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The Miss Missouri Pageant opened Wednesday night with an evening gown competition, a variety of talents from a dozen contestants and questions to measure how contestants would fit as spokeswomen of the organization.
Miss Gateway St. Louis Erika Hebron and Miss Kansas City Kari Gai were both declared winners of the talent competition among the 12 contestants who performed Wednesday. Hebron performed a lyrical dance to “Brave.” Gai performed a tap dance to the 1930s swing song “This Joint is Jumpin’.”
Hebron said her goal with her performance was to “mesmerize” the audience and judges, with a captive performance that won her a top position.
“It’s a song that fits the situation that I’m in, here at the pageant,” she said. “It’s such a powerful song and I wanted to convey that to the audience.”
Hebron, who is a dance major at Oklahoma City University, said she felt very prepared going into the performance because she has been practicing her routines for so many years as part of her coursework.
“For me, performing is the fun part because I feel like I’ve already prepared so much by taking those classes,” she said.
Gai won the same award with the same performance last year, earning a $500 scholarship in the preliminary dance competition as Miss Metro St. Louis. This year, at age 22, marks her fifth attempt to capture the Miss Missouri crown.
She said even though her piece is one of high energy, with lots of knee slapping and hand movements, she felt it was easy to keep the movements coordinated and convey confidence to the judges and audience.
“Once you start to practice so much, it really starts to flow together,” she said. “I wanted to show the judges how prepared I was and how much I love dancing.”
Hebron and Gai won scholarships of $150 each. The Miss Missouri Pageant will award a total of $35,500 this year.
In the on-stage question portion of the competition, the contestants were asked an “icebreaker” question, followed by another given by the judge that was worth points. Those points are worth five percent of the overall score for each contestant, but no winners were announced Wednesday.
In the Miss Outstanding Teen program, the evening wear winner was Miss Branson Oustanding Teen Alexandria Black. Miss Photogenic was awarded to Miss Gateway to the West Outstanding Teen McKensie Garber and Miss Physical Fitness was Miss Sikeston Outstanding Teen Laurie Clippard.
The opening of the pageant featured entertainment by the reigning Miss Missouri Tara Osseck, Miss Missouri Outstanding Teen 2009 Lauren McCreight, Catherine Janisko, of Miss Pennsyl-vania’s Outstanding Teen Program, Courtney Parker, Alabama Teen USA, Miss Mississippi Outstanding Teen 2009 Laura Lee Lewis, vocalist Kiefer Slaton and violinist Jonathan Schriock.
The judges in this year’s pageant are Mexico residents Larry Webber and Steve Hobbs, Dan McMillen, of Liberty, Terry McDonnell-Overfelt, of Columbia, Miss Maine 1980 Valerie Crooker-Clemens and Rob Loy of Tampa, Fla. Miss Missouri 2002 Shandi Finnessey will be unavailable to judge but will return for the final ceremonies Saturday.
Today the Miss Outstanding Teen competitions are being held at the Presser Performing Arts Center. Tonight the Miss Missouri competition will resume at 7:30 p.m. in the Missouri Military Academy gymtorium, with the second half of performances and evening wear presentations. The pageant’s swimsuit competition will take place Friday, followed by the crowning of Miss Missouri 2010 on Saturday.
A photo gallery of Wednesday night's pageant can be found in the Photos section of The Ledger's website.
The Miss Missouri Pageant opened Wednesday night with an evening gown competition, a variety of talents from a dozen contestants and questions to measure how contestants would fit as spokeswomen of the organization.
Miss Gateway St. Louis Erika Hebron and Miss Kansas City Kari Gai were both declared winners of the talent competition among the 12 contestants who performed Wednesday. Hebron performed a lyrical dance to “Brave.” Gai performed a tap dance to the 1930s swing song “This Joint is Jumpin’.”
Hebron said her goal with her performance was to “mesmerize” the audience and judges, with a captive performance that won her a top position.
“It’s a song that fits the situation that I’m in, here at the pageant,” she said. “It’s such a powerful song and I wanted to convey that to the audience.”
Hebron, who is a dance major at Oklahoma City University, said she felt very prepared going into the performance because she has been practicing her routines for so many years as part of her coursework.
“For me, performing is the fun part because I feel like I’ve already prepared so much by taking those classes,” she said.
Gai won the same award with the same performance last year, earning a $500 scholarship in the preliminary dance competition as Miss Metro St. Louis. This year, at age 22, marks her fifth attempt to capture the Miss Missouri crown.
She said even though her piece is one of high energy, with lots of knee slapping and hand movements, she felt it was easy to keep the movements coordinated and convey confidence to the judges and audience.
“Once you start to practice so much, it really starts to flow together,” she said. “I wanted to show the judges how prepared I was and how much I love dancing.”
Hebron and Gai won scholarships of $150 each. The Miss Missouri Pageant will award a total of $35,500 this year.
In the on-stage question portion of the competition, the contestants were asked an “icebreaker” question, followed by another given by the judge that was worth points. Those points are worth five percent of the overall score for each contestant, but no winners were announced Wednesday.
In the Miss Outstanding Teen program, the evening wear winner was Miss Branson Oustanding Teen Alexandria Black. Miss Photogenic was awarded to Miss Gateway to the West Outstanding Teen McKensie Garber and Miss Physical Fitness was Miss Sikeston Outstanding Teen Laurie Clippard.
The opening of the pageant featured entertainment by the reigning Miss Missouri Tara Osseck, Miss Missouri Outstanding Teen 2009 Lauren McCreight, Catherine Janisko, of Miss Pennsyl-vania’s Outstanding Teen Program, Courtney Parker, Alabama Teen USA, Miss Mississippi Outstanding Teen 2009 Laura Lee Lewis, vocalist Kiefer Slaton and violinist Jonathan Schriock.
The judges in this year’s pageant are Mexico residents Larry Webber and Steve Hobbs, Dan McMillen, of Liberty, Terry McDonnell-Overfelt, of Columbia, Miss Maine 1980 Valerie Crooker-Clemens and Rob Loy of Tampa, Fla. Miss Missouri 2002 Shandi Finnessey will be unavailable to judge but will return for the final ceremonies Saturday.
Today the Miss Outstanding Teen competitions are being held at the Presser Performing Arts Center. Tonight the Miss Missouri competition will resume at 7:30 p.m. in the Missouri Military Academy gymtorium, with the second half of performances and evening wear presentations. The pageant’s swimsuit competition will take place Friday, followed by the crowning of Miss Missouri 2010 on Saturday.
A photo gallery of Wednesday night's pageant can be found in the Photos section of The Ledger's website.
