June
3, 2012
SATURDAY IN LAS VEGAS
The
rehearsals are completed and the semi-finalists are selected so it’s all
about putting the final touches on the Miss USA Pageant this evening here in
Las Vegas. Planet Hollywood has been overrun by sashes and tiaras as the
pageant world has gathered in the desert to select our national champion.
Saturday was a very active day on several fronts as the year long search is
almost complete. Fifty contestants from each state and one from the District
of Columbia compete in the NBC-televised 2012 Miss USA Pageant at Planet
Hollywood, where 2011 Miss USA Alyssa Campanella turns over
her crown to the new winner.
Once
again for our delegates it was all about one last day to perfect everything
needed for the live broadcast. Our Miss Florida USA 2012 Karina Brez is ready
to take on the country as she was very involved in all portions of the
rehearsals. The sessions were closed to the public in the morning as Donald
Trump meet the delegates and greeted all fifty one. From 9:00am to well past
dark went the sessions as they will have just one last session on stage as
Sunday’s morning dress rehearsal will be open to the public.
Miss
Florida Teen USA 2012 Sydney Martinez joined the forty delegates who were
present for an all-day seminar that featured instruction to prepare them for
their turn in the spotlight this upcoming July. We last saw Miss Martinez as
she was headed for a bus tour of Vegas with her new friends. The evening
concluded with a state directors soiree at the tres’ chic Opium Bar at TAO
before heading home to get ready for the big day.
We will have results and pictures form the after party at the Palazo on Monday and a full recap of the festivities on Tuesday to conclude our reports. Also look late this evening for picture on our www.Flickr.com/MissFloridaUSA page. The only live state based blog from Miss USA on from your friends at www.MissFloridaUSA.com.
PAGEANT IN PICTURES: SATURDAY REHEARSALS
Miss Maine USA 2012, Rani Williamson; and Miss Florida USA 2012, Karina Brez; pose backstage during the final rehearsals
on
Saturday, June 2 / Some of the
delegates speak with Donald Trump during the final rehearsals
Miss
Kansas USA 2012, Gentry Linn Miller / Miss
Connecticut USA 2012, Marie-Lynn Piscitelli
Miss Michigan USA 2012, Kristen Samantha Danyal; Miss Connecticut USA 2012, Marie-Lynn Piscitelli; Miss Kansas USA 2012, Gentry Linn Miller;
Miss North Dakota USA 2012, Jaci Stofferahn; Miss Kentucky USA 2012, Amanda Ashlee Mertz; and Miss Texas USA 2012, Brittany Lynn Booker;
wait
backstage / Miss Texas USA 2012,
Brittany Lynn Booker; Miss Vermont USA 2012, Jamie Lynn Dragon; and Miss Utah
USA 2012, Kendyl Carol Bell; pose backstage
Miss
Minnesota USA 2012, Nitaya Panemalaythong
GETTING TO KNOW: MISS KANSAS USA
Growing up, Gentry Linn
Miller used to watch the Miss USA pageants on TV and daydream about competing.
Tonight, Miller, a Wichita native, will represent Kansas in the Miss USA
pageant in Las Vegas. Crowned Miss Kansas
USA this past fall, Miller, 24, was not a regular pageant competitor as a
child. Cheryl Miller, Gentry’s grandmother, enrolled her in dance classes in
Dodge City when Gentry was 3 years old. Gentry was incredibly shy, so Cheryl
put her in pageants as well. “She is who she is today because we did
that,” Cheryl said. Gentry competed in pageants until she was 6 years old
and didn’t compete again until her senior year at Wichita’s Northwest High
School. That year, she entered a pageant because she wanted “one last
experience” to give her some public speaking experience before college. She
won Miss Kansas Teen USA and graduated valedictorian with a 4.0 GPA.
Gentry took another break from pageants while
at the University of Kansas. She put herself through school with scholarships
and grants and, in 2010, graduated with a 4.0 GPA. She was also selected to
give the commencement speech for KU’s School of Business, “one of the
biggest honors she’s ever had,” Cheryl said. A dedicated student, Gentry
attributes much of her drive and studious nature to her grandmother. “I
always talked about the importance of education so she could always provide
for herself,” Cheryl said. “And she took it to heart.”
Cheryl, who adopted Gentry after her mother
became ill and could no longer care for her, is proud of Gentry’s work ethic
and how far she’s come. “I don’t care if she wins Miss USA; that’s not
the point. It’s the experience,” Cheryl said. The two are very close and
even share a duplex in Overland Park. “All my friends are like, ‘Really,
you live with your grandma?” Gentry said. Tonight,
more than 20 friends and family members, including Gentry’s grandmother,
will be cheering her on in Las Vegas at the Miss USA competition. Gentry hopes
to win but, if not, will continue working as a pharmaceutical sales territory
manager selling glaucoma products for Allergen’s eye care division. Gentry,
who lived in the Reflection Ridge area, considers Wichita a “great town to
grow up in” and remembers going to River Festival concerts and movies at the
Warren Theatres. She has no plans to move back to Wichita anytime soon but
doesn’t rule it out. “I would come back to Wichita if my career path leads
me there,” she said.
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