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Gray skies fails This is a different sort of pageant, where the words "beauty" and "queen" and "sexy" are acceptable; where mingling with guests, judges and whomever in order to advance a career is standard operating procedure -- and not a violation of any rules, of which there are few.
to dampen the
Hawaiian Tropic spirit
The contest highlights the beauties,
but also the sleazier elementsBy Tim Ryan
tryan@starbulletin.comThe 19th Annual Miss Hawaiian Tropics International Beauty Pageant descended on the Turtle Bay Hilton last week with 58 contestants from 50 countries and probably double that number of sponsors, representatives, judges (mostly more sponsors) and celebrities such as Robin Leach, North Shore artist Chris Lassen and producer Al Masini. The media were also out in force, including an E! Entertainment crew filming a "Wild On ..." segment.
The competition, originally scheduled for Saturday night on the $60,000 beachfront stage built for the event just north of the resort, was switched to Friday night. Hawaiian Tropic executives learned of the threat of heavy rain.
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Two hours before show time, sprinkles began dropping; by start-up at 7:30 p.m., it was pouring."Hell with their $60,000 stage, my $2,000 feather costume is going to droop like hell in this weather," a Latin-American contestant says during an elevator ride to the lobby. "They must move it inside."
"It's gonna be more like a wet T-shirt contest," another contestant coos. "But that's OK."
Elena Kary, 22, of Israel, waiflike with blond hair and blue eyes, is in her first pageant.
"I'm doing this for fun; the competition really doesn't mean anything to me," she says.
Her pageant biography lists her three top talents: painting, dancing, kissing.
"Kissing! I don't think it's that!" she says, startled, eyes twinkling. "I know I'm a pretty good kisser, but I not put that on there; the guy did, I think."
While the Tropics' folks gather to discuss their limited options, some contestants wander the lobby hoping to catch a peek at actor Bruce Willis, who checked in Thursday with an entourage of eight, including one with a Mohawk, a publicly affectionate blond woman and two burly, humorless bodyguards.
Willis, in Hawaii through June to film an action thriller, played guest deejay at the Turtle Bay disco Thursday night. On Friday -- in the same bluejeans and dark blue T-shirt with rolled-up sleeves -- sat with friends assembled in a protective circle that closed out those outside his pack.
"One peekture with Bruce is all I want; oh my God, thee media back home will go crazy for me if they see that," says a European contestant with an impossibly flat, exposed tummy. "But I don't want to seem, how you say, sleazy."
That queasiness over sleaziness doesn't seem to dissuade her from exposing maximum skin in a teeny band top and a tiny skirt.
Ample décolletage was the order of the day with nary a B cup in the house and few not-surgically augmented bosoms. A noncontestant whispers. "We can tell," she says.
During the rainy waiting period most of the contestants -- some in brightly colored curlers and wearing no makeup -- scurry to the buffet table in the hotel restaurant, not to feast on fruit and veggies, but on deep-fried fish and deserts.
"It won't show on me tonight, and I've been starving myself all week," a contestant says.
Hawaiian Tropical execs will not move the pageant to a hotel ballroom because the stage is dressed in a tropical look representative of the company's product line.
The only relationship the products have to Hawaii, by the way, is the name. Hawaiian Tropic products are manufactured on the mainland.
Company owner Ron Rice is hobbling around the resort on a cane because of a recent knee injury. He wears a double extra-large aloha shirt and slacks too tight to hold up a drooping belly.
"I think Ron needs to do a few more pushups," a judge whispers.
Masini and Leach -- both judges -- sit in the hotel restaurant drinking mineral water, awaiting a decision on how the show will proceed. Artist Lassen -- whom Rice calls "the most brilliant environmental artist in the world" -- walks through, chatting with contestants. He's wearing surf shorts and a crisply ironed tank top that hangs to his thighs.
"It's not going to happen," announces Leach. "Not in this weather."
Masini ponders whether the show's producers have insurance to cover weather delays, hearkening back to his own days as a major player in the television business.
The show will go on. The Nation Weather Service says there's a 90-minute window of rain-free weather starting at about 9:30 p.m.
Contestants hurry back to their rooms for last-minute touch-ups. Afterward they scurry across a muddy field, each carrying ridiculously high heels with clear acrylic soles. The Honolulu Boys Choir stands on the white stage to sing "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" as contestants in white formal dresses march past rows of judges.
Some contestants wink at the judges or flash the shaka sign. The contestant from Thailand does a semi-bow, clasping her hands in prayer.
The swimsuit competition allows the contestants a choice of several styles -- but no thongs. Strangely, though, the thong bottom is allowed in the portion of the competition where contestants wear costumes representative of their countries.
Rice brings out two terribly nervous 5-year-old girls, "pageant winners in their own right," he says. One clutches the hand of her companion for support when the audience cheers.
"Let's give them a little bit of attention time!" says Rice, who then introduces "the love of my life," 11-year-old daughter Sterling Rice.
The preteen prances onto the stage, microphone in hand, wearing a cowgirl outfit, including chaps, fake six-shooters, hat and a raccoon tail. She lip-syncs a song and undulates her hips to the howls and whistles of men at least twice her age.
The 58 contestants are cut to 17, then the five finalists are announced.
Miss Hawaiian Tropic 2002 is Shawn Cox, 27, of El Cajon, Calif., representing Los Angeles. She is a seasoned pageant contestant, professional model and mother of two daughters. Her husband is somewhere in the audience.
Cox wins a PT Cruiser, Yamaha Waverunner, Harley-Davidson Sportster, a Hawaii vacation and other prizes.
The victory doesn't come a moment too soon. During Cox's 15 minutes of fame, it begins to pour.
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