Miss Florida USA Faces

BUNNELL -- Lifelong rodeo lover Katie Edmonson rushed into her house, her face covered in stage makeup, her blonde hair tagging along behind. She stood in front of a mirror and scrubbed hard with cleansing pads, until her fresh tan skin glistened through. Edmonson just returned from a mall makeover where she discovered bronze powders and the proper way to apply blush.

The 20-year-old beauty queen doesn't get dolled up every day. She said she's going to have to practice if she wants to make the top 15 at Miss Florida USA next month. But on Thursday afternoon, she was content to throw on a T-shirt and head to the country.

"Some people will say you need to be a girl; you need to wear the makeup," said the petite, blue-eyed young woman. She chatted outside the stall where her barrel-racing quarterhorse J.P. waited for his bath.

Edmonson will be the first Miss Flagler County to compete in the state-level contest. She'll spend a week with 65 or more young Florida women vying for a chance to move on to the Miss USA pageant, which leads to Miss Universe. WRDQ-TV will air the Florida pageant from 7 to 9 p.m. July 16.

Edmonson traveled to Hollywood, Fla., last weekend for an early taping. She learned dance routines and socialized and got a taste for "serious" competition. Contest organizers advised her to pack vitamins and drink water when she arrives on July 11. She's prepared to survive on just three hours of sleep a day.

"It's a pageant like I've never experienced," she said. And there have been plenty of pageants. Since she was 5, the young woman has competed in various age categories of the Miss Flagler County competitions -- a favorite event of Flagler Beach's popular July 4 festivities. She almost always finished as first runner-up. When she finally won the crown in 2004, Edmonson thought her pageant days were over.

But recently she got a call from Miss Flagler County sponsor and director Zoee Forehand, who told her the local pageant had officially become a qualifying competition for Miss Florida USA. That's opened the door for other women dreaming of the crown.

Forehand said there are many local women who grow up competing in the county pageant, which has been around since the 1940s. There's a scholarship essay portion that was initiated in memory of Forehand's mother, former pageant coordinator and director Trez Frassrand. And the whole competition focuses on building poise and self-esteem rather than just outer beauty, Forehand said.

Those are traits the reigning Miss Junior Flagler County Lauren Hadeed has valued over the years. "It helps you learn more about yourself if you're under pressure," she said, "and everything you're capable of." Now 16, she's decided not to compete in the Miss Florida Teen USA pageant in October, though she's interested in striving for Miss Florida USA one day. She wants to concentrate on high school next fall so she can study art at Colombia College Chicago.

WEEKI WACHEE -- "American Idol" finalist and Miss Florida USA Preliminary Pageant Alumni Melissa McGhee already showed she could sing. Now add swimming with the mermaids. The 21-year-old Tampa woman pulled on a shiny green fish tail Saturday and performed with the women dressed as mermaids at the renowned Weeki Wachee Springs attraction.

On Thursday, McGhee dipped into the frigid spring water to learn the basics of underwater maneuvering and using the breathing tubes mermaids need to stay beneath the surface for their 20-minute shows. "It was a lot harder than I thought," she said, wringing out her brown hair just after exiting the spring. "You really have to work and move a lot of muscles in ways that they don't normally maneuver. And at the same time you have to hold your breath in the cold water. It's tiring. I really respect the mermaids."

McGhee was the first of the 12 finalists voted off "American Idol" this past season. Taylor Hicks, of Birmingham, Ala., won the competition. McGhee also performed Saturday at Weeki Wachee Springs as part of the Hernando County Hurricane Expo.

Vicki Monsegur, top left, and Mayor Robyn Anderson at Weeki Wachee Springs on Thursday.

Have you ever wondered what goes on behind-the-scenes of a beauty pageant? The inside secrets beyond what you see during a television special? The glamour, the gowns, the sash, the crown….and the drama??????….for 51 young lovely ladies..…this is the moment they have dreamt of since they were little girls. Now, their stories are unveiled.

Wednesday, June 21^stat 9:00pmET (check your local listings) the premier event of the E! Entertainment Television Network, Al Roker Production and the Miss Universe Organization produced behind-the-scenes special: UNCOVERED: The Hidden Lives of MISS USA!

» Miss USA has a video ‘visit’ with brother stationed in Naples
By Sandra Jontz, Stars and Stripes

NAPLES, Italy — Seaman Joshua Conner, a sailor stationed in Naples, says he is quite happy to leave the beauty and pageantry to his younger sister. After all, she is Miss USA. But it sure doesn’t hurt to be the brother of a celebrity, he said Friday just after he had spoken with his sister and parents during a videoconference linking him at the U.S. Navy’s support site in Gricignano to sister Tara and parents Brenda Johnson and John Conner at the Center for Rural Development in Somerset, Ky.

“I’m still at a loss for words,” he said after seeing his family for the first time in roughly a year — even though it was just on a computer monitor. His mother could barely control her tears as she peeked into the screen an ocean away and said to her 22-year-old son: “You look so good.”

The Navy is working with Tara Conner’s publicists and the USO to get the 20-year-old beauty queen to Naples for a face-to-face meeting for the two siblings. “Plan to hook me up with your friends,” Tara told her older brother, who appeared to blush.

The two grew up in Russell Springs, Ky., and “got along pretty well,” said Conner, a military policeman. He never needed to protect his younger sister. “Ah, she wasn’t afraid to go 12 rounds with an alligator,” he said.

He’s the quieter of the two, he said, and much less spontaneous than his sister — who tried to get him to laugh by sticking tissue in her nose during the videoconference. “How do you think this looks?” she asked, giggling. He laughed — sort of.

Tara, now studying business administration at Somerset Community College in Kentucky, will vie for the Miss Universe title during the competition in Los Angeles on July 23. She will have the support of her brother, who described his younger sister as “the best person in the world. She’s just completely awesome,” he said.

Seaman Joshua Conner, a military policeman stationed at Naval Support Activity Naples, Italy, “visits” by videoconference Friday with his sister, Miss USA 2006 Tara Conner, his mother, Brenda Johnson, and his father, John Conner.

attends to a training session of the Costa Rican national soccer team at the Walldorf Stadium

two days ahead of the FIFA World Cup kick-off in which Costa Ricaz will face host Germany

Miss Universe Natalie Glebova arrives to the Viva Glam Casinos 5th Anniversary commemoration

which benefits the DIFFA (Design Industries Foundation Fighting Aids), co-sponsored by M.A.C VIVA GLAM,

» Pageant News Wanted!

Are you a titleholder or at large delegate who is making appearances or doing good things in the community? We would love to tell all of the Miss Florida USA Family your story. Send pictures and updates to telair@aol.com as we feature everything Miss Florida USA on Friday’s at Faces & Places.

» Alumni News Wanted!

If you know of any Miss Florida USA alumni in the news please drop us an email to feature them in future articles. Email all info to info@missfloridausa.com! Until next week here to good pageantry!

PICTURE OF THE WEEK!

Our Picture of The Week staff ventured south to La Paz for this weeks pageantry themed entry.

From the stages of Miss Bolivia Universe we found one of the most bizarre costumes we have ever seen.

So therefore we present a rather baffling Picture of The Week.