Last Sunday I had the pleasure of hosting the Miss Full Figured 2008 Beauty Pageant at the Holiday Inn on 57th Street in Manhattan. This is the third year that I have hosted this pageant and I gotta tell you...I always have a ball doing it. For those of you who aren't "in the know" lol...The pageant is the brainchild of New Jersey Diva, Miss Theresa Randolph of JT Productions and she has been sponsoring this event for the past 19 years.
I love these sort of events because they are so very necessary in the plus size community. We desperately need a forum where we can look and feel beautiful and we can come together and celebrate in our uniqueness. So needless to say...I have come to look forward to participating each time.
Alas, it was in my plans to arrive fairly early so that we could possibly have a run through but me being me...of course it was not to be....lol. I arrived around 4pm to find the dj arriving at the same time and just beginning to set up. I headed to the back and greeted the contestants & the production staff. I had to chase down about 4 bios from contestants and then try to get myself together for the tentative 6pm start time.
I decided to go to the front of the house so that I could check out the layout of the room and the length of the runway. The first person I saw was Eda Francois, who was participating as a judge for the competition. Miss Lady was flawless as always and we chatted a moment before I had to head backstage to get ready. I was in search of my publicist...Mary Moore and as I was looking for her I also ran into designer, Tyrone Chablis and holding it down in the make up area was MFC Season 1 finalist...Miss Alicia Mitchell.
I talked to Miss Theresa backstage for a moment and found that she had revised our start time from 6pm to 6:30pm because of the traffic delays due to the rainstorm we were having. I then retrieved my dress from designer Lonie Cisco (who was also in charge of the backstage area) and proceeded to change. My dress was a low cut sparkly gold number with a deep split and a train in the back. One look at that dress and I somehow KNEW that train was gonna be the "bane of my existence"..lol...well time passed quickly and after some confusion about my introduction...I took the stage to begin the show.
Baby! From the minute I took the runway...I was tripping all over that damn train on the dress!!! and making jokes about it to boot. I decided to ignore it and proceeded to introduce my judges for the evening...Jamie Foster-Brown (Editor in Chief of Sista2Sista Magazine), Grammy nominated R&B recording artist, Miki Howard, Doctor Dolores Boyce, Wilhelmina Plus Model Annivia, Max Szadek (Executive Director of Divabetic), Miss Eda Francois ....I gotta tell you...this was a pretty impressive bunch of judges this year and they all had a ball making their entrances on the runway.
The first segment was the "Daywear" segment and the ladies got all done up in suits and hats...came out and introduced themselves then walked the runway....and I entertained myself by talking to the audience as the judges tallied their scores and the ladies changed into their for the Q&A segment. It was around this time that I noticed that my cohost for the evening, Mr. Kyle Abercrombie was MIA (Kyle....shout a sista out and let me know you are okay). No one had recieved word about his whereabouts and everyone was worried. By the time the ladies took the stage for the question and answer segment...(In ANOTHER dress by Lonie Cisco..lol..I changed into a beautiful black number that I could handle without tripping on)....I realized that I'd be flying solo on this one.
The contestants took the stage all dressed in red for their question and answer segments and it went off without a hitch. They (the contestants) presented themselves beautifully and most spoke eloquently. As the ladies headed back to change clothing for the final segments...I decided to head out into the audience and see what the judges thought of what they had seen so far....they ALL admitted that the ladies had done well and made it very hard for them to predict a clear winner and several of them stood out in front of the pack!
I had a couple of friends attend the show and I was pleased to see as I looked out into the audience that they were enjoying themselves immensely! I returned to the stage after a brief intermission and went straight into the evening wear segment. This segment is pretty much my favorite one...I love to see big & beautiful sister get all glammed up and "purty" for this segment....and they didn't disappoint me either....my girls looked good and represented themselves well!
After the final evening wear segment, the judges were escorted out of the ballroom to a sequestered area where the scores could be tallied and a new winner would be announced. As the judges left the room, Miss Theresa took the stage and opened up the "audience participation segment" where she always invites potential "Runway Divas" (both male & female) to walk the runway, if they liked....this part of the show always cracks me up and folks tend to lose their mind at the thought of strutting the runway and just show out....lol.
Anyway, after a lengthy deliberation (I guess it really WAS hard ya'll) the judges returned and the winner was announced....The New Miss Full Figured 2008 was Miss Yvonne Forbes, who was on her third try as a contestant. Congrats Yvonne! Yvonne joined me later on in the week as she interviewed with me on a segment on Better.TV (http://www.better.tv/). I wish you well Yvonne...represent!
Once the winner was announced, I changed into leather pants and brand new Nike's and scooped up my friends and Miss Eda and we headed to a local pub for a late night bite and a few cocktails! (No one could afford to eat or drink ANYTHING at the Holiday Inn...where a glass of HOUSE CHARDONNAY WAS $12 DOLLARS!!!!)
Thanks Theresa & Jackie for inviting me back...I had a ball...I always do!
Jacqueline & Clooney....thanks for the support...it means a lot!
Love Ya Fam!
“No object is so beautiful that, under certain conditions, it will not look ugly.”
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