Pageant News Bureau

O n t h e N e w s s t a n d

Parade magazine, an insert for hundreds of U.S. Sunday newspapers, devotes its Sept. 10, 2006, cover and feature article to Vanessa Williams, the only Miss America ever to be dethroned. The successful singer and actress (a cast member in the new "Ugly Betty" series) details her ups and downs and looks better than most women half her age.

Sushmita Sen, the Indian actress who was Miss Universe 1994, has agreed to co-star in an upcoming movie with Richard Gere. The working title is "The Expat."

Former beauty queen Shanna Moakler is divorcing husband Travis Barker, a rock singer. The couple, who starred in their own reality program, "Meet the Barkers," have two children together, and Ms. Moakler also has a child from a previous relationship. Ms. Moakler, an actress and model, has been Miss Teen All American, Miss USA and a Playboy Playmate.

Bob Ritchie, a longtime pageant photographer and emcee associated with the Miss Georgia Pageant, died of a heart attack on Aug. 14, 2006, at his home in Reidsville, Ga. He had a history of serious heart problems. He had emceed a pageant only days earlier.

Michael Poahway, husband of National Mrs. Oklahoma 2006 Lucinda Poahway, was killed Aug. 8, 2006, in St. Louis, Mo., when he was struck by a car while working for the state Transportation Department. Authorities blamed drunk driving by the motorist. Mr. Poahway had only recently accompanied his wife and escorted her onstage at the national pageant in Pigeon Forge, Tenn.

O n t h e N e w s s t a n d

The July 31, 2006, issue of OK Weekly has TV personality Vanessa Minnillo on its cover. The feature looks at the former Miss Teen USA's love life and "heartbreaker" reputation. PNB photographer Benjamin Gibbs quoted about his longtime acquaintance with Ms. Minnillo. The petite, dark-eyed beauty was Miss Teen USA 1998 and the first contestant profiled by PNB that year.
Maria Menounos, who went from Miss Massachusetts Teen USA to PNB cover girl to "Entertainment Tonight" host, is shown in the August 2006 issue of Playboy. It's not a layout, but a candid photo of her in revealing evening wear. (Maybe not revealing for Hollywood, but in some communities it would make heads spin.)

President George W. Bush has designated Angela Baraquio Grey of Hawaii, who was Miss America 2001, as a member of the President's Council on Service and Civic. Ms. Grey, whose maiden name was Baraquio, was by various definitions the first Asian or the first Hispanic Miss America or both.

Camille Anderson, who was Ms. Black International 2000, has been chosen to join the international speakers' bureau Trendsetters, operated by the Bailey Group. She writes under the pen name Cami Deni and was author of the book "A Princess-Cut Diamond."

The pageant scandal outbreak of late December 2006 burned white hot in the media for a week, sending out a call for beauty queens and pageant experts. Plenty of talking heads got a chance for face time, but PNB found some of them especially articulate and effective. Model and actress Sallie Toussaint, a former contender at Miss USA and Miss World, charmed Bill O'Reilly of Fox News Channel. And we predict bigger things are ahead for Ms. Toussaint in 2007. Meanwhile, legendary pageant emcee Jim Gibson was recruited on short notice to "defend" the pageant industry on live national television. PNB founder Gerdeen Dyer, who talked to Gibson shortly before he went on air, said Gibson sounded like a "gladiator ready for a righteous battle." When the smoke had cleared, Gibson was the clear winner over a grumpy and ill-informed basher of beauty queens. Dyer himself, always self-effacing, talked to several broadcast channels as an off-air analyst, but preferred to be quoted only in print. He was quoted in Newsweek, the New York Daily News and, of course, by Pageant.com.

An appellate court in Jamaica has upheld a verdict against Lisa Hanna, who was Miss World 1993, in her battle to keep custody of her 5-year-old son. A judge had already ruled that the child's father, David Panton, a former Jamaica senator, be given custody. Panton now lives in the Atlanta area, where Ms. Hanna also lived at one time.

Robert Neel, known as the "King of Queens" for his world-record-setting collection of beauty queens' autographed photos, is recuperating after a stroke in a Florida hospital as of mid-November 2006. Best wishes can be sent for the next three weeks to Robert Neel, Lee Memorial Hospital, Rehab Unit, Room 629-B, Ft. Myers, Fla. 33901.

O n t h e N e w s s t a n d

Ivanka Trump, daughter of the co-owner of Miss Universe Inc. and former co-host of Miss Teen USA, talks about love and money in the December 2006 issue of Stuff magazine.
The December 2006 issue of Playboy magazine features the nude pictorial that cost Danielle Lloyd her Miss Great Britain title.

Siouxzan N. Moore has been named executive director of the Mrs. Virginia United States Pageant. She is also executive director of the Mrs. Delaware and Mrs. Maryland United States pageants.

TV alert

The wedding of former PNB cover girl Syma Chowdhry will be featured on the Style Network's "Whose Wedding Is It Anyway?" on Nov. 14, 2006. Check local listings.
Her pageant achievements include Top 10 at Miss North Carolina USA 2006 and 2007, first runner-up at Miss Pennsylvania USA 2004 and second runner-up at Miss Pennsylvania USA 2005. And folks are still talking about that PNB profile.

The Independent Lens series on PBS will feature the Amy Nicholson movie "Muskrat Lovely," about a remarkable rural Maryland beauty pageant, on Oct 31, 2006. The film, previously reviewed on PNB, and its companion Web site are also featured at pbs.org, along with added bonuses.

O n t h e N e w s s t a n d

The November 2006 issue of Playboy magazine features the girls of Miss Hawaiian Tropic International. They are shown wearing even less than in the pageant ... if you know what we mean.

Stephanie Sims, founder of Aim Direct Media, a Florida-based advertising and public relations firm, has been named director for two new pageants in the Miss Florida USA system. The two new pageants are Miss Pasco-Hernado USA/Miss Pasco-Hernando Teen USA and Miss Gasparilla USA/Miss Gasparilla Teen USA, to be held in January 2007.

PNB offstage archive