Miss Universe 2014 comes to Miami! Events leading up to Miss Universe...Part 6

January 25, 2015

Miss Universe 2014 is crowned !!

The day had finally arrived when the new Miss Universe 2014 (albeit in 2015) would be crowned!

Preparations started early in the day and the entire city was abuzz with excitement. Just about every news channel was covering this South Florida event with fervor and excitement.

I had been asked by the FIU Security team (via MUO) to be the official rep in organizing volunteer staff for credential checks at the FIU Arena as well as coordinate official seat fillers for the final event telecast. Over the previous two weeks, I had put together a list of over 60 volunteers to help in these endeavors. Jules calls me the Mayor of Pageantville and being able to serve as chair for the volunteers and seat fillers was quite a task but also made easy because of the amazing people I know and love in this industry.

Our official seat filler call time was around 6:30pm and we all eagerly gathered at the Golden Panther statue in front of the FIU Arena. Lots of pictures were taken, introductions made and the excitement built quickly. MUO Events Staff came to usher us in past security at about 7:30pm. Instructions were easy, find a seat towards the front, sit in your seat until the actual ticketholder shows up. During the first 20 minutes of the live telecast, ticketholders were only allowed to come into the Arena during TV commercial breaks. I was fortunate enough to sit in the second row and only had to move once to another spot in the second row in another section (with former Miss USAs Shanna Moakler, Alyssa Campanella, Kristen Dalton and Miss Universe section with Chelsi Smith & Michelle McLean).

The opening number was just "OK" for me but I think the crowd and the energy in the room took it to another level. It was so much fun to see all the flags waiving, posters, excited fans and supporters of their respective countries.

I had my personal top 16 ready to go as formal announcements were made. My top 16 were : Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, France, Guyana, India, Indonesia, Jamaica, Lithuania, Netherlands, Russia, Spain, Ukraine, USA, of which 12 made the actual cut!! Not bad at all !

As the show unfolded, it became clear to me that there were 5 delegates that were on point: Spain, USA, Colombia, Jamaica and Ukraine. Once the top 10 were announced, I had Spain, USA and Colombia as top 3, much to my surprise Spain did not make the cut to the final 5.

The onstage question segment was somewhat disappointing for me as some of the answers were lackluster. While some delegates asked for an interpreter and clearly it wasn't needed as they spoke English well, I think the judges needed a translator themselves!! They were difficult to hear and even understand the question which could have led to the less than impressive answers given by the delegates. Nia did the best in my opinion. After onstage question my final rankings were 1. USA 2. Jamaica 3. Colombia 4. Ukraine 5. Netherlands of which none ended in those particular spots...so much for being good at the guessing game!

My heart went out to Nia, Miss USA 2014, as she was elegant, poised and just PLAIN READY for the job of Miss Universe. In the end, Colombia had their 2nd Miss Universe in 63 years of the competition and the Colombian supporters and community in Miami were overjoyed and hit the streets in celebration. The after party was crowded and many delegates attended.

Congratulations to all the delegates from PageantSmart !

Here are some pics of the Miss Universe finals night:

 La Linea Band Opening number

 Mr. Trump himself

 Waiting for top 16 announcement

Hosts Thomas Roberts & Natalie Morales

 some of the top 16 semifinalists

 Eventual winner, Paulina Vega from Colombia

 Prince Royce performs 'Stuck on A Feeling" for SS

During commercial break, when we saw each other lol

Miss Spain

Evening Gown competition backdrop

 Nick Jonas performs "Jealous" during EG

 Thomas taking a selfie with Nia during commercial break

Gavin Degraw performs "Fire" for top 5 final review

Final two...Colombia & USA

1RU - Miss USA (escorted straight off the stage...not sure why)

 Backstage after Miss Universe

Nia with her BFF's: Alicia, Megan & Claire

 After show with Nicol, Miss Utah USA

 At Coronation Ball at Doral Trump National

 With Jackie Garcia-Casals, Miss Hollywood USA

 with the beautiful Miss India (top 16)

 After party stage

    

Miss Universe 2014 comes to Miami ! Events leading up to Miss Universe....Part 1

As a native Miamian born in the 60s, you know the close history that our city has to the Miss Universe organization. For many consecutive years the Miss USA and Miss Universe pageants were held in South Florida, primarily in Miami Beach, the sun and fun capital of the world!

My love for pageantry can be closely tied to the hometown connection as I remember as a small child my parents taking the family to watch the parades down Biscayne Blvd and Flagler St, girls shopping at local malls, photo shoots at the beach or poolside....beach beauties and a sunny paradise were a perfect match !

I was very excited to hear that the 63rd Miss Universe pageant would once again be held in Miami on Sunday, January 25th, 2015. Between the delegates arriving shortly after New Year's it became a fun filled 3 weeks leading up to the final telecast. Between work and travel it was difficult to keep up with all the activities but I made sure to at least participate in a few !

This year was also extra special as I had the honor to work with and prepare three delegates in interview for the Miss Universe competition...Ana Luisa Montufar, Miss Guatemala; Marline Barberena, Miss Nicaragua and Nia Sanchez, Miss USA.

January 6, 2015 - Supplies Run for Miss USA, Nia Sanchez and Tegan Martin, Miss Australia

About midday, I received a text from Nia that she and her roommate Miss Australia were running low on a few supplies including healthy snacks, water, meds and of course they had forgotten their resistance bands! So...PageantSmart to the rescue ! Off on a Target run we went and had so much fun shopping for them. We also made a quick stop at Walgreens as Nia had two pictures printed of Tegan and her family to put into picture frames she had purchased for her roommate. They were real excited to receive the supplies and truly it was a lot of fun helping them out ! How often do you get to go shopping for Miss USA?

Target Run!

January 9, 2015 - Make-Up run for Miss USA, Nia Sanchez !

Nia texted that she had run out of several MAC cosmetics (eye liner, foundation, bronzer, etc) and was in dire need of replacements for each. Now this was a challenge for me as this is NOT my area of expertise. Needless to say, I took on the task and ended up at Macy's International Mall MAC counter and all the make-up artists were thrilled we were buying a few cosmetics for Miss USA.

                                                         At Macy's International Mall



January 10, 2015 - Dadeland Mall, Kendall, FL
Meet & Greet Miss Universe Delegates

This was one of the first opportunities open to the general public where you had a chance to meet and greet the contestants. This was supposed to be a ticketed/RSVP event (ultimately tickets were not required) and the 88 delegates were split up between Dadeland Mall, International Mall and Aventura Mall. The delegation that was assigned to Dadeland were "the Islands", "Africa" and "Asia". We were probably one of the first there and we were excited to share our afternoon with our friends Maria, Barby, Isabella, Cynthia, Adelaida, Lelany, Noemi, JC, Vicki, Tracey, Lisa and others. The delegates were all so nice and accommodating to everyone that wanted to take pictures with them and they were in their heels for a full 2 hours ! Several of my immediate favorites from this group were Australia, Indonesia, Jamaica, China, Curacao, Guam, India, Philippines, Japan and Dominican Republic. Tegan (Miss Australia) was super excited to see her new American best friends as she calls us, I was able to reconnect with Brittany Bell, Miss Guam whom I have known for years and has a heart of gold and I was able to speak at length to Kaci Fennell, Miss Jamaica who had a very special way about her. Korea, Japan and Myanmar were the bubbliest and funniest of all.

Miss Guam

Miss Australia

Miss Jamaica

 Miss China