Behind the Scenes – thePageantGuy.com

August 27, 2014December 5, 2018

From Heartache to Hope: A Two-Time 1st RU’s Journey

From Heartache to Hope: A Two-Time 1^st Runner Up’s Journey

When life has cut too deep and left you hurting
The future you had hoped for is now burning
And the dreams you held so tight lost their meaning
And you don’t know if you’ll ever find the healing

You’re gonna make it, you’re gonna make it.
And the night can only last for so long.

Whatever you’re facing, if your heart is breaking,
There’s a promise for the ones who just hold on.
Lift up your eyes and see. The sun is rising.

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I’ve probably played “The Sun is Rising” by Britt Nicole about a hundred times over the past few weeks. It’s an interesting feeling...when you believe with all your heart that your prayer could be answered and squeal at the thought that this is it – it could really, truly, finally happen.

Like the moment before the love of your life gets down on one knee to propose and you can barely breathe. Or after dozens of interviews, you get a phone call and this could finally be the job. Or after four years of competing, placing 1^st Runner Up, winning double prelims, and taking time off law school to train, this could actually, finally be “your year” to win Miss Texas.

For years, ever since high school, I had my guard up. I was afraid to let myself believe things like that could happen for fear of being let down. So instead, I built a glass box around me. People could walk up and I’d smile and wave hello, but I was very cautious about who I let inside my box and into my life to know the real me.

But this year, all that changed. This was my fourth and final year to compete for Miss Texas. I had gone from Top 10, to Top 5, to 1^st Runner Up and double preliminary winner, and this year I was going ALL in. No regrets. I was going to break down that glass box once and for all, train ten times harder than last year, and just let myself believe that my dreams could actually come true. I just knew it would be worth it. So I took off a semester of law school to train full time.

Thanks to my incredible prep team, they set up about fifty mock interviews to ensure I was more than prepared. I had phone prep sessions with my coaches twice a week, worked out twice a day, learned how to home cook all my healthy, low-sodium, low-fat, high-protein meals, and practiced piano morning and night.

I made dozens of appearances, spoke before thousands of students across Plano, collected backpacks and suitcases for foster children in support of my platform, and did everything possible to make my dream come true.

And the thing is...sometimes we can do everything possible, and it still doesn’t come true. For one simple reason: God didn’t create us to have a perfect life; He created us to have a close, intimate relationship with Him. And sometimes it takes heartbreak for us to grow closer.

The night I was called as 1^st Runner Up was undoubtedly the most difficult night of my life. When they called my name it was like slow motion, and my heart shattered into a million pieces all over the stage.

In addition to winning double preliminary awards as the pageant’s only double prelim winner again, I also ended up winning Overall Talent, Overall Fitness, and Overall Evening Gown. Which was such an honor to receive, but also made the pageant outcome even harder to swallow.

That night was like a crashing tsunami of so many unfamiliar emotions – pain, hurt, shock, heartache, and grief. You anxiously await for what you’ve let yourself believe will be the happiest night of your life, to be bursting with joy, but instead, suddenly you’re struck with a raging tidal wave of sorrow and pain, and when you’re finally alone, you collapse from the weight of your grief and crumple into a ball to the floor. Poof. Your dream is gone. And it’s never coming back.

"The Miss Texas title was never mine; it belonged to God. He could choose to give it to anyone He wanted to and I believe His plan is always best." - Christine Tang

It’s been exactly one month since that night. In the weeks that followed, while my family and I tried to quietly heal and recover, we found out my sweet grandfather got diagnosed with aggressive cancer. So it’s been quite a rough month for our family. When things like that happen, I want to look back and just ask God “why?” but instead, I’ve had to daily choose to look forward with faith. We have to choose to be grateful. We have to pursue joy. We have to actively persist living a life full of light and love. I believe with all my heart that when we entrust our life into God’s hands, He plans the absolute best for us.

