Full Figured & Fabulous 2006 Competition

 
 

This past weekend I was down in Baltimore, Maryland where I was judging the Miss Full Figured & Fabulous 2006 Competition, Produced by DeVoe Signature Events. The event was held at the Best Western Hotel in Baltimore and the hotel was completely booked out when I arrived. I checked in to my room, unpacked, ironed some things and jumped in the shower to be ready for my 4pm call time in the main ballroom.

I arrived at the Ballroom at 4pm and was greeted by a handsome young man, named Terronce Styyles...who was the Judges Liasion. He was quite charming and showed me into the Judges holding area and told me to help myself to some champagne & refreshments...lol....he didn't have to tell me twice...I hadn't eaten since I had arrived at noon and I was STARVING!!!! Shortly after my arrival another Judge arrived and as I greeted her she introduced herself as "Sarah", I though she looked vaguely familiar but I didn't think too much of it at the time. Now, Ya'll know I can't sit still for my than 5 minutes at any given time, so I was up and off exploring the main ballroom.

As I got outside of the holding area, one of my friends asked me if it was true that Sarah Dash of Labelle was one of the Judges...to which I said..."I Don't Think So" but my curiosity got the best of me and I immediately headed back inside and asked her point blank if she was Sarah Dash of Labelle and she smiled and said yes!....so what do I say next???? "How can I get to meet NONA?????" Lol...she was very good natured about my request and a lovely woman to boot, I sat and talked with her for quite a while and she told me that she was working on a gospel album. I hope that our paths will cross again....I would love to hear her sing.

In the middle of our conversation, the only male judge of the evening arrived. He was very polite and went around the room introducing himself. When I looked up at him, I realized although, I didn't know his name....I recognized his face immediately!!!! His name is GregAlan Williams and He was a primary character on one of my favorite police dramas ...The District with Lynn Thigpen & Craig T. Nelson. I love this show....after I lost my job, I was up every morning having my coffee and catching up on all the episodes!!!! He is the coolest, nicest, man and I enjoyed sitting on the panel with him....watching him genuinely enjoying himself!!! I hope to keep in contact with him because I would love to work with him one day.

The final judge came in the room right after GregAlan, and her name was Tangi Watts Davis, and she is a the owner of her own PR Company, Na arah Intl and is the Editor In Chief of Thik Magazine. She was wonderful to sit on the panel with as well, and she brought a couple of her fine male models to the event with her. I look forward to seeing more of this sista's work in the future.

After we had our refreshments and briefed on the rules of the competition, we were escorted to the main ballroom and seated at a table at the foot of the runway. CEO Gwen DeVoe hosted the competition which began with a video presentation of each contestant and the and then an introductory walk by each contestant.

I was really impressed with the amount of creativity that the ladies put into their presentations and the amount of confidence that they all had in themselves was a beautiful thing to watch! The Full Figured movement is virtually unstoppable at this point and I for one and excited to see what the future holds for us. The winner of Full Figured & Fabulous was a statuesque sister named Lisa. She stopped the show when she came out in the evening wear segment dressed as a beautiful Nubian Queen, complete with umbrella with mosquito netting! We were all floored at the simple brilliance of her outfit. On hand to surrender her crown was Miss Full Figured & Fabulous 2005, Miss Sheka Rolle.

During the intermission, Diva put together a small fashion segment for the show's shoe sponsor...Taceri Shoes, Specializing in sizes 10 to 14...I was a guest model in the segment and I got to share the runway with none other than my home girl and Baltimore's Other Favorite Daughter....Miss Tiffany Jones of MFC Season Two. I LOOOOOOOOOOOVVVEEEEE Tiffany! Her presence and her energy is absolutely amazing....she was there with her beautiful manager Ms. Jay and her friend Taz who sent me some beautiful photos as well.

The whole event was very nicely put together and very well run, Diva's staff, dressed in White were top notch and flawless as always! A special award was presented to Mr. Charles Coleman and he had his entire staff on hand when he accepted his award. It was very touching. The music was supplied by DJ Naj, one of a set of twin sisters and they kept the music pumping. As the evening wore down, Diva presented the judges with special presents in big red boxes with white bows on em'....very classy (And you KNOW how much I like getting presents!!!) ... but then...that IS Diva's signature....Class all the way!

Kudos to DSE for another successful event!