The Miss Florida USA & Miss Florida Teen USA

Magazine of July 17, 2008

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. What a great night it was in Hollywood as the 58^th Miss Florida USA Pageant was a resounding success. Congratulations to Anastagia Pierre who will represent the Class of 2009 at Miss USA. This was such a great group of delegates to work with! We thank each and everyone who was involved in making this year the best ever. Now we take a few weeks off and start The Road to Hollywood all over again!

This week was also about Miss Universe and we have the results on World Pageant News. Florida USA News takes us to historic Cypress Gardens, Boca Raton and Naples. GenArt News tackles Geek Chic while our Friday Faces & Places has some great articles on some of our state pageant celebrities. Our www.YouTube.com/MissFloridaUSA Channel takes us behind the scenes at Friday Nights Preliminary Pageant. All the pageant news that fits to print on Thursdays and Fridays only at YOUR Miss Florida USA Ezine, the only Ezine in the pageant world!

Grant H. Gravitt, Jr.

Executive Producer

Miss Florida USA & Teen

» 30 Days until Miss Teen USA 2009!

» 37 Days until Miss Cypress Gardens USA 2010!

PAGEANT NEWS FROM AROUND THE WORLD

» Miss Venezuela crowned Miss Universe; Miss USA trips – again

Miss Venezuela was crowned Miss Universe 2008 on Monday in a contest marked by the spectacle of Miss USA falling down during the evening gown competition for the second year in a row.

In elated Dayana Mendoza received the crown from her predecessor, Riyo Mori of Japan, and then prepared to meet a gaggle of reporters. Miss Venezuela, 22, was once kidnapped in her homeland and says the experience taught her to remain poised under pressure. Tension got under the skin of Crystle Stewart of Texas, the second Miss USA in a row to fall down during the Miss Universe pageant. She tripped on the train of her bejeweled evening gown as she made her entrance.

Watch Stewart fall, jump back up » During the 2007 Miss Universe contest in Mexico City, Miss USA Rachel Smith also tumbled during the evening gown competition and became an unintended star on You Tube, where the video was shown over and over again. Like Smith, Stewart quickly stood up after her fall and continued on as if nothing had happened.

Stewart, 26, is a motivational speaker and former track and field star who is working on a book called "Waiting to Win." The Houston native plans to open a character-development school for young children and has worked with autism victims in the Texas schools. The final five contestants included four from Latin America: Miss Mexico, Miss Dominican Republic, Miss Colombia and Miss Venezuela. Rounding out the final five was Miss Russia. Miss Colombia finished second behind Mendoza. Miss Thailand won the prize for best national costume and Miss El Salvador was chosen by her peers as Miss Congeniality. During her interview with the judges, Mendoza was asked who she thought has it easier in life, women or men. "God made us to share and have differences," she replied, then highlighted what she regards as the different thought processes of men and women.

"Men think that the faster way to go to a point is to go straight," she said. "Women know that the faster way to go to a point is to go to the curves."

The NBC show was hosted by talk show star Jerry Springer and Spice Girl Melanie Brown and broadcast live to hundreds of millions of viewers in 170 countries. Eighty contestants gathered in the seaside city of Nha Trang, Vietnam, vying to succeed reigning Miss Universe Riyo Mori of Japan. Sporting yellow, green and orange bikinis, the 15 semifinalists strutted across the stage during the swimsuit competition to the sounds of Lady Gaga, who belted out the pulsating "Just Dance" in a platinum blond wig. Miss Vietnam, Lam Thuy Nguyen, was greeted with a roar from the Vietnamese audience. The final 10 then competed in the evening gown event. They performed in front of a panel of judges that included international fashion experts and Donald Trump Jr., whose father, the real estate magnate and TV star, co-owns the pageant with NBC. This year's contestants spanned a wide range of experiences and aspirations. Miss Albania was a professional basketball player. Miss Argentina says she has paranormal experiences. Miss Antigua & Barbuda is fascinated by snakes. Miss Angola was in a plane crash while trying to escape a conflict during her country's civil war. The show has been a publicity bonanza for Vietnam, where beauty contests are very popular. The contest featured segments on many of the nation's most popular tourist destinations, such as Hue, Hoi An, Sapa and Ha Long Bay. The program set has been dominated by iconic Vietnamese images, such as bamboo trees, conical hats and lotus flowers. The tuxedoed Springer made a grand entrance on a motorbike -- the vehicle of choice in Vietnam where the streets are teeming with millions of the speeding two-wheelers

