~ USOA Pageant ~
By Jennifer Wakefield
Copa Style Magazine Pageant Events Columnist
As you entered the Synetic Theater in Arlington, VA that Monday night you could feel the excitement and energy as the 2023 United States of America’s Pageant was about to begin! Ladies from Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia were at the theater ready to compete in hopes of being crowned a 2023 titleholder.
The pageant started with a high energy presentation of the contestant’s national costumes. Some were red, white and blue, a couple were Lady Liberty, one was giving out Apple Pie and a few were pilots like in Top Gun Maverick.
The production and presentation of the pageant was top notch. The Mistress of Ceremonies for the evenings competition was Nikki Noya. The contestants from all four divisions of Teen, Miss, Ms. And Mrs. competed in swim/fitness, evening gown and on-stage question. The musical director had the music flowing nicely and helped the competition run smoothly. The swim/fitness portion is to see confidence in each contestant, the evening gown competition is to showcase elegance and the on-stage question helps the judges to know who would be a good representative for speaking at charity events, red carpet events, parades and to the media during their reign. The titleholder is the face of the pageant and represents not just themselves but the organization.
At the conclusion of the competition there was a party farewell to the outgoing 2022 queens. Since there were 10 outgoing queens, they were each given a bouquet of flowers and danced down the center isle of the stage. Their farewell speeches were written in the program book for all to read.
The prize package to each winner is a trip to nationals which includes the hotel, meals, a McDougal opening number cocktail dress, Marc Defang heels, an ad. page, swag bags worth close to one thousand dollars in value, headshot by Rezanation and spray tans at Organic Bronzing Studio.
Now…the moment we were all waiting for!! The awards and crowning of title holders!
The awards were announced first. They were as follows: Fitness – Ebony Sheryl, photogenic – Kristy Stevens, Congeniality – Ke’Shyra Brown, Peoples’ Choice - Latoya Hazard and Social Queen – Hannah LeTourneau.
The Maryland queens are: USOA Miss Maryland – Ke’Shyra Bown; USOA Ms. Maryland – Bethany Rice; USOA Mrs. Maryland – Julia Chang.
The District of Columbia queens are: USOA Teen DC – Valentina Donovan; USOA Miss DC – Tiera Williams; USOA Ms. DC – Daniella DiPierro; USOA Mrs. DC – Tabith Kinchen.
The Virginia queens are: USOA Teen Virginia – Diya Bellacini; USOA Miss Virginia – Taylor Reynolds; USOA Ms. Virginia – Taylor Abreu; and USOA Mrs. Virginia – Hannah LeTourneau.
The judges who had the task of picking the winners were: Dr. Mobi, Renee Allen, Rick Bernstein, JeanAnne Roberts and Alvin Faughnan. The competition had 4 categories that were judged: 25% personal interview with the 5 judges, swim/fitness 25%, Evening gown 25% and Onstage question 25%.
From the United States of America’s national website, it says: UNITED STATES of America PAGEANTS are designed to encourage women to strive to ACHIEVE their hopes, dreams, goals, and aspirations, while making them feel CONFIDENT and BEAUTIFUL inside and out! We believe the true definition of beauty is "The unique set of combinations that make you, You!" Our motto is to EMPOWER Women, INSPIRE others, & UPLIFT everyone! We focus on women empowerment, promoting positive self-image and advocating a platform of community service, which allows our contestants to rise by lifting others. But more importantly we are an elite sisterhood that gives support and encouragement to inspire each delegate to be the best version of herself!
Julia Chang who won USOA Mrs. Maryland said “My favorite part of the pageant was getting to know everyone. Hearing stories and why delegates were there to compete was awe-inspiring. Making new friends is always fun, especially when it’s with pageant queens! There’s a certain connection established that goes beyond the pageant weekend…Once I realized I was the new titleholder, I felt happy, excited and humbled at the opportunity to represent Maryland.”
Bethany Rice who won USOA Ms. Maryland said “I loved meeting the talented ladies of the DMV. I can confidently say that this was the most fiercely talented group of women assembled into one group! I made many friendships that will extend beyond the pageant…I was truly humbled to hear my name called. I have been waiting for that moment since I was ten years old. I have come close so many times, but when they announced the first runner up and I didn’t hear my name, it really hit me. I was shaking! It was a night I will never forget.”
Hannah La Tourneau who won USOA Mrs. Virginia said “my favorite part was having a weekend with some of my best friends! Tabby, the new USOA Mrs. DC and my friend Julia the new USOA Mrs. Maryland competed with me! Being able to have a girls weekend together, while doing something that we all love is something that I’ll cherish forever!
The very first thought that I had was I get to go to nationals with my best friends! That made the win even better! Then the next thought after was what are the first prep items I need to start doing to get ready for nationals?”
Each title holder will compete for their national titles in Las Vegas, NV in March 2023.
Deveney Shea is the director of this pageant. She planned for well over 6-9 months. Recruiting, scouting out venues, due to venue costs the three state pageants were held together. Shea says that she is a staff of one, under the label of Deveney Media, LLC. Eventually she may have a staff but at this point she does the recruiting, promoting, social media, marketing, design, choreography, livestream, website and everything in between. Luckily this year she had some volunteers help with tickets at the door, a judge's coordinator and had a great auditor and an amazing MC.
Below in pic. one are all of the contestants posing in front of the Reflecting pool and the Washington Monument. The second pic. is the judges and nine of the eleven 2023 crowned titleholders.
