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Show Queens: The Payoff Is Worth the Pain @ Continued from A-1 queen is a rare chance to bask in the community limelight. “Pageants werea turning point for me,” says state fair judge Elayne Pearson, former Miss Enterprise and a runner-up in this year’s Mrs. Utah pageant. Yes, she had to don a swimsuitto win. “It was the one thing that helped me blossom.It validates what you already are and what you hope you are.” This year’s Miss Utah State Fair pageant was held Wednesday. The winners are at the fair throughits run, greeting schoolchildren and presenting ribbons. The queenalso qualifies to enter the Miss Utah pageant next June. Candice Blackburn, Miss Wayne County 1963, who runs the state-fair pageant, hopes thetrip to Salt Lake City will show womenthere are more opportunities ia life than rushing into marriage. Blackburn tries to make the women’s stay a learning experience. She showsthecity slickers the prize pigs and the rural womenthestate Capitol. “For somegirls, this is probably the only chance they get to see the governor,” says Blackburn.“It’s just a real a highlightin their lives.” Geehas foundroyalty positively thrilling. No matter where she goes in Ferron, population 1,600, or elsewhere in Emery County, folks recognize andcongratulate her. As shesits on her hotel bed, her wide eyes soften with the warm memory of standing on stage with her 10 competitors and being named county queen. “It was awesome,” she says. “I never dreamed they would call my name. I was so happy. Wow. They were 10 of the best girls in the world.” A Long 10 Minutes: By the time Gee and Erickson get to the interview waiting room, the first contes- tant has returned from her 10-minutegrilling and sits crying, overwhelmedbystress. Geetells pageant assistant Ann Nighbur that she broke hernail. “Are you sure?” gasps Nighbur jumping into action. ‘‘Where is it? Do you have Superglue?” Part handyman, part den mother, Nighbur is always preparedfora crisis. She searches through her bulging duffle bag — past the tampons, bug repellent, lemon juice, safety pins, screwdriver, Midol, Tey Hot, nasal spray, spot remover, razor, flashlight and tweezers — until she finds nail polish. Nighbur experily paints Gee’s quivering, outstretched hand. Pageants are in Nighbur’s blood. And the former Miss North Sevier has established a lineage to her throne through her two daughters, who have won severaltitles. Whenthenational beauty pageants are ontelevision, the Nighbur women hunker down in their respective homes, then phone each other to “hash,” the female equivalent of Monday-morning quarterbacking. Such intergenerational links are not unusual. Many queens said they would urge, but not force, their daughters to compete. “TJ would encourage anyoneto try a pageant, just for thelifelong skills you learn,” says Emily Evans, Miss Summit County, who hasplayed the violin since she was 3 years old. “Mostof these girls have been preparing their wholelives.” For Nanette Pearson, pageants are her life. The 22-year-old has competed in the Miss Utah pageant four times. While she has never won,her more than $15,000 in winnings have paid for her University of Utah education. Tired of being next-best, Pearson has noi ruled out moving to Wyoming, where only eight women competedin the state’s pageant, compared with Utah’s whopping 63. The psychology major keeps a grueling schedule. She workspart time for Delta Air Lines, dances four hours daily and takes notes while watching the evening news. Then there are her community-service projects: the homeless, violence against women and, mostrecently, patriotism. “People say that’sfluff,” she says. “ Do mylife for a week and tell meit’s fluff.” Back in the waiting room, a triumphant Gee swoopsoutof the interview room, gasping ir relief. NoBosnia. She was delighted when the judges asked whois the mostinfluential woman in America today. Helen Keller, she answered, her hero. (At age 11, Geelost partial hearingin her right ear.) Then she had to list five adjectives that describe herself: “positive, kind, ambitious, nervous and excited for the future,” she says. “But I wish they had asked me about swimsuits. I would have given thema piece of my mind.” 74 Years of Flaunting Flesh: Thehistory of ihe swimsuit competition began 2,000 miles away from Utah on the Jersey shore. In 1921, the “Atlantic City Bathing Beauty Contest” was launched to promote the beachside resort. In 1935, the Miss America pageant expanded the contest to include talent, personality and poise. By the end of World WarII, academic scholarships were given. Today, the swimsuit portion represents only 15 percent of a contestant’s score. But these concessionshavenotsatisfied feminists, Al Hartmann/TheSalt Lake Tribune Miss Utah State Fair Pageant candidates AngieKofford, Fruit Heights, and Anne Marie Takamatsu, Midway, get a makeoverthe day beforethe contest. who consider the contest a gilded meat market. This Utah Summer Games,” says Rosemary Cotts. “‘All in Tron County.” Then there is a mad dash for the three behindstage trailers where the women changeinto their costumesfor the talent competition. There is a flurry of curling irons, primping, makeup andgiggles. year, the contest’s 75th, the organizers have trans- formed the controversy into a publicity stunt by inviting TV viewersto vote on whetherto hold a swimsuit