Dayana Mendoza of Venezuela takes part in the Miss Universe 2008

evening gown competition during the annual pageant held this year

in central Vietnam's resort city Nha Trang.

Crystle Stewart of the U.S. attempts to stand after falling

during the evening gown competition

Miss Venezuela Dayana Mendoza reacts after winning

» Anastagia Pierre Crowned Miss Florida USA 2009

Anastagia Pierre, of Plantation beat out 48 other pageant contestants to win the coveted Miss Florida USA title, on Saturday, July 12th, 2008. The crowd cheered as Ms. Pierre was selected as the winner at Broward Community College's Bailey Concert Hall in Davie. The reigning Miss Florida USA, Miss Jessica Rafalowski, was on hand to pass on her crown.

Anastagia Pierre is 19 years old and a student at Nova Southeastern University in Davie. She is working to obtain an undergraduate degree in Biology with a minor in Communications. Ms. Pierre plans to be a certified Physician Assistant.

Contestants from all over the state converged on the city of Hollywood, Florida the week of July 8h -12th, 2008 to vie for the Miss Florida USA 2009 crown. The pageant finals were broadcast around the state and overseas and were seen by more than 7 million estimated viewers. The two-hour show was hosted by Louis Aguirre-De co Drive" news anchor. This was the 58th year of the Miss Florida USA Pageant.

The rest of the top five contestants included several outstanding young women. The first runner-up was Alexandra Watkins representing Lakeland. The second runner-up was Lees Garcia, the current Miss Tampa USA. Megan Clementi, representing Volusia County was the third runner-up. Rachel Rose representing South Miami was the fourth runner-up.

The 2009 Miss Florida USA Pageant is brought to you by The City of Hollywood "The Diamond of The Gold Coast", The Greater Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, The Hollywood Beach Community Redevelopment Agency, The Westin Diplomat Resort & Spa, Broward Community College and www.PageantDiva.com.

MISS FL USA NEWS!

» Cypress Gardens to host adult pageant on Aug. 23

WINTER HAVEN - The Miss Winter Haven USA and Miss Cypress Gardens USA Pageant will be held at Cypress Gardens Adventure Park on Aug. 23 at 6 p.m. in the Royal Palm Theater. The two highest scoring women will be awarded the Miss Cypress Gardens USA and Miss Winter Haven USA titles and will advance to the Miss Florida USA Pageant in 2009.

They both will receive the same prize packages, which includes college scholarships; photo shoots with a modeling agent; custom jewelry; passes to Cypress Gardens; personal training and much more.

There are three areas of the competition, each worth one-third of the total score - interview, swimwear and evening wear. The interview portions will consist of a panel question and an on-stage question. The panel interviews will take place and be judged before the pageant production. Interviews will be judged on poise, charm, self-confidence, ability to communicate and substance of answers.

During the swimsuit competition, judges will focus on beauty, figure/physical fitness and the confidence with which each contestant carries herself. The final area of the competition is evening wear. Contestants will be judged on overall appearance, self-confidence and sense of style, as well as stage presence and posture.

The on-stage question will follow the evening-gown portion. Cypress Gardens guests may attend the pageant at no additional cost. Guests arriving after 3 p.m. must pay $20. There will be a pageant registration table at the front gate, and the event will have general seating in the theater.

People who have questions about tickets, contestant applications or sponsorship opportunities can call the pageant coordinator at Cypress Gardens at 863-595-2360 or e-mail misscgusa@cypressgardens.com.

