I saw this pagent live! It was shown in Edmonton, Albert on April 13, 1999 and was probably the best CSMU pageant to date! I was there and met the reigning Miss Candian Universe at the time, Carmen kempt! She is such a sweetheart! I really enjoyed it but I can't remember everything so bear with me.
The pagent ran half an hour late, which was too bad, this
seems to happen lots of live pageants. There were two hosts:
-John Berry: He was the MC and television weather man who has hosted this
pagent for five years. He is a great pagent because he knows what he
is doing and is very expeneinced, and is able to get
the crowd hyped up.
-Seanna Colins: She also used to work for the same
news show as John Berry. She is great too! Experienced,
natural onstage, and just great. She is more of a special
commentator and does more of the offstage kinda stuff and
is just great at it.
Introduction
The introduction was very energenic. Much better then the 1997 one! MUCH! The girls came out with streamers and spun them to the music which was great, but they keep looking at each other like they didn't know what to do. Despite this, the dancing was still quite good. Each girl introducted herself in a pagent cocktail dress. They they all went offstage and Seanna introduced the judges.
Contestants
Here is a list of all the contestants according to their regions:
Maritimes
-Miss New Brunswick, Julie Fraser
-Miss Nova Scotia, Christina Parker
-Miss Prince Edward, Rachel Daigle
Quebec
-Miss Montreal, Quebec, Reena Vohra
Ontario
-Miss Winsor, Ontario, Shannon McArthur
-Miss Toronto, Ontario, Caroline Frolic
-Miss Niagara, Ontario, Rebecca Dmytrow
-Miss Mississauga, Ontario, Laurainne Campbell
-Miss Pickering, Ontario, Jameela Parria
-Miss Cochrane, Ontario, Danielle Langlois
-Miss Ottawa, Ontario, Tania Lafreniere
Manitoba/Saskatchewan
-Miss Winnipeg, Manitoba, Catherine Fjeldsted
-Miss Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Bernadellete Carlson
Alberta
-Miss Sherwood Park, Alberta, Jodi Bennett
-Miss Red Deer, Alberta, Mindy Cournoyer
-Miss Calgary, Alberta, Juliana Thiessen
-Miss Lethbrige, Alberta, Angela Horton
-Miss Medicine Hat, Alberta, Angel Dennis
-Miss Edmonton, Alberta, Anne-Marie Blackburn
-Miss St Alberta, Alberta, Viktorija Kujundiz
-Miss Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta, Lori Cornell
-Miss Lesser Slave Lake, Alberta, Angela Badger
-Miss Jasper, Alberta, Victoria Stelle
British Colombia
-Miss Vancover, BC, Margret Acton
-Miss Victoria, BC, Kristina Lane
-Miss Kelowna, BC, Sabrina Notte
There were much more contestants this year then in 1997 which was great to see the pageant grow.
Swimsuit
Then they went straight to the swimsuit compettion. All 26 of the contestants competeted so as you can imagine that it took a very, very long time but I enjoyed seeing them all , so if the CSMU pagent ever makes a cut at the beginning of the program, hopefully atleast 12 or 15 contestants will continue. The Song was Disney's The Little Mermaid's, Under the Sea(also used in 97 but worked much better this year). It was played without the words so that comments from the contestants could be heard. I really enjoyed hearing them and it was a nice touch. This swimsuit competition was very well done, and one of my favorite swimsuit competitions that I have ever seen in a pageant.
The ladies wore suits of their own choosing which was great cuz the stage was really well lighted and it worked really well. There were a couple of girls that I really remember really standing out in swimsuit. My favorite of all the contestants, Miss Montreal, Quebec, Reena Vohra was an extremely good model with a big smile and great stage presense. She was wearing a blue bikini and had long brown hair. She was gorgeous and definately should have done really well, I don't know who was the winner of the swimsuit compettion because they didn't annonce it. The other girl I remeber really standing out was my second favorite Miss Winsor, Ontario, Shannon McArthur. She was very sexy in a yellow one piece bathing suit. She put her hair up which is usually a bad idea for girls when they are competting in swimsuit but it still looked great, really sexy!
