Miss
Teen USA Report
July
24, 2010
DAY
NUMBER THREE IN PARADISE:
As
the girls have acclimated themselves to the Caribbean it’s time to kick it
up a notch with the first night of competition. The Presentation Show was the
featured event of the day as it was all business for our delegates. So after
breakfast it was all inside the ballroom as they put the finishing touches on
the show. After lunch we were able to sit down with our Miss Florida Teen USA
2011 Alyssa Rivera for a scheduled time to get our game plan down. She was in
great spirits and was ready to begin the competition.
The
start of the two day competition cycle began Friday evening as the fifty-one
delegates showed the judges their A-game during the swimsuit and evening gown
competitions. Miss Teen USA Stormi Henley co-hosted the evening as it was a
quick and precise show. The audience was loud and energetic as it was great to
see the support for these amazing young ladies. Florida was well supported as
we had a loud and vocal group. We also had our past two Miss Florida USA’s
as both Lissette Garcia and Megan Clementi sat together with Florida Executive
Producer Grant Gravitt, Jr.
After
the show it was quickly to the rooms for our delegates as a 8:00am interview
session on Saturday morning awaits. That will complete the competition and the
results and semi-final competition begins tomorrow evening a mere 12-hours
after the interviews at 8:00pm. You can watch all the fun from the islands at www.missteenusa.com
as the event is streamed live.
Miss
West Virginia Teen USA introduces herself to the audience
Miss
Florida USA 2010 and 2011 were in the house!
Miss
Rivera (Florida), Miss Wade
(Georgia)
and
Miss Crawford (Maryland) in Swimwear by Jayme Shaw
Miss
Rivera (Florida), Miss Atkins
(Illinois) and
Miss
Diaz (New York) in Evening Gowns of their own choosing
GETTING TO KNOW: Miss Indiana Teen USA
Little did Madeline Plesac know as a fourth-grader dressed as Miss USA for Halloween that her make-believe moment would actually come true. Plesac, now 17, was crowned Miss Indiana Teen USA 2010 in October and will compete July 24 for the title of Miss Teen USA at Atlantis in Paradise Island, the Bahamas. Madeline's mother, Leslie Plesac, of Valparaiso, hosted a send-off party Sunday afternoon for her daughter and more than 100 family members and friends at Sand Creek Country Club. “These are people who have impacted her life and been a part of this journey," she said. The Plesacs are not a "Toddlers & Tiaras" kind of family. Madeline didn't compete in a pageant until registering to vie for the Miss Indiana Teen title just one year ago. "It's pretty crazy," Madeline Plesac said, recalling the moment on stage when she won. "My jaw literally dropped. It was a complete shock -- and then I cried." Her win was followed by a year of nearly 30 appearances as Miss Indiana Teen across the state and support of charities such as the Make-A-Wish Foundation and the Special Olympics. "People look up to you," Plesac said of her title. "It's been good to be able to give someone with a disability a hug and see their eyes light up." Yet her celebrity hasn't gone to her head. "It taught me to stay true to myself," said the 2010 Chesterton High School graduate. "I don't want to get pageant-crazy."
Plesac first entertained the idea of pageant competition when Susan Brychell, who works with Leslie Plesac at Purdue University North Central - Porter County, encouraged her. Brychell, Miss Indiana USA 1980 and a former director for the Miss Indiana USA and Teen USA pageants, said something magical occurs when Madeline takes the stage. "She just zones in and lights up and nails it," said Brychell, who coaches Plesac. "She just has that way about her. She owns it." Plesac's sister Natalie, 14, and her mother have spent the past year driving with Madeline to her appearances. "We've had a lot of laughs," her mother said. "She's done well being a nice person and a generous person. It's neat to watch her grow." Madeline Plesac said it's "weird" she's not nervous about the upcoming competition, and she's confident about her chances. "I'm me, and I can win it being me," she said. And if she doesn't? "I'm going to be the same person after it as I am right now," she said.
Madeline Plesac just graduated from Chesterton High School and was the focus of a send-off party Sunday
afternoon at the Sand Creek Country
Club / Madeline
Plesca's Miss Indiana Teen USA plaque and tiara
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