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May 2009 Edition Of
"The Excellence"
Victoria's Voice
Greetings to all,
I can’t believe I’m at my six month mark
being Miss Gay America. Time is flying by and before we know it, we will be
crowning our new Miss Gay America. I am very impressed on how prepared
contestants and promoters have been! It
seems that everyone has done their home work and the competition is going to be
more than fabulous! It is so rewarding to see all the effort and energy put into
play by the contestants and the support that the promoters give is priceless.
In my last letter, I left off on my way to Miss Gay Delaware. The plane ride was
great but my arrival was even better. As I walked to retrieve my luggage, who
should be standing there? Scott and Barry in matching red shirts with the
biggest smiles ever! I knew then that the weekend was going to be memorable.
Right off the bat we all started joking around and carrying on like we had known
each other for years- I could tell it was going to be the start of a great
friendship. That night, a dinner party was thrown in Karen Thomas’ (Miss Gay
Delaware 2008) honor. The hosts were my new friends Gene and Vinnie- we too
bonded right away. There were many at the dinner and the food was delish, it was
great meeting the kind and wonderful people of
Delaware
.
The next morning was registration and Natasha Rose, Janell Collins and
Tisha
Towers
were ready to put on one big fight for the crown. The boys were so excited to
compete for the title and male interview was the first punch. The pageant was
held in “Fire House” and the firemen were pretty hot! The pageant was graced
with many formers and the entertainment was beautiful! The judges Brooke Lane,
Miss Peaches, Blair Michael's, Mona Lotts and The Man in the Red Hat did a
wonderful job picking the new Miss Gay Delaware Tisha Towers and first Alternate
Janell Collins. Best of luck to you ladies at Nationals! The pageant was a
success and Scott and Barry did an amazing job putting it all together.
The weekend still had one more day. I did an
appearance at the
Delaware
pride Bingo-a- go-go hosted by Anita Mann. The event was so fun. It was nice to
see many walks of life get together to raise money for AID's research and
Delaware Pride. That night there was an after-show in the honor of the new Miss
Gay Delaware at Baxter's. Thank you to everyone who came and supported the
event- it was so nice to have met you all! I had one more stop to make before my
night came to an end. I got to make a very special appearance at the Crimson
Moon where
Tisha
Towers
hosts her Sunday night show, it was a blast . I would like to thank all of my
new friends of
Delaware
for making me feel so at home and all I can say is that they are "crazy
but loyal".
The month of April has been a joyful time. The
spring and summer months are my favorite time of year, I love the warm weather
and the sun. This is the time where I feel the most motivated to get outside and
enjoy life. Easter with my family was eventful as the 50 of us all gathered for
Church, dinner and of course dessert! The bunny didn't come to see me but I did
enjoy my little brother and niece/nephews candy.
My next trip was to the beautiful state of
Maryland
for the 25 year anniversary of Miss Gay Maryland. This was my third trip to
Baltimore and its better each time. I arrived on a Friday afternoon and was
greeted by the one and only Tatiana Voche (Miss Gay Maryland America 2008). We
had a good trip down memory lane as we made way to the hotel. That night there
was also a dinner in Jonathan’s honor with me and the judges- it was mouth
watering. Gilbert hosted the dinner
and his cooking was fantastic we had crab cakes and Filet Mignon, yum- yum!
Tatiannia, Reba, Kofi, Aunt Tilli, Stephen (Pure Chocolate), Romance and
Christopher Peterson laughed the entire dinner. It was a great way to start an
entertaining weekend. After dinner we had the honor of seeing Christopher
Peterson in action. For those of you who do not know him, he is a professional
Female Impersonator who does just about any character you can think of from Tina
Turner to Carol Channing. He changes costumes right there on stage and never
changes his make-up, all of the illusion comes from his mannerisms and facial
expressions. Oh, and did I mention
he sings LIVE and sounds just like each impersonation! He got two thumbs up form
me! I think anyone who does an impersonation of anyone one should watch this
man!!! After the show, me and my bff Eddie, John and Kofi went to the Eagle.
Boy, did we hear about that all weekend long ( lol).
Saturday was registration and male interview. I
don't think I have ever seen a group in interview so prepared. All of the nine
contestants were unbelievable in this category, congrats to all for you for a
job well done. That night was the annual night of the reigning and then the
review show. Tatiana chose to have a roast... "Really, no I mean
really!" wow, it was so funny listening to all of Jonathan’s friends let
him have it. It was a great way to start the night in review. Joining us that
evening were my MGA sisters Catia Lee Love and Nicole Dubois along with my sista’
Kofi. We all lived the moment and made great memories!
Miss Gay Maryland has won prelim of the year many times, it is easy to see why.
The hard work put in by Roger Dimick, the staff of the Hippo, the formers and
the contestants is what makes this pageant so grand. But, even all of this put
together does not compare to the contestants and the heart they have for the
title. It reminded me of when I competed and the love I have for the system. The
judges again had their work cut out for them as Treasure Revlon, Jasmine Marks,
Jada B. Douglas, Chi Chi Ray Colby and Sue Nami fought for their placements.
Congratulations to Sue Nami MGMD 09’ and Chi Chi Ray Colby for receiving your
ticket to Miss Gay America. A special thank you to Chuck Bowers and Roger Dimick
for making me feel at home-I can't wait to come back!
