The pageants have been as hot as the South in the summer! Imagine! I’ll start off with two corrections from the last Rag…the first runner-up at Miss NC FFI At large spells her name Thalya and the 1st RU at Miss Classique was Natalie Cole of Detroit; next in line were Scarlett Dailey and Petite de Jonville.
I had the chance to see a great show recently here at Scorpio. The night before Memorial Day, the crowd enjoyed the likes of former Miss NC U.S.ofA. Jessica Jade with her elaborate costumes and the dancing toes of former Miss America Luscious and former Miss NC America Kristin Collins. Kristin and Jessica are both planning on going back to MGA this year, so I guess in a way, they were working with one of their idols.
You’ll never guess who I saw and caught up with that night in the audience — former Miss NC America Jamie Monroe! Talk about an old-school goddess. She is excited about the upcoming 30th anniversary of Miss NC America to be held at Scorpio, Aug. 23 and 24. Since I already know one of my favorites, Melissa Montgomery, will be there, all we need now is to get Stella Starr on a plane from Vegas and I will be in ecstacy.
We have new U.S.ofA. titleholders. Shae Shae LaReese just won Miss Classic. Her RUs were Nancy Taylor, Amber Nixx, Ashley Kruiz and Sheri Payne. Other finalists included Onyx, Alexis Cambellis, former Miss NC America Sharde Ross, Bridgett Nickles, Tori Steele, Christina Saxton and Kelli Jo Klein.
The new Miss U.S.ofA. is none other than Kara Young Ross, whom many of my readers will remember from being a Top Five finalist at MGA when it was held here in Charlotte. This was before she was taken under the wings of Tommie Ross. Kara’s RUs were Sasha Andrews, Stasha Sanchez, Kelexis Davenport and Natasha Braxton. Other finalists included Domanique Sanchez, Nina DeAngelo, Naomi St. James, Regine Phillips, Angelique Ali, Myah Monroe and Alexis Nicole Whitney. Sounds like a fierce pageant to me.
I’ve just returned to the Queen City from a Florida excursion with the new Miss Mid-East America promoter, Mike. We spent two nights on Treasure Island in St. Pete, then on to the Parliament House in Orlando to judge Miss FL America. On Saturday night, we enjoyed a show at Detour with show director Alicia Markstone, former MGA Maya Montana, current MGA Mikaila Kay, the outgoing FL America Coco Montrese (who is exquisite) and two contestants for Miss FL — Kori Stevens and Alexis Mateo.
Our first night in Orlando took us to Revolution, where Maya Montana was in the show with show director Danielle Hunter and housecast members Josephine Andrews (previously known as O’Hara in TX) and the gorgeous Chantel Demarco (Continental finalist last year). Josephine really showed out with a fabulous dance mix to close out the second show and really, truly brought the house down. I also got a chance to meet Roxxxy Andrews who was in attendance. What a lovely girl. General Manager and longtime friend Dan Fraser gave us a tour of the show theater where they do shows some nights and pageants. It was gorgeous. My thanks to Dan, Danielle and owner Craig for the Florida hospitality.
There were 13 contestants for Miss FL America. Imagine that in the state of transies. It was a great pageant, with four super-good talents, in my opinion. Formers Daphne Ferraro and Chantel Reshae were on hand to perform, as well as Maya and Mikaila, along with judge Dara Landon, a former Miss OH America. Coco gave out two special awards — the Miss FL Am. Achievement Award, which went to Chantel, and the Service Award, which went to Alicia Markstone. The winner was Crystle Chambers (who won the contest 10 years ago under different owners) and her first RU was Alexis Mateo who was first RU last year as well. Imagine my delight when I spotted former Miss FL F.I. Esme’ Russell, the fiery, red-haired Cuban goddess, in Crystle’s talent. Shear pleasure for an old-school drag freak like me. Damn! Alexis is a newer queen to the scene, a Puerto Rican baby doll with hair and make-up like no other. She burned the building down in her custom-made green ball gown, a category which she won, of course. Crystle won male interview and talent. The second RU was The Minx. Look for her here again as she plans on qualifying at another prelim. I’m sure she’ll have no problem. Best wishes to the FL contestants as they prepare to go to MGA in St. Louis this fall.
My sister Ree in Baltimore called to tell me about what a good contest Miss East Coast was at the Hippo. Chantel Reshae won and former Miss NC U.S.ofA. at Large Kristina Kelly was 1st RU. I understand Kristina got a standing ovation in talent and I know she was painted for the state line. I’m told international celebrity (and former MGA) Hot Chocolate was a guest entertainer. Sorry I missed this one.
In other contests, congrats go to Arabia Knight-Addams who recently won Miss National Icon at Warehouse 29 in Greensboro. Her runners-up were Amanda Blake and Vicki Valentino. For the Mr. contest that same night, Christopher Iman (our Mr. Carolina Continental) won. His RUs were Darryl Carr and Devon Diamond. Naysha Lopez of Chicago recently won Miss IL Continental. On the EOY scene, Nina West is the new Miss Great Lakes. Her RU was Danyel Vasquez. Miss Michigan is Dashe Desmond Rose with RU Dominique Polo; Eastern Michigan Regional is Sashay Lorez; NY is Fantasia Thunderpussy with RU Felicia Vega. Mid Tri-States is Mokha Montrese with RU Fantasha. Mid-West is Rachael Erikks with RU Sapphire Mylan. Indiana is Samantha Lynn. And, Pennsylvania is Vanity Starr with RU Tequila Daniels.
Be on the look-out for a spoof film in the near future that features our Mr. Continental, RaSean Montrese, along with TV star Kim Kardashian. Next stop for me — I’m off to Dallas in July for the Miss Texas FFI and At Large. Come and go with us!
info: Drop me a line, OK? . The TeaMissD@yahoo.com
HEY!!!! did a search and found your jottings… Just wanted to see what it looks like and will be viewing it each issue to keep up with the details of your area…. Enjoyed your updates about florida… thanks for the input!!;)
Tim, Thanks for your comments. I know Della will appreciate them. I’ll forward them to her. Just wanted to let you know that Della’s column, “Drag Rag,” appears in Q-Notes every other issue — that works out to about once per month (except for months like June where we just happen to have three issues in one month). Thanks for your readership and support.
Matt Comer
Editor, Q-Notes