Evening Gown
The evening gown compettion was quite classy but the stage was kinda crowded! When the girls first came onto the stage they were escorted by a man then they go threw some mounties standing there, which looks pretty silly. The mouties just don't give the effect that the soilders in Miss USA or Miss Universe do. They do this little kind of dance with the man, the girl takes his arm and goes around his body, it's hard to explain but doesn't look bad except that after he lets go she leaves him and her "little sister" comes and gives her a rose. She walks with her little sister to the runway. Then she lets go of her "little sister" who just stands there and walks onto the runway and does her stuff. Then she goes back to her little sister who takes her a little bit farther up the stage and lets her go and she sits back in the group of little girls. Then the contestant walks back to her escort who takes her back though the group of mounties and off stage. The entire stage is used and although it was nice, it did look quite busy. The little sisters were very cute and the escorts were great too but I think it's better to just use one or the other. Some people prefer this though, so it's all personal opinion. The music was by "Limited Edition," a teen r&b/pop group, they sang Savage Garden'Truely, Madly Deeply, and other various songs and were great. The stage was also really well lighted for this part of the competition and worked very well.
Contestants that standed out in the evenving gown compettion were: Miss Montreal, Miss Winsor, Miss Calgary, Miss Toronto, and Miss New Brunswick.
Miss Montreal came out in a blue slip gown with a blue see though kind of cape thing which didn't look bad, it didn't really stand out, but once again her modelling was fantastic and she should have pulled off at least second or third place in this event. she was also the only girl to change her hair, pulled the front part back and and let the rest hang, kind of like Miss Estionia's hairstyle in the evening gown compettion in MU in 1997. Little touches like that make a big difference in how a girl looks.
Miss Winsor looked very elegant in a lavender, velvet gown with a beautiful diamond, neckless and her beautiful blond hair put up.
Miss Calgary, Juliana Thiessen, had a very plain white gown but did a good job with her modelling. She hugged her little sister when she gretted her which looked very cute, and I'm very sure got her extra points.
Miss Toronto came out in a Silver sequined, spegetti strap gown which looked nice but she wore much too much make up and that didn't look good at all!(she and other delegates have told me that the CSMU people did the delegates make up terribly that night and really caked it on, she looks so much more natural in other pics that i have of her!) She looked great and the gown really stoud out.
Miss New Brunswick, Julie Fraser, was great in a red, sequined, gown which looked alot like the one Miss Thailand wore in MU in 1988. She should have done really well in this compettion because she definately looked the best and wore the right gown! It really stoud out!
After all the contestants came out Miss Canadian Universe 1997, Carmen Kempt did her thing on the run way. She wore a green dress that she would have worn in Miss Universe had she made the cut. She looked very nice wearing her crown. I think that it was a great idea to bring her out and everyone else liked it too.
Intermission Entertainment
At this time they called an intermission but everyone was going "what? now? It's only half over? It feels like it's been two hours!" It was worth the wait though. Before they annonuced the finalists, they brought out the entertainment. Bobby Curtola sang to all the delegates and tried to get the audience hyped up but no one was paying attention, it was too bad, poor guy! We were all socializing at our tables. They also had "Limited Edition" who sang in the evening gown compettion come out. They did did a good job and can really dance! Miss New Brunswick, Julie Fraser, sang the titanic theme song My Heart Will Go On. She won the talent portion and I could see why because she got a standing ovation. Finally they had a jazz dance number with all the delegates to that spanish Modonna song... I can't remember the name but it was good and Carmen got involved too. It would probably have been smarter though to have the dance number before the evening gown compettion because all the girls had to change from their evening gowns into their dance outfits and then again into their evening gowns.
Special Awards
Before they annonced the semifinalists they annonced the special awards. All the winners got a trophee.
Miss Talent
Miss New Brunswick, Julie Fraser
She won the talent award, it wasn't hard to see why, is was an excellent singer.
Miss Photogenic
Miss Victoria, BC, Kristina Lane
Con Boland, a very well known photographer in Edmonton choose Miss Photogenic from the pictures the girls had in the CSMU program book. Kristina Lane won because she had a really nice, clean face shot, that just looked great!
Miss Fitness
Miss St Albert, Alberta, Victorija Kunjundzik
Although this award wasn't annonced onstage, it is important to note that that Miss St Albert got this award, which is based on fitness tests during the pageant not on the swimsuit compettion. The fittest of all the girls is chosen as Miss Fitness.
Miss Congeniality
The Miss Photogenic was won by soon to be MCU, Juliana Theissen. The photo above shows why! She is so cute, nice, sweet and just great! It is no surprise that she won this and her personality is what won her the Miss Canadian Universe crown.
