Posts tagged Sarah Bertrand

Reporting from College of DuPage, the Illinois International pageant is ready to go. The stage is great and set up for a wonderful pageant. The opening number was very energizing and filled with exciting pageantry. Photos were being clicked off by the fabulous Sean McCabe, and you can get your photos from him at http://www.seanmccabledesign.com/

Tim Kretschmann & Jennifer Naida

The crowd was very appreciative of the young ladies competing as they “shimmied” across the stage and introduced themselves. Reigning queens, Miss Illinois International Christine Boll and Mrs. Illinois International Kristin Melton. The production bounced along swimmingly as they introduced this evening’s emcees, Caitlin McCabe and Keith deBolt. They did a nice job keeping the show bobbing along.

They began the competition with Fun Fashion Wear competition for the Teen division. So far, no one has fallen over despite some very enthusiastic and bouncy walks. I’m just saying. The Fashion Wear was, in fact, fun. A nice group. The Miss Division followed in their rhinestone studded footsteps.

The judges were introduced as the ladies ran around in back and got dressed. It’s always fun to learn a little bit about the judges presiding over the event. Our next competition phase was on-stage question. I should mention at this point that I love the Power Point presentation putting up a slide as to who is onstage during the competition. It’s a wonderful way to keep track of who is up on stage at any time. I miss the little titles we get when watching a pageant on TV, so this is a fantastic way to address this situation.

Kristin Melton asked the questions for the Mrs. division. Christine Boll quizzed the Miss division. Caitlin McCabe was merciless with the Teens. Well, not really, but how many ways can I write the same thing? Give me a break. Dude.

Next was the aerobic wear competition. The words that people used to describe themselves (I didn’t catch them all and might have made up a few): personal, professional, passionate, empathetic, creative, decisive, faithful, patriotic, authentic, integrity, loving, unstoppable, parakeet, enthusiastic, energetic, amazing, bubbly, optimistic, outgoing, charismatic, diligent, sausage, fun loving, estatic, loyal, driven, passionate, caring, dedicated, confident, witty, honest, compassionate, dependable, goal oriented, vivacious, determined, assertive, trendy, and studious.

After a lengthy intermission, we began with Miss Illinois International 2009 Christine Boll doing an Irish step dance. She did a great job with the dance (I’ve seen a lot of step dancing over the years, and Christine is quite good). There was a raffle, some 50/50 thingy, and other stuff…but really it was filler until we got to the goods: Evening Gown!

That’s right! Capital E. Capital G. Gown-a-palooza! Teens went first. Still no falls at this point. I was surprised that they all needed to climb and descend a set of steps which seemed to invite a nice fall; but this was a talented group and carried it off well. (There was one close call.) They paraded around to “Take Me Away” which is quickly becoming the default Evening Gown music of the land. Sparkle-ometer was subdued tonight, but there was still glitz in evidence on a number of the gowns.

Another close call later, it was time to name our new representatives for Illinois to the International Pageant.

Photogenic Award: Miss South Holland, Ashley Newman
Congeniality Award: Mrs. DuPage County, Jennifer Naida
Fun Fashion: Teen – Anna Gialombbardo; Miss – Saryna Ritter
Aerobic: Teen – Anna Gialombbardo and Sarah Bertrand (tie); Miss – Ashley Newman; Mrs. – Holly Torbeck
Evening Gown: Teen – Sarah Bertrand; Miss – Ashley Newman; Mrs. – Dena Porter

Teen final results:

First Runner Up: Brandy Sitar
Miss Teen Illinois International: Sarah Bertrand

Miss final results:

First Runner Up: Saryna Ritter
Miss Illinois International: Ashley Newman

Mrs. final results:

First Runner up: Terri Karch
Mrs. Illinois International: Jennifer Naida

Something that really impressed me was the number of PAST Illinois International Pageant titleholders that assist Donna for the pageant. That speaks volumes of a pageant. Congratulations to Donna Beering and all the folks at Illinois International on a great pageant. Thank you for the hospitality this evening!

Photo Gallery is now up!!!