So when something doesn’t go our way, we can find comfort and strength in the fact that God has something even better. We can never understand the magnitude, the depth, and brilliance of God’s magnificent plans, but I personally find comfort in reflecting on His faithfulness in my life for the past 24 years. And since He has never left my side, I will not leave His. I will not let myself be filled with anger or bitterness – I won’t give in.

People may say, “Christine, you were robbed.” But I wasn’t. The Miss Texas title was never mine; it belonged to God. He could choose to give it to anyone He wanted to and I believe His plan is always best.

My parents named my middle name “Diana” after Lady Diana, Princess of Wales, and I’ve always loved her for her compassion, humility, and grace. Despite having her crown and royal title taken away, she was and is still deeply, forever cherished by the world as the “Queen of Hearts.” Proving that we don’t need crowns, titles, or trophies to change the world – just a selfless, loving heart and a joyful spirit!

So I’m choosing a life of joy by being grateful. Grateful for the opportunity just to simply stand on the Miss Texas stage. Grateful for the chance to have had four years of priceless training and experiences. Grateful for my scholarships and awards. Grateful for my coaches, trainers, mentors and friends. Grateful for the life-changing lessons of learning how to break down the glass box...how to pick yourself up off the ground when you get hurt...and how to move on with faith knowing no good thing does the Lord withhold from those who love Him.

As we journey through the hills and valleys of life, we have to trust that God gives us those valleys to give us depth and dimension. And in that exhausting, tear-stained struggle climbing out of the ditch, tired but stronger, braver, and more resilient than before, that’s how He equips His best soldiers. God uses a degree of pain to change who we are, to make us better fit and able for the beautiful life He has planned for us to live. I wouldn’t have it any other way. So cheers to living lives of joy and gratitude!

May we never be defined by what we gain, but by how we live.

“Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than we can ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work in us.” – Ephesians 3:20

For His Glory,

Christine Tang - Miss Plano 2014

1^st Runner Up to Miss Texas 2014, Overall Talent, Overall Fitness, Overall Evening Gown, Overall Fitness Preliminary Award, Overall Talent Preliminary Award, Quality of Life Top 10 Finalist

July 16, 2014December 5, 2018

Journey to the Crown — Devin Grissom (May/June 2014)

Well I’ll admit it.

I have completely fallen off the face of the Earth for 2 months—sorry about that—but literally, I was not in the United States for 4 weeks so I feel like that is a pretty good excuse. However, just because there have been no blogs doesn’t mean that I haven’t been working…HARD.

I am more motivated and ready than ever! (Well ready as in excited and ready to keep working, not ready as in ready to walk on stage in a swimsuit…quite yet)

So what have I been up to you ask? What have I NOT been up to is the best answer. Let's get caught up guys… Last you heard from me, I had just left Dallas after attending the Miss Dallas USA pageant. Since then, life has been a whirlwind... as usual.

MAY: In a Suitcase

So get this. 4 weeks. 5 countries. 12 cities.

San Francisco-->New York-->Athens-->Mykonos-->Santorini-->Athens-->Rome

-->Tuscany-->Florence-->Paris-->Shanghai-->Baton Rouge-->Memphis. WHEW!

Now I know you are thinking it... between trips to Greece, Italy, France and China, how did I possibly stick to any sort of diet? Inconsistently is the answer. In my opinion, the point of training for a pageant (or anything really) is to accomplish your goals and make yourself a better person by striving to reach that goal. But in some circumstances, that goal needs to take a short backseat ride. I really believe it would have been a disservice to my soul if I missed out on the full opportunities of being abroad while there. AKA -- If I want some dang pasta and wine in Italy then I SHALL HAVE IT.

On the other hand, the great thing about traveling is that you are constantly walking/exploring/finding activities to keep you busy and active. I actually walked up 463 (felt like a gazillion) teeny, tiny steep steps to the top of the Doumo in Florence. I couldn't tell if I was out of breath from the stairs or the magical city view -- that's my kind of workout.

JUNE: Miss USA 2014

Attending Miss USA is always an experience. I love getting to see the behind the scenes of the telecast. It is truly inspiring to see just how excited the friends and family of each contestant are. It makes you realize how hard each one of them has worked towards this goal. Miss USA is the culmination of months and months and months of hard work and preparation. That does not even include the months and months of hard work that each girl put into winning her state pageant.

