Pageant

Billionaire Donald Trump was a no-show, so a radiant Miss USA 2004 and a gaggle of local dignitaries crowned Baltimore as host of the Miss USA 2005 pageant at the Hippodrome Theatre yesterday without him -- an announcement that had been expected but was nonetheless much celebrated. "The pageant will focus the eyes of the world on Maryland," said Lt. Gov. Michael S. Steele after an official announcement by a representative of the Miss Universe Organization -- parent company of the Miss USA event.

For two weeks, a Taylorsville teen lived the life of a celebrity - dressing in full-length evening gowns, singing on stage, signing autographs, and getting police escorts when traveling. Then July 3, her 19th birthday, Brooke Poklemba watched herself on television competing in the America's Junior Miss National Finals. Poklemba won the Maryland Junior Miss pageant and $1,800 in scholarship money in March. She went on to compete in the national pageant right after graduating from McDonogh School in Owings Mills.

Giggles punctuated a soaring, slightly off-key rendition of Whitney Houston's "Count on Me" as teens vying for the title of Miss Cover Girl 1998 practiced Saturday for next week's pageant.Shimare Spencer, 15, and La-Shaon Hill, 17, worked out the timing of their duet as the pageant's seven other contestants watched and waited their turns."I'm in this to have fun," said Shimare, a sophomore at Glen Burnie Senior High School.The contestants gathered at Holy Temple Church of God in Annapolis for what was their next-to-last practice before the big day. Sunday, one of them will be crowned -- tiara-ed, actually -- Miss Cover Girl.

For Severna Park resident Heather Noelle Davis, the worst moment of the 1998 Miss Maryland pageant occurred when judges narrowed the pool of 22 contestants to five finalists. Four names were called, and Davis' wasn't among them."That was kind of nerve-racking," Davis, who competed as Miss Southern Maryland, said yesterday.But Davis, 23, was not only the fifth finalist, she went on to win the competition and $17,250 in scholarship money during the pageant Saturday night at Maryland Theatre in Hagerstown.

Linthicum resident Angelisa Proserpi, daughter of Theresa Proserpi, has been selected as a state finalist in the Miss Maryland Teen-USA Pageant, scheduled for March 7 at the BWI Marriott Hotel.Angelisa, 17, will compete against 40 Maryland teen-agers. Contestants will be judged on beauty, poise, personality, grooming and intelligence. The winner will represent Maryland in the 1993 Miss Teen-USA Pageant, which will be telecast live on CBS-TV in August.Angelisa is an honor student at North County High School and was homecoming queen this year.

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa -- The magic of the moment didn't last long for the first black Miss South Africa.On Sunday morning, the country woke up to headlines congratulating itself on Saturday night's naming of Jacqui Mofokeng to the title.The Sunday paper pictures of Miss Mofokeng's bright smile and brown skin surrounded by the two beaming white runners-up seemed to sum up the hope for a nonracial future.By yesterday, though, all that had changed.The lines on Radio 702, the AM station whose call-in talk shows consistently take the pulse of the Johannesburg region, were filled with outraged people claiming the Saturday night contest must have been fixed, that Miss Mofokeng's win was politically correct but aesthetically flawed.

The result is a moment steeped in tradition and virtually devoid of high drama. This afternoon, President Bush will stand before a gathering at the National Christmas Tree on the Ellipse and pull a lever from a switchbox. Then, if all goes according to plan, anticipation will then give way to an outpouring of light: Decorations on the 40-foot, live Colorado blue spruce will radiate like sparklers set against a sunbeam, prompting cheers and camera flashes. What you won't see are people who have been working since Nov. 1 to ensure that the tree lighting and other events, including musical performances, at the Christmas Pageant of Peace go off without a hitch.

In a tiny pool in a downtown Baltimore senior center, 80-year-old Verna Day-Jones closes her eyes, punches her fists through the water and tries to keep her balance as her water aerobics instructor barks orders. When a classmate speaks up in Day-Jones' defense, reminding the teacher that this woman is the reigning Ms. Senior Maryland and is headed to Las Vegas for the national pageant this week, instructor Martin Cruise will hear none of it. "If she don't do what she's supposed to do in this class, she ain't gonna be Miss Nobody," he says.

INDIANAPOLIS -- When Mike Tyson's accuser first met the former heavyweight champion at a beauty pageant last July, she was "star-struck," flirted with him and was soon talking about his money, four witnesses testified yesterday in his rape trial.One of the witnesses, Madelyn D. Whittington, a college senior from Ohio, testified that minutes after the 23 contestants in the Miss Black America pageant were introduced to Mr. Tyson, the accuser told her of plans to go out with him." 'Yes, of course I'm going,' " Ms. Whittington quoted the woman as saying.

It's deja vu all over again for Tracy Adler, director of Wilde Lake High School at River Hill's production of the musical "SMILE!" about the 1984 Young American Miss California Pageant.Ms. Adler was a contestant in the same pageant in the same year. As Miss Merced County, she competed for the California state crown in 1984.Connie Sue Whipple, the fictional Miss Merced County, is played in the Wilde Lake production by Jamequa Redmond."SMILE!" will be presented at 8 p.m. Nov. 16, 17 and 18. Tickets are $6 and can be purchased before each performance at the box office.