Born and raised in Milwaukee, Bishara graduated from Columbia College of Chicago, Illinois with a BA in Broadcast Journalism. Her ultimate goal is to be a broadcaster on a national network. She is a former traffic reporter on WTMJ-4, Milwaukee's NBC affiliate.
Bishara is a huge sports fan and currently works for FOX Sports Wisconsin as an on-air personality. She is very active with Special Olympics Wisconsin, going "Over the Edge," and taking the "Ultimate Lambeau Leap" to help raise money for the organization.
She danced professionally for the Milwaukee Bucks as a NBA dancer for three years, and was even selected to dance at the 2011 NBA United Tour in Madrid, Spain. She self-published two books by the time she graduated from high school. The books include "A Pink Bag of Dreams," and "Family Connection Book Club."
She was honored by the Mayor of Milwaukee with a Proclamation; proclaiming July 12th "Bishara Dorre Day" to recognize her many hours of community service. (Photo and bio courtesy of the Miss Universe Organization)
Olivia Olvera, 26, is the Spokesperson for the Helping A Hero Organization. Olivia is from Fayetteville, North Carolina where she graduated from South View High School. She then attended Methodist University for one year before transferring to the University of South Carolina at Columbia where she studied Political Science.
Olivia worked through college for the SC Vocational Rehabilitation Center as an Aquatic Instructor and PT Aid. Olivia began competing in pageants competitively when she moved to South Carolina for school. The first time competing at the state level, Olivia did not break the top 15. She continued three more times in South Carolina placing 3rd Runner-up twice and 1st Runner-up once.
Olivia enjoys being with family and friends, traveling, and fishing with her dad. She plans to open more doors during her year as Miss North Carolina USA and hopes to impact the lives of young girls who need a little extra love and inspiration in finding their personal self-worth. (Photo and bio courtesy of the Miss Universe Organization)
Audra Mari was named Miss North Dakota Teen USA 2011 and then first-runner up to the national title.
After selecting her final question regarding bullying, she fought back tears recalling the trauma she endured while being bullied in high school. Capturing Seventeen Magazine's attention, they shared her story to teens worldwide.
A native of Fargo, a whole new world unfolded for this 20-year-old when she was invited back to the Bahamas as a celebrity guest after Miss Teen USA, was chosen to appear on the Dr. Phil television show in a special segment on bullying, and hired by HGTV as a promotional model.
She has modeled for Sherri Hill for the past four years. Audra is a Dean's List student at NDSU majoring in Public Relations and Communications. She enjoys visiting her family's lake cabin, wake surfing, and snowmobiling. One thing is for sure, she credits much of her success today to pageantry. (Photo and bio courtesy of the Miss Universe Organization)
Valerie is a woman who knows what she wants, how to get it, and won't stop until she does, all the while maintaining her integrity and respect for others.
She is a graduate of honors from the University of Pittsburgh. Currently, she is a Marketing Coordinator, while continuing to pursue her dream of becoming an actress.
She hopes to become the CMO of a major company after receiving her MBA. She plans to start a philanthropy project that will positively impact underprivileged children in the USA.
She enjoys cooking, traveling, singing, The Pittsburgh Steelers, being a trivia buff, and working with kids. She describes herself as hungry, inspirational and purpose-driven.
(Photo and bio courtesy of the Miss Universe Organization)
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
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
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
What's a fishbowl without fish? Here's our fish...complete with a smile : )
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6) Selecting and ordering flowers is not my greatest strength : /
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.
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
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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
It wasn't the bowls of fresh fruit that ran out first, it was the box of Fruit Roll-ups!
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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!
Miss Dallas Pageant 2014 - Top 5 (top) and Miss Dallas Teen Pageant 2014 - Top 5 (bottom)
