April 9, 2008
WEDNESDAY
AT REHEARSALS:
A
later start greeted the delegates as the day started at 10:30am with all of
the delegates hitting the stage in good energy. Then the second long day of
the week awaits them. The session is scheduled to conclude tonight at 10:00pm
with a family meet and greet to follow. Look for pictures manana. Today we
focus on The Evening Gown Competition and tomorrow are all about Swimsuits. So
enjoy the only viewing primer only from Miss Florida USA.
VIEWING
PRIMER
For
the second day we will present a viewers guide to watching our National
Championship of Pageantry. Today we focus on the on air competitions Evening
Gowns. It should also be noted that for the first time ever the pageant will
be televised in High Definition.
EVENING
GOWN
The
competition is set to the music of Rhiannon’s “Umbrella” the competition
starts with a review of all the delegates in a fashion parade. This is a great
way of seeing the non finalist’s gowns in action. All the time the 10
finalists are waiting backstage to begin the on camera competition. If Miss
Florida USA is not in the final 10 look for her with the stage left group
during the parade.
Then
the first delegate is announced, she starts at the top of the stair well
escorted by a male escort then is helped down to mid stairwell. She is
announced and proceeds to center stage for a circle and pose mark this is a
great opportunity to check out the back of the gown. The it’s off to stage
left at the front of the stage for her first close up. She walks the circular
front stage to a second pose park where she takes her final close up and then
the pattern repeats.
After the tenth delegate completes her pattern the entire group returns for a comparison look for the judging panel. The cameras complete the segment as they make a pan from left to right. At home watch the delegate’s composure as nerves can be showing on the close up. After the delegates complete the evening gowns, Donny Osmond goes to the judging panel to get opinions from the judges.
MISS
TEEN USA UPDATE:
Wednesday
was the State Directors Meeting at Miss USA and one of the hot topics was the
status of The Miss Teen USA Pageant. Miss Universe said they are shopping the
pageant to several cable networks. They will make a decision on the status of
this year’s broadcast will be made in the next few weeks. A Labor Day window
is being considered, more likely if the show is not televised. It was also
stressed that the home office is committed to the continuation of the pageant
and that in the long term it will return to television.
CATCHING
UP WITH MISS FLORIDA USA
Wednesday
night after a long rehearsal our Miss Rafalowski took a few minutes to relax
and chat with her parents and yours truly. Tired but enthusiastic and excited
would be the best way to describe her at 9:30pm! A full twelve hours in the
theater can tire a girl out. But she loves the pace and the delegates.
The Tuesday Night post rehearsal “meet and greet” reception was tiny and quiet last night as you can tell the pageant is winding down. But an extra hour of sleep and later rehearsal start on Wednesday was welcomed by the delegates.
The
Rafalowski Family at Wednesdays Meet & Greet
PROJECT SUNSHINE
Rachel
Smith, Miss USA makes greeting cards for patients on behalf of Project
Sunshine at the Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino on Friday, April 4, 2008 in
Las Vegas, Nevada. Project Sunshine is a not-for-profit organization that
provides social, educational and recreational programs to children and
families living with medical challenges.
Chelsey
Sophia Rodgers, Miss District Of Columbia USA 2008
Raelene
Aguilar, Miss New Mexico USA 2008
Michelle Gillespie, Miss Kansas USA 2008; and LauRen Merola,
Miss
Pennsylvania USA 2008
Vincenza
Carrieri-Russo, Miss Delaware USA 2008; Michelle Gillespie, Miss Kansas USA
2008; and Crystle Stewart, Miss Texas USA 2008
GETTING
TO KNOW
MISS IOWA USA
Abbey
Curran is about to go international. Friday night millions of people in 80
countries around the world will see the 20-year-old Kewanee woman walk across
the stage live at Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas, as she competes in the 2008
Miss USA pageant.
A story about Curran will also be featured in the edition of People magazine
which hits newsstands next Friday, according to magazine spokesperson Florence
Nash.
A
2006 graduate of Kewanee High School, Curran has become the first girl from
Kewanee to ever advance to a nationally televised beauty contest after winning
the Miss Iowa USA pageant last November. As a sophomore public relations major
at St. Ambrose University, she lives in Davenport, and was therefore eligible
for Iowa Miss USA, which she won in a field of 24 girls.
Her success is all the more extraordinary since she has had cerebral palsy
since birth and — continuing to make history — is the first state
contestant in the 57-year history of the Miss USA pageant to compete in spite
of a life-long disability. The
only concession she’s ever asked and been allowed in any pageant, including
Miss USA, is the use of an escort or another contestant’s arm for balance at
certain points in the competition.
Her life has been dedicated to proving people wrong who said girls with
disabilities couldn’t compete in “real” beauty pageants. Curran not only
competed, placed and won pageants, she started her own in 2004 while still a
student at Kewanee High School. The Miss You Can Do It pageant, held at
Kewanee High School, is in its fifth year and was started by Curran to give
girls with special challenges in life a chance to have a real pageant
experience. The People magazine feature will apparently deal in depth with
Curran’s involvement with the pageant she founded and what it has meant to
the girls who have entered.
The
judges include one who might take special interest in Abbey’s avid interest
in proving people with disabilities can do anything. Heather Mills, ex-wife of
Beatle Paul McCartney, captivated TV viewers last season on “Dancing With
the Stars” and proved skeptics wrong when she completed tricky dance moves
on a wooden leg.
In an interview currently found on the Miss USA website, Abbey said the thing
she wanted the judges to know about her was that she was more than living her
dream. “Competing for Miss USA is actually bigger than a dream come true,
and I am not doing it for myself but for all people with disabilities,
hopefully teaching them that it’s okay to take risks and that you’ll never
know until you try.”
In a recent interview with the Bureau County Republican Curran said to prepare
for the pageant she planned to exercise, stay away from ice cream and didn’t
plan on working with any pageant coaches who might try to make her into
someone she’s not.
“I figure if they want Abbey Curran, then I’ll just be Abbey Curran. I’ll be the best Abbey Curran I can be.” A complete interview, a video interview, and nearly 70 photos of Abbey in evening gown and swimsuit and in pre-pageant activities around Las Vegas, can be found on the Miss USA website at www.missusa.com. Abbey’s Miss Iowa site can be accessed at www.missusa.com/delegates/2008/files/IA.html.