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July 2007 Edition Of
"The Excellence"
 The "L" Word! (L for Love, L for Life and L for
Luscious)
Hello Friends,
I am
pleasantly surprised by the number of people that come up to me during my
travels and tell me how they follow my excellence column from month to month. As
a journalist, of some sort, you publish an article and put it out there for the
masses not ever really knowing how many people take the time to read it. I wish
there was some kind of counter that could be attached to these monthly
excellence publishing's to gather an idea of how effective and desired they are
from month to month.
This leads to
the topic of the monthly newsletter as one of the Miss Gay America job
functions. Each month, Miss Gay America is required to submit an article to be
included in the Excellence Newsletter. Hopefully, those of you who are applying
for the position of Miss Gay America have put some thought into a title and the
kinds of things you would like to cover in your article. Prior to being crowned
MGA 2007 I had an idea of the title of my article. It changed after reality set
in for me. I always knew that I wanted my article to be both informative,
keeping anyone interested in the dates and the outcomes of prelims, however, I
wanted it to be light reading. My intention was for this article to give a
little insight into the type of person I am outside of the illusion. Is it
possible to do this through written media? Of course! I delve into some of my
personal conflicts only to show that through the beads and rhinestones, I'm
still human. Those of you who have qualified, and those of you who intend to
qualify, should really be thinking of how you intend to promote yourselves as
Miss Gay America 2008. Even through your administrative functions as MGA 2008
you have an opportunity to determine the type of light by which the country
views you.
LOL, in high school, the subject that I detested most of all was English! Who'd
have thought that I'd apply and be hired for a job where one of my
responsibilities was journalism?
I have a
little over 3 months left in my reign. Where did the other 8 months go? The
prelim season is in full swing and will only pick up momentum in the next 3
months. The country has some eager entertainers out there that are trying to get
a ticket to compete in Miss Gay America 2008. I travel from prelim to prelim and
sometimes I see entertainers who didn't qualify at a previous prelim there with
bright eyes and dedicated hearts ready for battle yet again. It makes me value
the position that I have, and truly makes me see the ambition that each of them
has at trying to get where I am right now. It really helps me to keep myself
grounded. It also puts things into perspective for me. I was there before. I
remember a time when I couldn't qualify to make it to the national event. It
wasn't until I sat my friends down and asked them to be honest with me about my
competition package. Your friends can sometimes cloud reality. Have them to be
brutally honest with you. If your gown isn't flattering and doesn't compliment
you nor your figure, then they should tell you this. If you are doing a talent
that exceeds your ability, they should tell you this. Your friends know you
better than of the judges… so have them to help you to evaluate your strengths
and build your package around your strengths and not what you've seen do well at
Nationals in the past. Don't allow your friends/support structure to tell you
what they think you want to hear, rather encourage them to tell you how it is!
This is important and could possibly help you to solve the mystery of why you
may not be placing where you feel you should be placing in competition.
Is anyone
else besides me tired of hearing about Paris Hilton and her short jail visit?
Who cares! Don't break the law and then you won't go to jail. RICH KIDS KILL ME!
I was in our
Nation's capital on 6-2-07 for the Miss Gay DC America pageant. The venue
was remarkable. The Almas Temple hosted the event of 7 contestants.
The stage set was to die for. Ashley Bannks proved that she is indeed
ready for MGA 2008 and ready to be a contender for the title. Perfection
all night. At the end of a festive night, Victoria Parker edged out the
competition to take home the title. The sweetheart herself, Scarlett
Dailey was a gracious 1st alternate. The DC weekend was a wonderful time.
Thanks Cocker Productions.
The very next
week, I was in
Hattiesburg
,
MS
for the Miss Gay Mississippi pageant. I always enjoy my time with Britney
O'brien, who was relinquishing her title to one of 5 ambitious contestants.
I had mentally prepared myself for the blazing
Mississippi
temperatures but to my amazement, the venue was pretty cool and ventilated!
Thanks for looking out for a gal and her makeup! At the end of the night,
the new Miss Mississippi America was crowned, Victoria Valentine. Her
first alternate was Tanisha Foxx. They are two of the nicest queens I've
ever met. Good Luck in
Memphis
ladies.