contestatall. In Utah, CommissionerCallaghan is not the only one saying swimsuits must go. Before the state fair pageant, the 21 county queens — eight counties do not hold pageants —- voted whetherto have a swimsuit contest. it passed by a single vote. Angie Kofford, Miss Davis County, voted for swimsuits because she believes a beauty queen should be physicaliy fit. Kofford wishes Callaghan would find a real issue like gangs or drug abuse Most queens play an instrumentor sing. Inspira- tional songs are particularly popular, such as “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” or ‘Hold 0} Despite insisting she had forgotten the words, Ericksonbelts out ‘the night’s only country song,aptly named “Take Me As I Am.” Gee, sign language to Bette Midler’s “From a Distance.” Then the womenrace into evening gowns. More curling irons, primping, makeup and giggies. This section counts 15 percent, so with the swimsuit por: tion, 30 percent of each score is based purely on appearance. The dresses make Vanna White look plain. Most are fioor-length, shimmering with baubles and glitter. Whenthe 10 finalists are selected, Nighbur is proved right. Half the finalists were in this year’s Miss Utah Pageant. Neither Gee nor Erickson make the cut, although Erickson wins Miss Photogenic. insteadof telling other womenwhatto do. Furthermore, Kofford resents the implication that competitions make women look cheap. “That's insulting,” says the Dixie College freshman.“No oneis putting us in bathing suits. We are putting ourselves in bathing suits. I am notan idiot. I know what I am doing.” But some queens would rather wear exercise clothes or perform an aerobics routine. Callaghan suggests that the president’s physical-fitness test be used. Back in their hotel room, Gee and Erickson fuss with their suits, bemoaning their perceived body Each finalist is asked a question. Again, no Bosnia. @ Whatis the No. 1 problem facing the Utah Legislature? flaws. Gee says true beauty is on the inside and hopes the judges will look deep enoughtofindit. “Wehate it,” says Gee of the swimsuit segment. “It’s immodest.It’s importantto be physicallyfit but that could be accomplished in less degrading way.” Adds Erickson:“I don’t like it because I have no boobs.” Women on Display: The swimsuit contestlasts 15 minutes. One by one, the 21 queens walk into a small room where the five judges sit behind a table clut- tered with carafes of punch and stacks of paper. As new-age music chirps, the women turn a small circle. Most contestants accessorize their one-piece suits with congealed smiles and translucent spike sandals. Some pauseto pese, cocking a hip, pointing a toe. Others scurry by in a blur of Day-Glo spandex. The two male and three female judges smile, try to look nonthreatening, then scratch down a number between one and 10 with their fresh red pencils. Outside the girlish laughter grows into a highpitched din as the queens commiserate. Kortney Stirland, a Kanab pharmacistin shirtsleeves and suspenders, says he tends to notice large thighs. “That’s a personalfeeling,” he says. “The moreslender onesgot a better rating.” While the swimsuit competition is supposedly a chance to see the womenat their most natural, many womenhelp nature along. Some duct-tape falsies to their chests. Others sew padsinto their suits, cover their nipples with Band-Aids or wear various contraptions to deepen cleavage. It is all part of the arsenalof beauty tricks passed on from queen to queen. In the waiting room, Nighbur and otherstick through thelist. Vaseline keeps your lips from sticking to your teeth. Bags under your eyes? Hemorrhoid cream doesthe trick. That's @ What is America’s responsibility to countries suffering from famine and deprivation? Al Hartmann/TheSait Lake Tribune Jodi Erickson, Miss Beaver County, performs with pizazz at the Miss Utah State Fair Pageant. a new one for Nighbur, who starts taking notes. So do cucumberslices, adds one woman. Or putting frozen spoonsover your eyes. Spray glue is surefire way to keep suits fromriding up. but Gee says she had a bad experience. “I got an allergic reaction,” Gee recalls. ‘Here I am, Miss Emery County. Alwaysitching. In the beauty queen world, thereis a strategy for everything. How to walk. How to talk. A personality, profile and character must be molded until flawless. Nostuttering. No giggles. As a rule, Nighbur says the winnerhas previous pageant experience and presents a “perfectlittle package.”” “It's the one with the perfect suit, in the perfect color and perfect nails," she says. ‘‘They don’t need my help. They have got it together before they get here.” That meansthe small-town girl tendsto be the long shot. Still, Gee says she plans to be herself and have fun. ‘After all,” she says, “if you did all they said and won, wouid it be you who won or who they wanted you to be?” And Finally . . . it's Showtime! The pageant begins at 7 p.m. More than 100 people, most of them lf you knew that a teacher was homosexual, would you allow your child to attend thatclass? “No, I would not,” says Cindy Roundy, Miss Kane County. ‘I just don’t think that is a good environment for children to be in.” Applause. In the end, RosemaryCotts, Miss Iron County, the oldest contestantat age 23, is named Miss Utah State Fair. The outgoing queen attaches the rhinestone crownto her sculpted hairdo. Cotts clearly is an accomplished young woman The