» Miss Boca Raton USA 2010 & Miss Boca Raton Teen USA 2009 Pageants

We are planning a wonderful Miss Boca Raton USA Pageant this upcoming August 31^st at The West Boca Raton Performing Arts Center. The icing on the cake is that we are awarding four titles per age division (Miss Boca Raton USA & Teen USA with Miss South Florida USA & Teen USA) so we will have a team heading to Miss Florida USA and Miss Florida Teen Not to mention the fun that goes along with the appearances throughout the year.

This is also the only summer qualifier for the 2009 Miss Florida Teen USA Pageant. Please feel free to contact either myself or state pageant director Mary Lou Gravitt at our Hollywood offices at 954 924-4949 or via email to telair@aol.com for a free pageant consultation to help you on your pageant journey as it will be a blast!

It’s time for the sixth edition of Miss Boca Raton USA & Teen USA

» Miss Naples USA & Teen USA Pageants

Applications for the Miss Naples USA (ages 18-25) and Miss Naples Teen USA (ages 13-17) pageants are available at www.envypageantproductions.com or by calling 822-4661. The pageant will be held Oct. 25 at the Norris Center, 755 Eighth Ave. S., Naples.

Pageantry returns to Naples to start

the West Coast USA Pageant Season

» MISS FLORIDA USA & MISS FLORIDA TEEN USA ON MYSPACE:

Be our MySpace friend at either www.myspace.com/missfloridateenusa or www.myspace.com/theofficialmissfloridausa as we feature the Miss Marion County USA 10 Minute Pageant at our Miss Florida USA site and the Miss Marion County Teen USA 10 Minute Pageant at our Miss Florida Teen USA site.

This week’s edition of our Miss Florida USA Channel Movie of The Week

takes our viewers backstage for a behind the scenes look at our

Preliminary Pageant from a backstage perspective.

Click here for more YouTube Movies!

7 Ways to Get Your Geek On

Whether you're looking to redecorate your pad or believe in hipster life on other planets, we've got the scoop for you!

In spite of the fact that there's no Seth Cohen equivalent on Gossip Girl (Dan is way more art gallery opening than comic book convention), geek chic never really left the cultural zeitgeist after dominating the earlier part of this decade. Which is a lucky thing for us, as oftentimes, the nerdiest things (a watch that teaches you Japanese?!?) make us extremely excited around Gen Art HQ. Below, seven such finds that we're buzzing about in the offices right now; check 'em out and let us know if you've got some geektastic guilty pleasures of your own!

1. Liqurious.com: Another addictive Web site from Jean Aw and Daniel Frysinger, the talented minds behind the NOTCOT empire; this one is devoted to all things stylish and libation-related.

2. Hipsters in Space: Gen Art's friend Steven Aoki makes a special appearance in Current TV's new web series about a b unch of skinny kids traveling through space in a limited edition sneaker-shaped ship.

3. Next-Door Neighbor: This weekly comic about city life from SMITH, a cool online literary magazine, features contributions from big time creative talent like Jonathan Ames and Harvey Pekar.

4. Feist on Sesame Street: Remember that part in How the Grinch Stole Christmas when his heart grows three sizes larger? If this clip doesn't give you that brand of warm fuzzies, we need to check for a pulse.

5. KRINK Laptop Sleeve: InCase's much-blogged about limited-edition collaboratio n with the famed graffiti artist is the first of many Apple-friendly aesthetically-pleasing products in the "Curated by Arkitip" series.

6. Michael Neff, "Chalk Series": Get in on the ground floor and scoop up one of the eye-popping prints in this Seattle-born emerging artist's collection of Day-Glo chalk enhanced street scenes.

7. Insound 20: Jason Munn and Insound have created a limited edition collection of t-shirts, hoodies and signed posters honoring their twenty favorite indie bands. Pre-orders started yesterday, so get on it!

- Caroline Stanley

Updated 7/18!

The MISS FL USA

Official Preliminary Calendar

Click Here For The Latest Calendar Updates!

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