Miss California and Miss Teen California USA Visit 4th District
Beauty Queens from around the state will visit Palm Springs this weekend to compete in the 2009 Miss California USA and Miss California Teen USA pageants at the Riviera Resort & Spa.
The three-day competitions, Nov.21-23, will feature 150 contestants who will be judged in areas that include interview, swimsuit and evening gown. The pageants will be hosted by popular KMIR-TV6 weathercaster Gino Lamont and actress Claudia Jordan, who appears on the NBC game show “Deal or No Deal.”
The pageants are an affiliate of the Miss Universe Organization – owned in partnership between Donald Trump and NBC. The organization also puts on the Miss USA Pageant.
Judging criteria includes character, poise, confidence and personality, according to the event’s producer Keith Lewis, who said organizers chose to hold the pageant in Palm Springs because of its beauty, glamour and name recognition.
“Palm Springs is the perfect partner for us,” Lewis said. “Our pageants are all about beauty and glamour… and there is no where more beautiful and glamorous than Palm Springs and the newly renovated Riviera Resort & Spa – which has been brought back to a shiny jewel.”& #160;
Several celebrities expected to attend include model, actress and former Miss USA Shanna Moakler, Travis Barker, actor Kelsey Grammer and rappers Run- D.M.C., Lewis said.
The pageant finals, which are open to the public, will get under way Sunday, Nov. 23, beginning at 3 p.m. The cost is $60 to $75 at the door.