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Warning: date() [function.date]: It is not safe to rely on the system's timezone settings. You are *required* to use the date.timezone setting or the date_default_timezone_set() function. In case you used any of those methods and you are still getting this warning, you most likely misspelled the timezone identifier. We selected 'America/Los_Angeles' for 'PDT/-7.0/DST' instead in /home/laovi1/public_html/inc/design.inc.php on line 498 What's Buzzing
Miss Asia USA Pageant held on Saturday, June 21st, 2008 at the historic Alex Theatre in Glendale, California ended in controversy as Miss Korea, Diane Yoo was crowned. The crowning of this year’s queen caused quite a stir amongst the other delegates, the audiences, and the sponsors. After Miss Korea was announced as the winner, the audience “booed” and exited the theater in disappointment. Despite the outcome of the Miss Asia USA Pageant, Laoville would like to congratulate Paulina Douangpanya, Miss Laos, for a job well done.
Paulina went through vigorous rehearsals and training workshops to help prepare her for the pageant. For the past 20 years, the Pageant promotes leadership, personal and professional growth, enhancing the delegates with social skills, confidence, stage presence, strengthening cultural values and camaraderie between the Asian American communities. Paulina’s hard work, dedication, poise, beauty, and community orient won her the People’s Choice Award at the Pageant.
Miss Laos appeared on stage looking stunningly beautiful in her national costume. She wore a green and gold silk Sin (a traditional outfit in Laos) and a golden head ornament adorned with traditional jewelries. During the swimwear and evening gown segment of the competition, Paulina graced the stage with unbelievable poise and confidence. Thank you, Paulina Douangpanya, for being a positive role model and showcasing our culture to the other Asian-American communities.
How much preparation is involved in the process leading up to the Pageant? A: There was so much preparation that had to go into the pageant, hard work, dedication, patience, and time. It was not only physical preparation such as buying gowns, or creating National Costumes, or working out to make sure the swimsuit looks good. It does have a mental groundwork. One must be prepared for the criticism because in this pageant I realized that you cannot please everyone. There will always be someone to judge negatively and will never open their eyes to see the hard work that was put into the process.
Did you enjoy being involved in the Pageant? A: At times I would enjoy being there. My heart said that I was doing it for the right reasons, but my mind was telling me that it was just all too much. Honestly, the pageant was overwhelming. I am finishing up high school and having the task of being in the pageant became a matter of sacrifices. I had to sacrifice the time of hanging out with my friends and family on the weekends for rehearsals or just simply wanting to rest at home became a privilege. I felt that I always had to be better and having a mindset of "competing" had gotten me very tense because we were all there to win, including myself. I wanted to make sure that my family, friends, and the Laotian community will be proud of me; and sometimes it made me forget that I am doing it for me and before I can make anyone proud, I must gain self-belief.
How has this experience change your outlook on life? A: I honestly want to put the pageant behind me. Although it has helped me become recognized in my community, I just wanted to focus on uniting our community and helping to make that happen. Whoever had the opportunity to attend the Miss Asia USA Pageant or has seen it on TV, knew that there was something not just "quite right". Truthfully, it has made me realize that money can get people to the top. I have learned that people can determine their fate with paper and that life is never fair. However, it has allowed me have a positive outlook on life. I realized that this is NOT the society I want to grow up in. This is inevitable, but I can grow in life doing things fair and working hard. With the outcome of the Pageant, it just wanted me to thrive for success even harder because it ends up being its own reward to do things fair in life.
What experience did you gain from the Pageant? A: From the pageant, I have gained a newfound appreciation for my culture. I mean, I was always proud of being Laotian-American, but being able to share my culture with others and learning about other cultures has made me thankful for the richness of my heritages, as well as for others. The best experience of the whole pageant was getting to know the other delegates. Having the opportunity to meet intelligent, young women representing Asian countries was very amazing. Seeing the different national costumes was my favorite part.
What kind of advice would you give to aspiring young beauty contestants? A: The most important advice that I would give to an aspiring young beauty contestant is that you must be comfortable in your own skin. You must love yourself for the way you are and find qualities within yourself that you love. Beauty is born within and when that inner beauty starts to mature, it will truly shine on the outside. You can never expect to be comfortable with your outward appearance until you learn to be happy with who you are on the inside. Trust me, it will show :) Also, as I have mentioned before, dedication and hard work is always important. Always thrive for what you want and do everything fairly. It will feel very rewarding.
