Lights…camera…action! On March 28, the stage was set for the 41st Miss Annual Miss Calendar Girl Scholarship Pageant to go off with a bang and this year’s pageant did not disappoint.
Twenty-six ladies attacked the stage with a dance number to the UK sensation The Ting Tings song, “That’s Not My Name”, proving to everyone that they were ready battle for a calendar month.
After a brief pageant history was given by the now former Miss Cover Girl Annia Jenkins, and dance number by the Orchesis Dance Troupe, the ladies proceeded to show us their sense of style and taste in day wear.
The eight ladies who were competing for the title of Miss Cover Girl 2009-2010 were Krystle Craven of Houston, Ashley Enoch of Burlington, N.C., La’Nel Goshen of San Antonio, Kenyada Himes of San Antonio, Kendra Johnson of Houston, Keondra Moore of Dallas, Keshia Thompson of Westville, Ind., and Qwanelia Williams of Houston.
Eighteen young ladies competed for a month.
The day wear outfits showcased the ladies simple manner of dress whether they headed to a job interview or just to that 9 a.m. class.
After the ladies finished their parade of day wear, it was on to a section of a pageant that all the male attendees could not get enough of, the parade of swimwear.
Each of the contests showed her favorite swimsuit to wear when she was just lounging by the pool on that perfect summer day. Once the swimwear portion was complete, it was time for eight of the 26 contestants to show their talent.
Cravens got the crowd going with a dance set to the tune “Womanizer” by Britney Spears while contestants Johnson and Goshen took the interpretive route. Keondra decided to inspire the women in the audience to be phenomenal with her own reciting of the famous poem “Phenomenal Woman”.
Williams revisited her rendition of the Toni Braxton classic “Unbreak My Heart” while Himes took on gospel giant Yolanda Adams song, “Open My Heart.” In addition to the dances, spoken word, and singing, two of the contest used instruments to show their skills.
Keshia used the piano to give us a good yet very short piano performance, but the performance that seemed to have the crowd snapping their fingers was that of Ashley Enoch and her violin which she used to play Alicia Keys song, “If I Ain’t Got You”.
After talents were showcased it was time for them to show us their eveningwear. All of the ladies put on their best evening gown and dolled themselves up and gave us a view of what a true cover girl would wear for a night of glamour.
The evening wear portion also marked the last few moments before the light were to go down on the reign of Annia Jenkins as Miss Cover Girl for the year 2008-2009. She took her farewell walk for the crowd as a farewell letter was being read.
After all the walks, smiles, scores, it was time for the awards and months to be given out.
Miss Talent was won by Ashley Enoch while Qwanelia Williams won Miss Interview. Artrice Hamilton, who was competing for a month, took home first place for ads, and Joy Rawls got the title of Miss Congeniality.
But the big winner of the night as far as Calendar Girl contestants was Solange Sayers of Saint Lucia, West Indies. Sayers walked away with first place for Patrons, Miss Academic Excellence, Miss Sense of Style, and Miss Swimsuit.
Once those awards were given out it was time for the months to be distributed. So the ladies you will seeing in the 2009-2010 calendar for Grambling State University are: Miss August – Solange Sayers, September – Brittnay Mitchell, October – Shontae Austin, November – Joy Rawls, December – LaCresha Douresseaux, January – NaTasha Gaynor, February – Crystal Watts, March – Giorgio Green, April – Bianca Harris, May – Robyn Guillory, June – Jessica Levi, and July – Shakari Briggs.
Once the months were done it was time for the moment that everyone had been waiting for: the announcement of the runners-up and Miss Cover Girl. The first and second runner-up for Miss Cover Girl were Qwanelia Williams and La’Nel Goshen, respectively.
But at the end of the night, Krystle Cravens walked away with title of Miss Cover Girl 2009-2010.