Mister USofA MI 2016
October has been an incredible month! Extremely busy, but I’ve definitely gotten more of a taste of title holder life. It only goes by faster from here!
First, let me update you on the epic events from this month. I got the first two weeks off from traveling and drag completely and was able to spend time at home with my partner, and catch up on my piles of laundry, as well as a little costume creating. The first big event of the month was Mister Georgia USofA MI and Mister Georgia USofA MI Classic. Valentino and I went on a whirlwind 24-hour trip to Atlanta. Thanks to Owen McCord and Devin Liquor for putting on a wonderful pageant, and ensuring Val and I made it safely to and from our amazing hotel! Also, congratulations to your new Mister Georgia USofA MI, Jordan Michaels McCord, and his 1 st Alternate Hawk Taylor! The Classic boys also put on a wonderful show, with Syr Kam’ron taking the title, and Rocky Valentino winning 1 st Alternate. #teamPeach will not be playing this year, folks, so get ready for a show!
About 4 days after arriving back in Little Rock, the Royal Couple and I headed for Dallas to attend final night of the Mr. Gay USofA Contest. We got to be a part of Michael LaMasters’ opening number, and enjoy the incredible competition that night. Congratulations to Desi Andrews on capturing the title and joining the court for the year! We did not get to attend Mr. Gay USofA at Large earlier in the week, but again, a huge congrats to Kane Connors on his year, and a big welcome to the family to Dakota Whitney (his costumes are everything)!
After crowning, we turned right around and headed back to Little Rock for the Mister Arkansas USofA MI prelim. The competition that night was incredible. I was so proud of all 3 boys, I wanted to cry watching them leave their hearts on the stage. Marco Del Gatto made the decision to send all 3 MI boys to nationals, with D’angelo as your new Mister Arkansas USofA MI, Chase Sky as 1 st Alternate, and Scrappy as 2 nd Alternate! In an awesome turn of events, the outgoing Mister Arkansas, Beau Davis, had a family member compete for the classic division his own mother. Luke Davis ended up winning the title of Mister Arkansas USofA MI Classic on his first time ON THE STAGE. With Beau already qualified for nationals as this year’s 1 st Alternate, we may have our first parent and child competing together in Ohio.
Now that I’ve gotten a few prelims under my belt, I’ve had time to notice some trends at pageants. For my remaining articles, I would like to offer a few tips on different areas of competition. Let’s start with interview. Interview is usually the category commented on as the “least favorite”, but it also seems to have the least amount of prep work. It can be hard to prep for interview because you don’t want to risk sounding robotic or rehearsed. On the other hand, you want to definitely have an idea of the points you want to get across to your judges. The best way to start your interview off on the right foot is to have a great bio. The judges will almost always ask you to tell them about yourself. It’s hard for them to know where to go in the interview when there isn’t much information to dig into. This is your chance to really control the direction of the interview! What things about you are interesting? What are some of your strengths or struggles, and how might that help make you a good title holder? Don’t spend more than 45-60 seconds on “telling them about yourself,” but definitely have some important points in mind that gives your judges something to be interested in. If you’d like an example, I’m more than happy to share mine!
As I finish up this article, I’m also finishing prep for Halloween shows, and my regular Halloween costume. I only have to work one night over the weekend, so I’ll be out in a fun costume the other night. I know in some ways, every weekend is Halloween for us, but I still get really excited about “dressing up” every year. November, for me, brings 3 prelims Mister Southern States USofA MI on the 4th, Mister Texas USofA MI on the 11th and Mister Indiana USofA MI on the 19th! I’m so excited to add more boys to the nationals list. Best of luck to everyone finishing up their prelim packages, and I hope everyone had a safe holiday!
See you soon!
Abs Hart
Mister USofA MI