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Openly gay contestants compete at Miss California USA pageant

As much as I love the traditional big hair and sparkly look of a beauty queen, this is very refreshing to see!  It just goes to show that beauty comes in all forms.
This didn't just happen (contest was in January). Click on the link to learn more:

http://thejlublog.com/2012/01/openly-gay-girl-competes-at-miss-california-usa/

(She's the one in the purple suit... ;)  )

Here's the winner of the Miss California competition.  She will go on to compete in June for the Miss USA crown.



Thanks to thejlublog.com for the photos!

Early picks for Miss USA pageant

check out missuniverse.com/missusa for the list and photos of the 2012 contestants
My picks so far:

Miss Alabama- Katherine Webb


Miss Arizona- Erika Franzve


Miss Florida-  Karina Brez

( I mean, look at all that hair!  Perfect!)

Miss Louisiana- Erin Edmiston


Miss Mississippi- Myverick Garcia


Miss New Jersey- Michelle Leonardo

(This is how you do big hair!)

Miss South Dakota- Taylor Neisen

Great photo

Miss Tennessee- Jessica Hibler

She wasn't messing around with her hair that day. Love!

Miss Texas- Brittany Booker



Miss Utah- Kendyl Bell  

Dramatic look- love the dark hair!

Miss USA 2012- June 3, 2012!!

The current Miss USA,  Alyssa Campanella:



Gor-geous!  

Real Beauty update

Wow!  I am in the top 5 finalists for the 40 year old age group.  I can't believe that I was selected among all the hopefuls!
Next is waiting...
I think lots of my friends voted for me and even some people who I don't know voted for me.
Disappointed with the essay I submitted. It carries some weight in the final judging and I think I should have spent more time on it.  When I read it again it sounded kind of sad.  Darn it!  Fingers crossed for a good result.


 Real Beauty at Every Age : People.com

 I like the first picture better.
The second one is what was submitted for the contest and what people used to vote on.

Real Beauty contest

Ok!  Third time is the charm!  We resubmitted my picture and it's up on the website now.  Very exciting!  Keep your fingers crossed.

PEOPLE Real Beauty contest

After getting a mass e-mailing about signing up for this contest I decided to go for it and submit an entry.  Or so I thought.   I had some very nice photos taken by a good friend/photographer and submitted my entry.  I was assured on the webpage that I'd be notified once my picture had been posted.  That was 4 days ago.  Still not a word- no e-mail, no text, nothing on the website.  I'm concerned because part of the judging is based on votes.  Instead of having 10 days, I now have 6 left and my picture still hasn't been uploaded.  So disappointed PEOPLE!!   I don't expect to win, I just wanted to be entered and at least have a fair shot of getting some votes. Of course, there's no contact information so I can't even find out if it was received. Just to be sure, I submitted it again...
There has to be a better way to let people know. Are they adding the photos by hand, one by one?  I doubt it! An instant e-mail should have come back letting me know if my photo and essay question response were received.

Well, I guess there's nothing to do but wait.  Would have been fun though.  Top prize is a photo shoot in NY and picture in People magazine's Most Beautiful issue.

Toddlers and Lawsuits

It was bound to happen. A pageant mom is suing the parent company of the Huffington Post for $30 million.

The libel suit claims that a video of her daughter singing along to LMFAO's song "Sexy and I Know It" in a restaurant was posted and circulated with stories blowing the whole thing out of proportion.

Ok, she's 5 years old and was out, presumably, with her family in a public place, not a pageant that is typically closed off to everyone but family and friends. Yes, the song may have been inappropriate for her to be singing but chances are she didn't really grasp the intent of the song. When I was five, I used to love to sing along to KC and the Sunshine Band's, "That's The Way (I like it). It took me YEARS to understand what those lyrics actually meant. I will say, my parents didn't listen to pop music so I don't remember exactly how or when I first heard that song but I do remember it when I was in kindergarten.

Like or dislike the pageants, this is still about a kid who was out with her family. Think about the times you would be cringing if there were cameras focused on you and your family. Kids say and do funny/strange/weird things sometimes and taking those things out of context and splashing them around as truth would be unsettling to everyone.

Pageant love

I do. I love all things pageant from Tiny Miss to Miss Universe and I'm not ashamed to say it!

Miss America 2012, Laura Kaeppeler