November 2016 - Regina's Intergalactic Transmissions

​Wow! I cannot believe it is already November! Where has the time gone? October was filled with so many experiences that have made me a beer person!
 
I had the pleasure of competing for Miss Gay America while representing Miss Gay Missouri America.  My time at MGA was absolutely amazing!  Meeting so many wonderful people with the same goal as needed was the highlight of the weekend.  

​I can’t say I am happy with my placement. I placed 21 overall and was 9th place in talent. Did I wish to place higher? Yes, but we all make choices that determine our path in anything that we do. I made a few choices that weren't received by the judges and that's ok. I can shoulda, coulda, woulda, myself until I'm blue in the face but I have to remember my mistakes and pick myself up to get back in the race!
 
I am honored to have been selected as MGA 2017 most photogenic! 

I have already selected my preliminary to return to the MGA stage in NOLA!  I will be competing in Columbus, Ohio in Miss Gay Heart of America!
 
Congratulations to our new symbol of excellence Suzy Wong! 

I will say this again. You cannot appreciate success without knowing the beauty of failure. This hold so true to any situation you put your heart out on the line for. We must take these experiences and use them to make us stronger!
 
The weekend following MGA was my hand down of Miss Gay Paris of the Plains. This hand down was made even more special to me when I realized it was my last ever city prelim hand down! Four contestants showed up in hopes of being crowned the next MGPOTP which include the return of Bianca Bliss to the MGMA system. Bianca Bliss went on to be crowned MGPOTP and new comer, Sapphire Reign, would place first alternate! 

We ended the month by traveling to St. Louis in search for the next Miss Gay St. Louis Missouri America. The Miss Gay St. Louis legacy is one of the longest running preliminaries in the MGMA family. It was so great to get to work with so many of the forever MGSLA'S. Four contestants showed up to compete for the title and it would be a top ten finalist from MGMA 2016, Karma T. Cassidy, to capture the title and Mariah Candy to place first alternate. 

Photo Credit: Chuck Pfoutz

​One of my favorite moments from the evening would be, sharing the stage with forever MGSLA Tabbi Katt! She caught me off guard with an impromptu stage interview and it was truly a fantastic moment!

We now have 12 out of 24 contestants qualified for the MGMA 2017 season! The competition is already shaping up to be a great one! Two more chances remain this month to get your ticket to MGMA 2017.
 
November 5th at Miss Gay Springfield to be held at Touché in Springfield, MO.
-Contact Autumn Holiday and Vince Edwards for applications
 (November 4th is the Miss Gay Springfield review show)
 
November 18th at Miss Gay City of Columbia to be held at Ying Yang in Columbia
-Contact Musica Malone for applications

FROM THE BOARD:

Greetings friends and fans of MGMA!

It’s hard to believe that October marks the halfway point of the MGMA 2017 pageant season.  And what a season it has been thus far!  We’ve qualified 12 amazing contestants and still have another 12 to go!  Hats off to our reigning MGMA, Regina LaRae for really stepping up to the plate and taking on her duties with full force.  It’s going to be a battle for the crown come April of 2017 and I for one can’t wait to see it!

October also marked the crowning of our new Miss Gay America, Suzy Wong!  I hope you will all join me in wishing Suzy the very best on her reign and welcome her to the Show-Me-State for our contest.  Missouri should be VERY proud as we were represented by a fantastic group of entertainers at this year’s Miss Gay America pageant – Regina LaRae (MGM 2016), Miss Priscilla (1st alternate to MGM 2016), Christa Collins (1st alternate to Miss Gay Heart of America & forever MGM 2013), Trixie LaRue (Miss Gay Southern Elegance & forever Miss Gay STL America 2011), and Lindsay Bryant (1st alternate to Southern Elegance).  Christa and Trixie walked away with the Naomi Sims Solo Talent award and Leslie Rage Talent award respectively and also cracked the Top 10!  Regina also took home the honor of this year’s Michael Andrews Photogenic award!  ALL of you made Missouri proud ladies – congratulations on an amazing job!

Miss Gay Missouri was also this year’s recipient of the “Best State Preliminary” Award given by the outgoing MGA, Asia O’Hara.  What an honor to be recognized for the hard work and dedication we present each year.  There is SO much work that goes on behind the scenes to ensure things run as smoothly as possible.  And while we all know there are always unforeseen hiccups, I’d say we do our best to learn and grow from these and apply those to the following year’s pageant.

As many of you already know we are very pleased to welcome MGMA back to St. Louis for 2017!  The Metropolitan Community Church of Greater St. Louis will once again play host to our contest and information will be released on the host hotel soon.  I for one am excited to return to the stage that I was crowned on back in 2014 – can’t believe it’s already been 3 years!

2017 is going to be a year of change for Miss Gay America as we say “goodbye” to solo talent and welcome the addition of “presentation” as a category of competition.  We will also be allowing those making the Top 10 to completely change their final night talent presentation.  New music, new sets, new choreography, the whole she-bang!  As the saying goes, the only constant is change!  I know many folks have mixed feeling on this topic but I for one am excited to usher in this new era of MGA!  Keep your eyes peeled to social media as Regina will continue to provide more in-depth info on these topics and more as it becomes available.

Until next time!
Adria Andrews, Miss Gay Missouri America 2014
Miss Gay Missouri America Alumni Association