The pageant started with a high energy presentation of the contestant’s national costumes. Some were red, white and blue, a couple were Lady Liberty, one was giving out Apple Pie and a few were pilots like in Top Gun Maverick.
The production and presentation of the pageant was top notch. The Mistress of Ceremonies for the evenings competition was Nikki Noya. The contestants from all four divisions of Teen, Miss, Ms. And Mrs. competed in swim/fitness, evening gown and on-stage question. The musical director had the music flowing nicely and helped the competition run smoothly. The swim/fitness portion is to see confidence in each contestant, the evening gown competition is to showcase elegance and the on-stage question helps the judges to know who would be a good representative for speaking at charity events, red carpet events, parades and to the media during their reign. The titleholder is the face of the pageant and represents not just themselves but the organization.
At the conclusion of the competition there was a party farewell to the outgoing 2022 queens. Since there were 10 outgoing queens, they were each given a bouquet of flowers and danced down the center isle of the stage. Their farewell speeches were written in the program book for all to read.
The prize package to each winner is a trip to nationals which includes the hotel, meals, a McDougal opening number cocktail dress, Marc Defang heels, an ad. page, swag bags worth close to one thousand dollars in value, headshot by Rezanation and spray tans at Organic Bronzing Studio.
Now…the moment we were all waiting for!! The awards and crowning of title holders!
The awards were announced first. They were as follows: Fitness – Ebony Sheryl, photogenic – Kristy Stevens, Congeniality – Ke’Shyra Brown, Peoples’ Choice - Latoya Hazard and Social Queen – Hannah LeTourneau.
The Maryland queens are: USOA Miss Maryland – Ke’Shyra Bown; USOA Ms. Maryland – Bethany Rice; USOA Mrs. Maryland – Julia Chang.
The District of Columbia queens are: USOA Teen DC – Valentina Donovan; USOA Miss DC – Tiera Williams; USOA Ms. DC – Daniella DiPierro; USOA Mrs. DC – Tabith Kinchen.
The Virginia queens are: USOA Teen Virginia – Diya Bellacini; USOA Miss Virginia – Taylor Reynolds; USOA Ms. Virginia – Taylor Abreu; and USOA Mrs. Virginia – Hannah LeTourneau.
The judges who had the task of picking the winners were: Dr. Mobi, Renee Allen, Rick Bernstein, JeanAnne Roberts and Alvin Faughnan. The competition had 4 categories that were judged: 25% personal interview with the 5 judges, swim/fitness 25%, Evening gown 25% and Onstage question 25%.
From the United States of America’s national website, it says: UNITED STATES of America PAGEANTS are designed to encourage women to strive to ACHIEVE their hopes, dreams, goals, and aspirations, while making them feel CONFIDENT and BEAUTIFUL inside and out! We believe the true definition of beauty is "The unique set of combinations that make you, You!" Our motto is to EMPOWER Women, INSPIRE others, & UPLIFT everyone! We focus on women empowerment, promoting positive self-image and advocating a platform of community service, which allows our contestants to rise by lifting others. But more importantly we are an elite sisterhood that gives support and encouragement to inspire each delegate to be the best version of herself!
Julia Chang who won USOA Mrs. Maryland said “My favorite part of the pageant was getting to know everyone. Hearing stories and why delegates were there to compete was awe-inspiring. Making new friends is always fun, especially when it’s with pageant queens! There’s a certain connection established that goes beyond the pageant weekend…Once I realized I was the new titleholder, I felt happy, excited and humbled at the opportunity to represent Maryland.”
Bethany Rice who won USOA Ms. Maryland said “I loved meeting the talented ladies of the DMV. I can confidently say that this was the most fiercely talented group of women assembled into one group! I made many friendships that will extend beyond the pageant…I was truly humbled to hear my name called. I have been waiting for that moment since I was ten years old. I have come close so many times, but when they announced the first runner up and I didn’t hear my name, it really hit me. I was shaking! It was a night I will never forget.”
Hannah La Tourneau who won USOA Mrs. Virginia said “my favorite part was having a weekend with some of my best friends! Tabby, the new USOA Mrs. DC and my friend Julia the new USOA Mrs. Maryland competed with me! Being able to have a girls weekend together, while doing something that we all love is something that I’ll cherish forever!
The very first thought that I had was I get to go to nationals with my best friends! That made the win even better! Then the next thought after was what are the first prep items I need to start doing to get ready for nationals?”
Each title holder will compete for their national titles in Las Vegas, NV in March 2023.
Deveney Shea is the director of this pageant. She planned for well over 6-9 months. Recruiting, scouting out venues, due to venue costs the three state pageants were held together. Shea says that she is a staff of one, under the label of Deveney Media, LLC. Eventually she may have a staff but at this point she does the recruiting, promoting, social media, marketing, design, choreography, livestream, website and everything in between. Luckily this year she had some volunteers help with tickets at the door, a judge's coordinator and had a great auditor and an amazing MC.
Below in pic. one are all of the contestants posing in front of the Reflecting pool and the Washington Monument. The second pic. is the judges and nine of the eleven 2023 crowned titleholders.
2022 USOA HIGHLIGHT VIDEO
Jennifer Wakefield is from Laurel, MD. She is also Mrs. Maryland International 2019 and Maryland Ambassador International 2020. She has been in the pageant world for close to 30 years. As a 10-year breast cancer survivor, She Paints the World Pink her platform of giving love, hope and support to ladies going through breast cancer now.
Layout by Rodney Wayne Branche
Please contact us if you are interested in a promotional article or interview: [email protected]
Please contact us if you are interested in a promotional article or interview: [email protected]