The third installment of the “Dolly trying new things” series was especially nerve-racking: HOSTING. Yes, I recently popped my Femme-Cee cherry, hosting not only burlesque, but also a pageant! Missy/Ink Magazine entrusted me to be the mistress of ceremonies at their first ever Pin Up Pageant and “Burlesque Spookies” Halloween show.
Larissa from Blonde Moxie Makeup, who was on the judges panel, helped professionally make up my face for the occaision, and I wore a Patricia Field wig, which I’d purchased especially to wear that evening.
With 15 gorgeous and talented pageant contestants and 6 burlesque beauts, there was much to be said. GCB’s resident host, Wolfman, gave me some pointers ahead of time, and I adopted a touch of his rhyming scheme for some of the burlesque girls. The challenge with this show was mainly during the pin-up pageant portion, where I felt it neccesary to both be encouraging and positive with the contestants without seeming to favour any one girl. I think in future any hosting I do will be a bit smoother if I can do it off-the-cuff style, but with everyone’s image and introductions being so important, I opted this time to stick to my prepared notes.
The most fun part of the pageant portion was the question round, where I got to interview the top 3 pageant contestants; Pastel Supernova, Laura Desiree and Corey Major. Seeing the girls parade and perform their talents was great, but hearing them all answer surprise questions with grace was amazing. I really appreciate that they were all so eloquent (if the roles were reversed I guarantee I would stammer through like a bafoon!) Trombone player Corey Major took home the evening’s big title, I can’t wait to see her spread in Missy/Ink’s first print issue coming out early 2014.
Photo cred: Altovenue
On the other end of the show, the burlesque girls really did an amazing job ringing in the Halloween season touching on themes from ghosts to trick-or-treating to plague doctors. It was the perfect mix of sexy with a dash of humour and horror, and was a huge honour for me to present.
Stay tuned to Missy Ink & Photolena‘s facebook page for more photos and coverage of the event!
Congrats to all the ladies, I can’t wait to see and work with you all again soon
xox
Dolly Berlin | Burlesque Performer | Toronto 