May Igawa Crowned as the Second Miss Florida Asia
August 28th, 2008Demonstrate Beauty, Talent and Intelligence
[Miami, Florida – August 27, 2008] On July 12, 2008, OCA – South Florida Chapter and United Chinese Association of Florida successfully co-hosted the second Miss Florida Asia Pageant at the North Miami Beach Performing Arts Theater, drawing over 600 attendees to witness the crowning of Miss Florida Asia.
This year, eight contestants represented six countries. They are Kayla Kimberly Chin Nuke [China], Gloria Li Ya Chow [China], Tia Bao Tran Vo [Vietnam], Kimia Mavon [Iran], Nancy Van Anh Nguyen [Vietnam], Marie Eilis Tessa V. [Philippines], May Shir Igawa [Japan/Israel], and Mimi Goon [China].
The categories were Miss Florida Asia, First Princess, Second Princess, and awards of Miss Photogenic, Miss Congeniality, Miss Talent, Best National Costume, Best Swimsuit and Best Evening Gown.
The six distinguished pageant judges were the Honorable Dorothy “Dottie” Johnson — Vice Mayor of City of Opa-Locka, Dr. Antonio Wong — Chinese-American family practice physician, Dr. John Chang — Korean-American surgeon, Quan Anh Cao — Vietnamese-American English professor of Palm Beach Community College, Al Otero — Latino American Executive Director of Broward County Chamber of Commerce, and Edmond Chun-Hon Tse – Controller for Production (East) of Fairchild Media Group – who traveled from Toronto, Canada, to join us.
The pageant auditors were Tony Mok – CPA and Susan Xu – Taxation MBA – who assessed all scores for accuracy and legitimacy.
The Honorable Raymond Marin — Mayor of City of North Miami Beach – presented the proclamation of Miss Florida Asia 2008 to Winnie Tang, Producer of Miss Florida Asia. Mayor Marin emphasized that the City of North Miami Beach embraces diversity and promotes multicultural programs. He wishes that the Miss Florida Asia to be held in the City every year.
Ronin Taiko started off the Pageant with the powerful Japanese drumming. During the pageant, rising stars from the Indian community – Ashlee and Hana Madhukar sang “I am alive” and “I will survive” and Indian classical dance by Jyouthy Thomas. Chinese vocalist Pablo Kee sang “China Dream” in Chinese and “Don’t Cry for Me Argentina”. The Ife-Ile Afro-Cuban Music and Dance group has performed a colorful “Havana Carnival”.
After a month-long intensive training in public speech, skin care, modeling walk and dancing. Contestants were judged for post-Pageant Interview (25%), National Costume (10%), Lifestyle and Fitness in Swimsuit (15%), Talent (25%), Evening Gown (20%) and On-Stage questions (5%).
The Pageant officially began on Thursday evening (July 10) when the judging panel interviewed each contestant individually to score the post-Pageant Interview.
On Saturday evening, contestants welcomed the audience with an opening dance — “Girls Just Want to Have Fun”. After showing their fun and energetic side, they quickly changed into their respective National Costumes to start the Self-Introduction phase and began the On-Stage competition. All contestants are currently attending college and/or senior high school; the majority of them have plans in various medicine fields as career goals.
During the Talent competition segment, Kayla performed a colorful belly dance, Gloria a traditional Chinese ribbon dance, and Tia a mixer of Tango and Cha Cha with a partner. Kimia performed a solo act from musical. Nancy played “Memory” on the piano with accompanied by an electric guitar, Tessa performed a modern dance, May an Israeli-style belly dance and Mimi choreographed her own Chinese ballet. Read the rest of this entry »
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