Alongside being a spectator, I was asked to be the red carpet correspondent for thePageantGuy.com! I was able to interview all of the judges for Miss USA as well as the man in charge, Donald Trump!

P.S. I may have had a slight fan-girl moment when I realized I got to meet Allie LaForce. She has been a role-model of mine ever since winning Miss Teen USA 2005 and she is now the CBS sideline reporter for the SEC! Roll Tide! What an experience I will never forget.

Needless to say, I was yet again reassured that I want to be on that stage competing for Miss USA. I headed back to Tennessee with a mentality that my biggest obstacle will always be myself. I need to continue to convince myself that I can work harder and be better every single day.

THE REST OF JUNE:

Since Miss USA I have been on a mission. Literally.

Insanity is my best friend. Well I should say that Shaun T is my best friend. These workouts are kick-butt and they never get any easier! As much as my thighs hate it -- I love it! The first month's videos are the "easy" ones (easy to Hercules maybe), they are around 40 minutes long including stretching before and after. Month 2 is literally impossible -- about an hour including stretching -- it's tough, but I'm getting better at it everyday. I seriously recommend this workout -- so easy to do from home and will get you into shape pronto!

On top of Insanity, Physique 57 has become my new best friend. If you have ever gone to Pure Barre then you know what I mean. These "ballet inspired" workouts are not for the faint of heart. They will make you shake, sweat and sometimes even cry haha (for real.) But it works. And the DVD's are SO much less expensive than going to the real classes.

TO DO LIST:

So now I am getting into crunch time! My to-do list for next month is as follows:

Find an evening gown (eek my favorite!)
Get head shots done

Here's to next month!

June 13, 2014December 5, 2018

PHOTOS: Miss Teen USA contestants at Miss USA 2014

I had the great opportunity to capture photos and videos of all the Miss Teen USA 2014 contestants during their time at the Miss USA 2014 pageant as they toured Baton Rouge.

Thank you to Lauren and Blair for an amazing job organizing this fun filled weekend event and to Zac Grimaldo for capturing some great moments on camera!

The first slideshow is a compilation of all the photos and captions I took and live tweeted on Twitter during the weekend and the second slideshow are all the candids that Zac Grimaldo shot. Videos coming soon!

P.S. (After photos load, use arrows on the left and right of the slideshow to scroll)

-Will the Pageant Guy

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May 7, 2014December 5, 2018

Miss Dallas Pageant 2014 – Playlist

Obviously pageants are a big part of my life. Music is a big part of my life too. In fact, two of my favorite classes in college were courses in Music Therapy and History of Rock and Roll (yes it was a real class!)

I love all music. No genre holds me hostage. In pageantry, music sets the mood of a certain stage of competition and it can dial up the energy level of an audience. Specifically at my pageant, I want the environment for the contestants to be fun and loose without anxiety, and for those watching the pageant...I want them to dance in their seat while enjoying the show 🙂

I purposely spend a great deal of time searching, selecting, editing, and remixing music for the Miss Dallas Pageant. I want music that both you and I will rock to for a few hours. I've publicly said that over 90% of all pageants are boring, so here's one way to unbore your production and keep the audience energy up: Pump some sweet jams!

Most of the songs that make the final playlist each year are tracks I've edited to remove expletives or minimize suggestive lyrics, mainstream songs remixed to give it a new sound, tracks I've remixed myself to put my own signature on it, and some killer undiscovered jams that haven't hit the mainstream airwaves.

Here are 6 tracks I used for the Miss Dallas Pageant 2014, plus commentary on how I used them during the production and the thought process on the edits I made for each track.

For your listening pleasure, I threw all 6 tracks together into one remix for a fun jam session!