As I write to you each month I get to share with
you experiences along my journey as Miss Gay America. This is a very special
part for me because I hope that you can one day get a chance to write this very
same letter. It’s hard work to compete and although things may not pan out as
you would have liked, there is an unknown story that will one day make
sense-until then, it is just unknown. So in times of being unsure remember
"There's always gonna be another mountain, I'm always gonna want to make it
move, always gonna be an uphill battle, sometimes I'm gonna have to lose. Aint
about how fast I get there, aint about what's waiting on the other side- it’s
about the climb"
Until next time,
Victoria DePaula, Miss Gay America 2009
 From the desk of Larry & Terry
Political
and Religious Based Questions
Greetings to all! We hope that this finds that each of you are taking time
out of your busy schedules to enjoy the beauty that this time of the year has to
offer. In the
Memphis
area, our spring season has been exceptional and we hope that your part of the
country has been the same.
If you were able to view the Miss USA 2009 pageant, as broadcast on NBC a couple
of weeks ago, then you were able to witness the very reason why we do not allow
political and religious based questions, in Male Interview and OnStage
Interview. For those who did not get a chance to see it…the Top 5 were
entering the On Stage Interview competition when Miss California drew a number,
which meant that a particular judge was to asked the question, based on the
number drawn. The judge who was able
to ask the question, chose to ask a question dealing with “gay marriage”, to
which Miss California said that “she did not want to offend anyone but she
believed that marriage should be between a man and a woman”… then, as the
Top 5 was announced, Miss California was named as 1st alternate. For
the record, we actually thought that Miss California was going to win the
pageant…but then came the question and the sincere answer… While we think
that there is a time and a place to take a stand on certain things, competition
is not a time for which to do so… We understand that the Miss USA system is an
accumulative point system (less the highest and lowest scores from the panel of
judges) we too think that in competition, when you are being judged, sometimes
attempting to stay in the middle of the road in certain issues may be the safest
way… Granted, the judge who asked the question, was likely not the deciding
score who placed Miss
California
as 1st alternate, however, there is room for accusation. As one
would imagine, Miss California and her entourage’ are claiming that she likely
did not win because of her “honest answer”…even tho’ there were other
judges who had to score similarly to the judge who asked the question…
We
have been around the pageant scene long enough to realize that even the
smoothest of pageants usually have some kind of drama associated with it, mostly
coming from the bitter sports who did not win, however when a contest allows
certain questions such as political or religious based questions, it may create
more trouble than it is worth. Yes, we understand that Judges want to get to
know the contestant, however it is difficult for us to believe that when a
contestant has an opposite opinion on a certain issue for which the judge might
feel very strong, that the judge would not inject some of his biased
opinion…or so it may seem. So, we say all of this to remind you that L & T
Entertainment works hard to ensure that the contestants receive a fair
contest. We make effort to remove every issue that might otherwise suggest
anything but a fair contest. Granted, some contestants find ways to interject
their strong opinion about a certain issue, that may sometimes relate to
politics or religion however, we will always suggest that contestants should not
offer any opinion or do anything, that may offend judges. That is, just as in
every day life…think before you speak. In today’s world of pageantry, the
scores are usually very close and contestants should attempt to not “give
away” points, when at all possible… We know that contestants and their
supporters get very sensitive when it comes to competition and we attempt to
keep a level playing field for all.
We hope that each of you will have a great rest of the spring season and we look
forward to seeing many of you, as we are making plans to attend various
preliminary pageants, throughout the country. Thus far, after three preliminary
pageants, we have heard nothing but great remarks about our reigning Symbol of
Excellence, Victoria DePaula and we look forward to seeing her have an
exceptional reign, while helping promoters and contestants across the country,
to have the best pageant experience possible.
On
a completely different note, there are many who did not know him, but James
Wolfkill, City Preliminary Promoter of Miss Gay Northeast PA America, died
suddenly this past week. James was an avid supporter of the Miss Gay
Pennsylvania America pageant system and the Miss Gay America pageant system. The
city preliminary for which James Wolfkill so loved (Miss Gay Northeast PA
America, which is an official preliminary to Miss Gay Pennsylvania America) was
scheduled for this coming Sunday... It is great to see the State of Pennsylvania
band together (just less than one week after the untimely death of James) in
order to make this pageant happen as scheduled. As difficult as it is to do
without him, we think that James would have wanted the "show to go
on". Kudos to James Sylvester, Miss Gay Pennsylvania America Promoter
Michael Frew a/k/a Michelle Leigh Sterling and Miss Gay Pennsylvania America
2007 Tequila Daniels for working so hard to see James' wishes come to fruition!
This is yet another example of "Excellence" within our promoters and
their supporters.
Until
Next Time!
Larry and
Terry
A Note From The Editor
The Excellence strives to be an informative newsletter delivered to the promoters,
contestants, audience and other supporters of the Miss Gay America Pageant System throughout the year. Should there be any issue or topic of discussion a promoter would like to see addressed (or to write an article to be published) in a future newsletter, please contact the editor via
Email.
Please note, any article, comments, or opinions faxed, mailed, (postal or electronics),
or otherwise sent to any of our "addresses" become our property and carry an implied consent of publication should we choose to do so. No articles will be published in which one or more of the following occurs:
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