Top Ten Finalists
The top ten semi-finalists were:
-Miss St. Albert, Alberta, Viktorija Kijundzic
-Miss Montreal, Quebec, Reena Vohra
-Miss Winsor, Ontario, Shanno McArthur
-Miss Toronto, Ontario, Caroline Frolic
-Miss Red Deer, Alberta, Mindy Cournoyer
-Miss Calgary, Alberta, Juliana Thiessen
-Miss Nigara, Ontario, Rebecca Dmytrow
-Miss Kelowna, British Colombia, Sabrina Notte
-Miss Mississauga, Ontario, Laurianne Campbell
-Miss Edmonton, Alberta, Anne-Marie Blackburn
The girl that I was really surprised didn't make the cut was Miss New Brunswick, Julie Fraiser! She was so gorgeous in the evening gown compettion, and great in talent! I really wished that she had made it. The picture above doesn't do her justice! She didn't wear the gown above and she looked much better in the actual compettion!
Each semi-fialist was asked a single question and then they cut the field to five. The questions were all based on what the contestant had said in her piliminary interview. Here is an example, my favorite, Miss Montreal,was asked this " you said that computers are very vital in the world today, why do you think that?" Talk about a dumb question! Well, maybe not, I just liked her so much that I was kinda critical about it. She froze a bit unfortunately and didn't survive the final cut.
Top Five Finalists
The final five were:
-Miss Winsor, Ontario, Shannon McArthur
-Miss Toronto, Ontario, Caroline Frolic
-Miss Red Deer, Alberta, Mindy Cournoyer
-Miss Calgary, Alberta, Juliana Thiessen
-Miss Edmonton, Alberta, Juliana Thiessen
Miss Montreal, Quebec not making it was not a surprise but I was still disappointed! I thought she was so great! Great model, very pretty, and cute. She also competed in the Miss Petite International pageant but didn't place.
Final Questions
All of the finalists chose a final question out of a bowl. I think that it would have been better to ask them all the same question but it was probably hard to set up a sound proof both on stage, and this good too.
The two girls that I remember in this portion of the compettion were Miss Winsor and Miss Calgary. Miss Windsor, Shannon McAuthor was asked what problem in Canada today would she want to correct. She anwsered that she would want to put an end to the Quebec seperation. She did an okay job but that was such an easy question! She didn't really get to show her intellect. Miss Calgary, Julana Theissen was asked who was the most influencal person in the history of the world. She anwsered Jesus Christ because: "no matter who you are he has touched your life in one way or another." She anwsered her question the best of all the girls and you could see why she was Miss Congeniality.
Miss Canadian Universe 1997
Before the crowning of the new Miss Canadian Universe, Carmen Kempt, Miss Canadian Universe 1997 took her final walk. Like in MU she had her voice in with the music, talking about herself and her reign. She wore a beautiful white gown with a scarf. It was much like the one Charelle Lopez, Miss Teen USA 1993 wore when she took her last walk. Carmen had done a good job as Miss Canadian Universe. She is a very nice person and deserved her crown!
The Runners-Up and new MCU
At this time the runners-up and new Miss Canadian Universe were annonced.
The fourth runner up was Miss Edmonton, Alberta,
Anne-Marie Blackburn.
I thought that Maire would do a little better and
would be the third-runner up but she still
did well.
The third runner-up was Miss Toronto, Ontario, Caroline Frolic. She did quite good job, I though that she would be the second-runner up, but once again, I was one off. She went on to become Miss Intercontinental Canada and represented us at the Miss Intercontinental pageant.
Visit Caroline's Home Page!
The second runner-up was Miss Red Deer, Alberta, Mindy Cournoyer. She did better than I thought, I thought that she would be the forth runner up but she still deserved this place.
The First Runner up was Miss Winsor Ontario, Shannon McArthur. I thought that this girl would win! She and Miss Montreal were my favorites! She went on the win the next year though, so it's ok.
The winner was Miss Calgary, Alberta, Juliana Thiessen. I thought that she would be the first runner-up. She wasn't one of my favorites because I'm from Edmonton, she's from Calgary, which means that we are moral enimes! Just kidding but I did like her and she was very yound and natural onstage. She is a good winner though, and won because of her great interview skills and spunk! When she intruduced herself she said, "Hi, I'm juliana Thiessen and I'm representing Edmonton's friendly neibour, Calgary!" I was very surprised that she didn't win the congeniality award at MU. Although she wasn't the very best in swimsuit or evening gown(she was still excellent though) she is a nice person and that's is truely the secret to winning any pageant!