1) Opening Number - Excuse My Rude by Jessie J (133 Remix)
The first time I heard Excuse My Rude I fell in love with how fierce this was. In my head I could picture all of the contestants walking with their faces matching the attitude in this song. When it was decided that this was the song to open our show with, I wanted the contestants to be fierce throughout every moment on stage. I know that fierce maybe an overused word in pageantry, but I PROMISE you that once you blast this song you can't help but want to ignite the runway to this beat. If you listen to the original version of this song you'll notice that the first minute of my remix is identical to the original version...beyond that is where I add some modifications. The original version is still pretty awesome, but for our opening I wanted to make edits that would work for what we were doing on stage, and to make the track sound better in my opinion. Here are some of the changes and the timestamps:

1:00 - Slight edit to lyrics. The original version says "really, <awkward silence> hate you". I thought this sounded like a terrible and obvious attempt to mask out profanity and took away from the flow of the song. Listen how awkward it sounds here. Now, if you listen to my remix, I changed every instance of the previous to "really, really hate you." and trust me it sounds much better!

1:18 - Added a 2nd bass drop. During our opening number production the 1st bass drop (about 12 seconds into the track) coincided with a contestant turn and reveal from out of darkness with full stage lights coming on adding dramatic effect. I added a 2nd bass drop into the track that cued both titleholders to have an isolated walk on stage. Pretty cool moment if you saw it in person 🙂

About 2 minutes into the original version there was a rap solo by Becky G, which was pretty cool, but I just didn't think it worked with what we wanted in a pageant opening and to me it just didn't flow...so I removed it altogether...sorry Becky G!

Hope you guys enjoy my version, it's the first song in the remix track above...play it LOUD!

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2) Swimsuit Parade - Dark Horse by Katy Perry (133 Remix)
This song set the stage for the Swimsuit Competition. During the parade I wanted the contestants to have energy coming out the gate...overriding the nervousness of walking out in a bikini in front of hundreds or strangers under tons of bright lights.

I found a few remixes that I liked of Dark Horse, made a few changes and cut it to about 2 minutes for the Swimsuit Parade.

This song begins at 3:02 on my remix track above.

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3) Swimsuit #1 - Show Me by Kid Ink Feat. Chris Brown (133 Remix Clean)
I absolutely LOVE this Show Me...it probably has one of the sexiest beats on the radio right now and I really wanted to have this song for swimsuit for that very reason. I debated whether or not to add it to the MDP 2014 playlist because just 10 seconds into the original version of this song it reaks of suggestive lyrics. This song doesn't contain profanities, but it has inappropriate lyrics for pageant/family which would be super uncomfortable when someone's daughter is walking the runway. So I tricked this song up to remove the suggestive lyrics in the hook, left in some of the lyrics that I thought would pass the "grandma test", and isolated the hot beat (minus lyrics) where the majority of the suggestive lyrics were. Hope you like it!

This song begins at 5:07 on my remix track above.

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4) Swimsuit #6 - Million Dollar Bills by Lorde (Easy Girl 133 Remix)

I added this version of Million Dollar Bills last minute to the Swimsuit Playlist. The original version of this song with the slow opening and reggae-like drag beats didn't cut it for me, but this version has some serious kick to it and thought it would be a sweet addition for Swimsuit. It was one of the very last songs on the Swimsuit Playlist and unfortunately it didn't get any airtime during the pageant.

I made a slight change to extend a part where Lorde started rapping -- yes rapping -- during the song where I felt they cut it short. This version is the pretty sweet...take a listen!

This track begins at 8:42 on my remix track above.

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5) Intermission #1 - Fancy by Iggy Azalea (Caked Up Remix)

Yup, I also choose the intermission music as well! Even during intermission I still want the audience's energy level to stay consistent and engaged with the show. Most of the songs I select for intermission are songs that I wouldn't use for a pageant production either because the beats per minute are too high (aka the song is just too fast to walk to) or the song struggles too slow. I came across this wickedly sick version of Fancy that I knew wouldn't be a fit for the show, but would be PERFECT for intermission...even more perfect for the gym! This is my favorite jam of all the ones listed here...listen to it now 🙂

This song begins at 12:14 on my remix track above.