My final
preliminary in June was
Miss Smoky Mountain
America
. I was so happy to see a good friend of mine, Symphony Alexander-Love,
with the opportunity to relinquish the 1st
America
prelim title she's ever earned. The bar staff of the Rainbow Club West
was ever so gracious and really made all of us visitors feel at home. This
included the 5 contestants who had all traveled from outside of
Tennessee
to capture the crown. They battled all night long, and in the end,
Jessica Jade took the honors.
Evelyn
Forest
didn't make it easy for her as she gained her ticket back to Nationals as 1st
alternate. These two gals will make an awesome team in October.
I want to
thank David and Norman of Arkansas for organizing a trip for me to
Arkansas
during their pride weekend. It was the first time I had the opportunity
to work at
Norman
's bar, which was packed full of trade and things... LOL
Anyone that knows me, knows... ANYWAY. I also had the
opportunity to work with Dominique Sanchez, my MGA sister, at her bar and also
at the Miss Arkansas Gay Pride pageant that was held at The Sound Factory.
This trip was awesome, I met soooo many fun people during the competition and I
look forward to seeing how many of them are going to be competing for Miss Gay
Arkansas America this season. Thanks again for everything David, Norman,
and Dominique.
On a personal note. I'll fill you all in on one of my most embarrassing
moments in drag. It happened to be captured on tape. If you do a
search for "Luscious Miss Gay America" you will see a clip of my
performance at
Miss Gay Western States
America
. I want to give a shout out to my MGA sister, Raquel Chevallier, for
helping me to zip myself into my costume that was on backwards!
YOU MESSY QUEEN! I love you!
Now you other queens better not take this as an opportunity to be putting any
rotted footage of me online to the world to laugh at. LOL just
kidding....if I give it to you to tape then I guess it's open season right?????
In my next
article, I will be talking about my stepdown. I hope to be able to shed a little
light on my personal preparations for it as well. I've been speaking with a
number of friends that have held national titles in various systems. I asked
them 2 questions.
1. How important was your stepdown to you?
2. How important do you think the stepdown was to the rest of the country?
Until next
time, I want to thank all of my anonymous readers out there for their support.
I look forward to meeting you all in my travels.
My
Love,
Luscious
Hot
Performance Tracks
1. Eve -
Tambourine
2. Kelly Rowland - Like This
3. Rhianna - Shut up and Drive and Don't Stop the Music
 From the desk of Larry & Terry
The Fear of Competition….
It is
interesting, how gossip travels. Most of the time, rumors are misleading and
destructive, which is why we dedicate very little time in the investigation of
rumors. Usually, when a “heavy hitter” mentions that they are going to enter
competition, those who may not have the matching experience or confidence,
usually decline to enter a competition out of the fear of defeat. One could
converse with most of those entertainers crowned as Miss Gay America, to see
that each of them have experienced competition loss in their career yet each
will tell you that the loss only made them stronger competitors and
entertainers. An easy win usually does not exist… Everyone is “beatable”
and we witness “competition upsets” many times during a pageant season. It
only stands to logic that with every competition experience, the contestant
should become stronger in every way. The more experienced competitors usually do
well in competition however this is not true in all instances. We encourage all
competitors to set their sites on a particular contest early in the season, then
stop at nothing to enter that particular contest, no matter who has made mention
that they are going to enter…. Then, if you should not qualify for the next
level of competition, through that particular pageant, select another and
continue until your goal is achieved. As we continue to say, pageantry is the
most glamorous way to gamble, and at the conclusion of the pageant, no matter
your placement, you should feel a sense of pride that you attempted your best.
Preparation begins with simple review of the category descriptions, then, a
review of other aspects such as Job Description, to ensure that you are
competing in the system that is right for you. Once you determine that you are
in the correct system for you, then enter every contest you can until your goal
is achieved, no matter who says they are going to enter a particular contest.
Again, everyone is beatable and before long, you will find that you are scoring
well, with “the best of them”… Before you succeed, you must try…
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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