegates Eligible: 9

Miss Florida Teen USA

Delegates Entered: 3

Delegates Eligible: 12

This weekend:

2 entries Miss USA 1 entry Miss Teen USA

to be awarded.

THE ROAD TO MISS USA UPDATE:

This beauty queen wears Army boots

By Steve Arel

(Reprint Courtesy of Eastern Region ROTC Public Affairs)

KINGSTON, R.I. (TRADOC News Service, Nov. 3, 2004) – Believe it or not, turning an about-face is really no more difficult in high heels than in combat boots. To appreciate her ability to execute military facing maneuvers in both types of shoes, you first have to understand why Paganetti has amassed a diverse footwear collection. The new Miss Rhode Island is an Army ROTC cadet with the University of Rhode Island, where she is, military program leaders say, a blossoming leader.

Cadet Allison Paganetti with the ROTC crest

Before the 20-year-old became the state’s representative in October in next year’s Miss USA pageant, the junior from North Kingstown spent two years regularly donning Army fatigues instead of evening gowns and dolling her face with camouflage paint instead of foundation and blush.

Paganetti relishes the life of a cadet and has committed to become an Army officer after graduation in 2006. Despite her passion for pageants and the demands to stay beautiful, she doesn’t shy away from firing rifles, venturing out on field-training exercises and “rolling around in the mud.”

And she’s good at it. Paganetti typically surpasses the maximum score of 300 on the Army physical-fitness test, something she credits to her dedication to keeping her body in shape for being in either the pageant or military spotlight. “I do everything to ROTC standards,” she said. “I expect to be treated like a cadet. I don’t put anything else in the way.”

Paganetti was crowned Miss Rhode Island Oct. 10, emerging from a field of 41 women. The finals were held at Rhode Island College in Providence. Paganetti was surprised and overwhelmed when her name was announced, breaking down in tears. She didn’t expect to win. Then again, she never does because she doesn’t want to be disappointed if she comes up short.

This time, of course, she wasn’t disappointed. “It’s an extreme goal I’ve been working for so long,” Paganetti said. “I was just shocked to make the top 10. … All my hard work has paid off. “ROTC encourages us to be motivated to have goals. I was just enforcing one of things they were teaching us,” she said.

Allison Paganetti was crowned

Miss Rhode Island USA Oct. 10.

She said she wasn’t nervous being on stage with thousands of people in the audience, including friends, family and ROTC cadre cheering her on. “When I compete, I feel more at ease. I’ve been preparing for so long,” she said. “It was all or nothing for me, so I put everything I had in to doing it correctly.”

Ms. Paganetti’s platform centers on community service. She volunteers with children and the Special Olympics. “Those are the things that make me happy,” she said. Meanwhile, trying to juggle the life of a cadet with the responsibilities of Miss Rhode Island will be no easy feat. As a cadet committed to being a future Army officer, she still has classes to attend, projects to tackle and drills to complete. And as Miss Rhode Island, she will be making many appearances, speaking to various groups and, come April, representing her home state on the national stage in Baltimore.

“I push myself as hard in ROTC as I do in the pageant world,” she said. For now, many of those waking hours are spent preparing. No Miss USA contestant from Rhode Island has won the competition since it began in the early 1950s. And only Miss Rhode Island 1973 finished in the top five.State pageant organizers say that could change with Paganetti. She has the looks, the talent and the charisma to win. But Paganetti, as usual, isn’t building up herself mentally. “Whatever happens, happens,” she said.