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6) Intermission #2 - Turn Down For What by DJ Snake and Lil Jon

During intermission, I followed up Fancy with Turn Down For What. If you haven't heard this song you are probably in a coma somewhere 🙂 This again is yet another awesome jam that I wouldn't ever use for the pageant production because of the speed of the song, yet perfect to get you amped up during intermission. The collection of breaks on this track is so dope it makes you wanna get up and rock out, just like in the video. And if you haven't seen the video, then you're in for ummm...well you'll just have to see for yourself haha! #weird #funny #twerkingzombies

This song begins at 15:29 on my remix track above.

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-Will the Pageant Guy

May 2, 2014May 3, 2014

9 Things I Learned at the Miss Dallas Pageant 2014

Each year, as an Official Recruiter for the Miss Texas USA and Miss Texas Teen USA pageant, I have the amazing opportunity to direct and produce the wonderful Miss Dallas Pageant.

From choosing opening number attire, creating program books, picking music, selecting bouquets, and even a little bit of choreography...it's always a blast to see how it all turns out onstage during a live show!

The undisputed Rule #1 for all contestants, staff, parents, emcees, etc. is to HAVE FUN (we encourage tons of dancing, junk food, cell phone use, tweeting, twerking...but not the tweeting of twerking lol) ...and if it wasn't fun every year, I would've been done with this a LONG time ago 🙂

So to give you a glimpse of what happened this past weekend, here are the 9 Things I Learned at the Miss Dallas Pageant 2014:

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9) Birthday cake is a pageant girl's kyptonite, especially when preparing for Miss USA

BrittanyBirthday — Alright, so maybe we indulged ONE TIME in some of Miss Florida USA 2014 - Brittany Oldehoff's birthday cake...OK, twice lol

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8) 15 minute intermissions never ever last 15 minutes

CalculatorWatch — Not even my new calculator watch could help keep our intermission running on time

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7) Devin Grissom is a professional at making fish cut-outs for the on-stage question fishbowl

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6) Selecting and ordering flowers is not my greatest strength : /

Im the worst at choosing flowers and apparently just as bad ordering them. We were short a few bouquets so we had to do some last minute improvising B-) — I admit that I am the worst at choosing flowers and apparently just as bad when ordering them. We were short a few bouquets so we had to do some last minute improvising B-)

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5) A great team will never let you fail.

mdp_21A2134_web_group — A super fun, cool, young, energetic, smart a#$, hard working staff...who also still get carded at the bar lol

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4) The suspense music was probably a bit too suspenseful lol

Ok so the suspense music wasn't THAT intense and scary was it? haha — OK...so the suspense music wasn't THAT intense and scary was it? haha

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3) Our emcee, the beautiful Miss USA 2001 - Kandace Krueger Matthews never ages!

Miss USA 2001 - Kandace Kreuger Matthews (center) with Miss South Carolina USA 2014 - Christina Zapolski (left) and Miss Florida USA 2014 - Brittany Oldehoff

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2) Between myself and the judges, just 1 box of Fruit Roll-ups is not enough haha

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1) This year is probably the strongest group of Dallas contestants ever…watch out Miss Texas USA/Miss Texas Teen USA 2015!

MDP2014Top5Collage — Miss Dallas Pageant 2014 - Top 5 (top) and Miss Dallas Teen Pageant 2014 - Top 5 (bottom)

-Will the Pageant Guy

November 29, 2013November 29, 2013

VIDEO: Miss Texas Teen USA 2013 – Behind the Scenes

This weekend, the state of Texas will witness over 100 young ladies from across the Lone Star state compete for the coveted title of Miss Texas Teen USA 2014.

Each year I have the amazing opportunity to attend the Miss Texas Teen USA pageant, however last year was the first to capture what happens behind-the-scenes at one of the country’s more closely followed state pageant.

Below is a short video giving you a glimpse of last year’s Miss Texas Teen USA pageant.

Thanks to Zac Grimaldo/PixelBroom for video production.

-Will the Pageant Guy