Pageant News Bureau

O n t h e N e w s s t a n d

The March 2005 issue of Allure magazine has an article in which the reigning Miss Teen USA, Miss USA and Miss Universe are interviewed.

Tiffini Hercules Limahai, who was Miss Hawaii USA 1998, was allowed to defer her guilty plea to drug charges in March 2005, and to have her record cleared if she remains on good behavior for five years. Mrs. Limahai, 30, has been in a drug treatment facility since shortly after her arrest in later 2004 on charges of possessing and dealing in methamphetamines.

On March 14, 2005 , Anji Meidel, Mrs. American Queen 2003, and her husband, Eric, welcomed the newest "little American Queen" into the world. Elena Marie Meidel was born at at 8:25 pm, weighing 8 pounds and 6 ounces. All parties involved are doing fine.

Sharron "Nikki" Redmond, a teacher who was Miss Savannah 2003, was acquitted on March 16, 2005, of murdering her boyfriend Kevin Shorter. Redmond acknowledged shooting Shorter on Dec. 16, 2003, outside the home of another woman he was dating. Police said she acted out of jealousy. She said she fired in self-defense, incorrectly thinking that Shorter was armed. Jurors in the Georgia city apparently believed her. Ms. Redmond was originally third runner-up at Miss Savannah. After the winner, Andrea Bailey, went on to win the Miss Georgia title, the first and second runners-up declined to succeed her as Miss Savannah, because they hoped to win the local title the following year and have a chance to compete at Miss Georgia. Ms. Redmond stepped forward to take it. Her legal troubles a few months later caused the cancellation of the pageant, at least temporarily.

Former Miss Georgias Osjha Anderson and Pam Kennedy, both accomplished singers, will perform with Robert Ray and others at Libby's Cabaret in Atlanta in a show titled "Let the Good Times Roll." The dates when the two queens perform are March 17, March 24 and March 31, 2005.

March 19, 2005, is the 25th Annual Tejano Music Awards in Eagle Pass, Texas. Queens from Ethnic World to participate onstage as award hostesses are Yvette Parrish, Ms. Ethnic World 2005; Christian Torres, Miss Mexico Ethnic World 2005; and Michelle Renteria, Ms. Texas Ethnic World 2005.

Keylee Sanders-Hochberg and Keith Lewis have been announced as the new co-executive directors of Miss California USA and Miss California Teen USA. As every pageant fan knows, Ms. Hochberg is a former Miss Teen USA, and was reigning at the time PNB was founded.

TV alert

A repeat of the show "Whose Line Is It Anyway," featuring Miss America 2002 Katie Harman, will air on ABC Family on March 7, 2005. Check local listings.
Miss America 2002 Katie Harman's wedding to Air Force Capt. Tim Ebner was featured on TLC's "A Wedding Story." It is being rebroadcast on Discovery's High Definition Channel on March 11, 2005. Available with HDTV-enabled TV and subscription.

A former Miss Montana (America) who accused a female pageant volunteer of inappropriate touching and later was stripped of her crown has filed suit against the woman and the head of Montana's former Miss America preliminary. Amber Shipman filed a criminal complaint in late 2003. Police declined to file charges against the volunteer, who
continues to deny the accusation. Ms. Shipman was stripped of her crown in early 2004. The Miss America Organization has since affiliated with another state pageant organization in Montana.

Mia Rahaman, 25, of Scarborough, Canada, who was Miss Guyana Universe in 2002, has pleaded guilty to smuggling drugs in 2003. She has received two years of house arrest and may be deported.

TV alert

Patti Simmons, until recently Mrs. International, will be interviewed by Pat O'Brien on "The Insider" on "Entertainment Tonight." She will discuss the so-called "scandal" and a more serious situation that led to her relinquishing of the title. Check local listings. Air times in some locales may be affected by the U.S. State of the Union address.

Former Miss USA Susie Castillo has signed a contract with MTV and makes her on-air debut on Jan. 31, 2005. Air time is 5 p.m. EST.

Lynnette Cole has earned numerous titles, including Miss Tennessee Teen World, Miss Tennessee Teen USA, Miss Teen All American, Miss Tennessee USA, and Miss USA. On Feb. 19, 2005, she will acquire the title of Mrs., when she weds Michael P. O'Nan, a Lexington, Ky., native. They will reside in Franklin, Tenn., where she runs a beauty boutique, La Rue Beauty, and is executive director of the Miss Southern Tennessee and Southern Tennessee Teen pageants. PNB photographer Benjamin Gibbs will photograph the wedding.

Donald Trump, flamboyant billionaire and co-owner of Miss Universe Inc., married Melania Knauss on Jan. 22, 2005, in Palm Beach, Fla. The bride is a model from Slovenia. Trump was previously married to IvanaTrump (their daughter, Ivanka, once co-hosted the Miss Teen USA Pageant) and to former Georgia beauty queen Marla Maples.

Singer Clay Aiken has received the Worldwide Pageants Service Excellence Award. He was chosen based on his work in furthering the education and mainstreaming exceptional young people leading challenged lives, and creating the Bubel/Aiken Foundation. He is the first recipient of the award. With the assistance of Sony BMG senior publicist Roger Widynowski, Effie Horning (executive director, Worldwide Pageants) and the pageant's newest Ambassador, Venus Day (Worldwide's recent winner of the Spirit of Excellence Award), the award was bestowed.

The CBS program "Survivor: Palau," which premieres on Feb. 17, 2005, includes in its "cast" two former Miss USA contestants -- Janu Tornell, who was Miss Nevada USA 1989, and Kimberly Mullen, who was Miss Ohio USA 2002. Whether South Seas "survival" will appeal to viewers after the South Asian tsunami disaster is an open question. One of the legendary alumnae of "Survivor," Jenna Morasca, who won the $1 million jackpot and went on to be a Playboy cover girl, began her march to fame as a PNB cover girl.

TV alert

Patti Simmons, until recently Mrs. International, will be interviewed by Pat O'Brien on "The Insider" on "Entertainment Tonight." She will discuss the so-called "scandal" and a more serious situation that led to her relinquishing of the title. Check local listings. Air times in some locales may be affected by the U.S. State of the Union address.
The CBS News program "60 Minutes" features features an interview with former Miss World Aishwarya Rai, India's biggest movie star and one of the most celebrated beauties in history. Air time is Jan. 2, 2005, at 7 p.m. EST / 6 p.m. CST.
Cable's TVLand network will re-air a 1970s episode of the "Flip Wilson Show," featuring the-reigning Miss Black America at the time, Joe Namath and comic George Carlin. The 30-minute program airs Jan. 2, 2005, at 8:30 a.m. EDT/7:30 a.m. CST.

Erin Elmore, who has won many titles and was a top finalist in the 2003 Miss Pennsylvania USA Pageant, will be making her television debut on "The Apprentice 3." She is included in a two-page spread "Meet the New Cast of the Apprentice" in the current issue of TV Guide. "The Apprentice 3" pits the "book smarts" (college-educated" against the "street smarts" (high-school-educated). Miss Elmore, a corporate attorney, is part of the "book smart" team. The season debuts Jan. 30, 2005.

April Cowart, PNB photographer Benjamin Gibbs' "Face of Summer" for 2003, is a cast member of "The Logan Show," which will be airing starting in January 2005 on FamilyNet, iLIFE, INSP and JCTV, and in 40 million homes internationally. For more information check www.theloganshow.com.

PNB offstage archive