Southern Utah University student graduated first in her high school class, speaks three languages, has taken 10 years of flute and ballet, six years of piano, four years of voice and many years ofdance. She has fought fires with the U.S. Forest Service and served a Mormon mission in Japan. t, she sang a pageant classic from “I Dreamed a Dream.” The morning after, the queensarrive at the Capitol wearing their silver crowns and smiling with relief. Finally, they can enjoy their new friends — in- stead of competing against them. Gov. Mike Leavitt is at his charmingbest, praising the women for representing the fine state of Utah; Leavitt patiently poses for photographs. First with all the women, then with the pageant royalty, then with those over 40. contestants’ relatives, have gathered in the Fairpark Free to tour the Capitol, several women cluster at the foot of the imposing marble stairs. Anne Marie Takamatsu, Miss Wasatch County, climbs halfway grandstand as the sun begins to set. Wearing sun dresses and straw hats, the women run out on stage and introduce themselves. “SUU, Shakespeare, up and poses for a photo, She smiles happily beneath her studded crown, and for one brief moment, the woman from Midwayis a queen, Russian Nationalist Leader Provokes Fisticuffs ‘THE ASSOCIATED PRESS MOSCOW — Russian lawmakers convened Saturday spoiling for a fight. They ot one, courtesy of ultranationalist bad yy Vladimir Zhirinovsky. At Zhirirovsky’s command, one of his radical colleagues ripped a heavy silver crucifix from the neck of lawmaker Gleb Yakunin, a defrocked Russian Orthodox priest who continues to wear clerical garb. Russia: Lawmakers Urge Cutting NATO Ties @ Continued from A-1 urday, repeating strikes on some sites — including air-defense batteries, a number of which continue to operate despite having been thefirst targets of the air cam- Lawmaker Yevgenia Tishkovskaya paign — as well as new targets such as eame to Yakunin’s defense, and Zhirinovsky waded into the fray. When Tishkoyskaya punched Zhirinovsky in the stomach, he grabbed her by the throat, then punched herin the head. The Duma, the lower house of pariiamert, went on to adopt an angry statement attacking NATO for bombing the Bosnian Serbs. Thevolatile Zhirinovsky, known for his violent and extremist rhetoric, has been involvedin severalfights in the Duma before. He once puncheda deputy from St. Petersburg in a dispute over who wouid go first in the lunch line Another time, he beat up 2 defector from his party and then threatened to lear another iawmaker's beard out “hair by bair.” bridges, Group Capt. Trevor Murraytoid journalists at a briefing in Naples Among Saturday's targets were antiaircraft batteries in northwestern Bosnia far from the Sarajevo area where most Mina Japaridee/The Associated Press Russian lawmaker Yevgenia Tishkovskaya, ieft, punches ultranationalist leader Vladimir Zhirinoysky during a Saturday session of the nation’s parliament. His aggression has not beenconfined to the Dua, Last summer, Zhirinovsky broke into the office of a regional governor, a clean-cut young refermer,rifled through his files and threatened to have his staff shot Gov, Boris Nemtsoy wasn’t thereat the time. But he when he did come face-to- meanwhile, dressed in a floor-lengih emerald gown, performs face with Zhirinovsky, in June on a TV talk show, Zhirinovsky threw a glass of orange juice in his face. Yakunin, his latest target, was a promi nent dissident in Soviet times. He was defrocked in 193 — his seccad time — for defying the church and running for parliament. NATOstrikes have been concentrated in addition to operable missile batteries, the Serts wield ‘‘vast numbers” of shoulder-fired missiles, one of which is suspected of shooting down a French jet in the initial raids, Murray said. A dayafter a shell killed 10 people at a Bosnian Serb hospital, the rebels Saturday took reporters to meet doctors and patients who blamed U.N. forces for the attack Pools of blood werestill on the ground outside the Zica hospital in this Sarajevo suburb, wherethe shel! exploded Friday. “I can’t understand whythey didit, but it must have been them,” said surgeon Miodrag Lazic, referring to the U.N. force encamped on Mount Igman overlooking the hospital. “Tt does appearthat we missed ourtarget and civilians were killed,” U.N spokesman Maj. Guy Vinet said Saturday. Theblast also injured 22 people. UN. officials could not confirm hitting the hospital, and Vinet said the U.N. was refused permission to inspect the area. The hospital was pockmarked with holes from flying shrapnel, and its win- dows were smashed Most of the dead were patients or people coming for a checkup. One was kilied as he got out of his car Bosnian Serb leaders sent a tetter to the Duma urging Russia to use its “great possibilities” to help end violence against Serbs and to call for negotiations, the ITAR-Tass news agency reported The leaders expressed gratitude to the Russiansfor their support, praised Yeltsin for opposing the airstrikes, and blamed Western forces for the latest shelling of Sarajevo, the report said Elsewherein the former Soviet Union, the Baltic countries issued a statement supporting NATO dirstrikes, while Ukraine's Foreign Ministry called for themto end. Russia shares historical and religious ties with the Serbs, fellow Orthodox Slavs, and accuses the West of siding with Bosnian Muslims. |
