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| Presenting Miss Virtual World 2010 |
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Photography by Merrick Genesis, Tillie Ariantho, Hermes Kondor, and Kianna Noel
The Miss Virtual World 2010 pageant was held December 19th in the glamorous four-sim Patch Thibaud Auditorium, where the twenty-one finalists were presented to the judges and an audience of over two hundred people. Hosted in live text chat by Frolic Mills and Mui Mukerji and hosted in voice for Metaverse TV broadcast by Dousa Dragonash, production manager for Metaverse TV, and SL journalist extraordinaire Persia Bravin, the pageant included amazing live entertainment, compliments Mankind Tracer. The evening’s events were glamour embodied as the beautiful contestants vied for the coveted crown, and culminated with the announcement of Miaa Rebane as Miss Virtual World 2010.
The evening began with a description of the pageant in an announcement from Frolic Mills: "Miss Virtual World is more than just playing 'make a pretty avatar'. In fact, it is much deeper than that. MISS VIRTUAL WORLD explores the best of multiple fields: Skin designers, hair stylists, fashion designers, shoe designers, scripters, architects, writers, filming, and the list goes on. "Today we bring you some of the most extraordinary talent available in Second Life. The production that you will see today represents the works of over thirty fashion designers, two real life (RL) architects - Patch Thibaud and DB Bailey - dozens of scripters, and three very talented RL musicians. "This show would not be complete without all of them. I offer my gratitude to all the designers who make our Second Lives better. Let's give them a hand!" While this event celebrates the content creators of Second Life, it is also indebted to the MVW 2010 sponsors, without whom this event would not be possible. Frolic added later, "We are very grateful they choose to support this organization." Miss Virtual World 2010 Pageant sponsors included: Vassnia, Gems & Kisses, Freckled Funk, Catalyst of Fantasy, INXX Holdings, SLFONE, Botanical, Stiletto Moody Shoes, Club E-co, VIOLATOR, LollipopZ Hair Salon, :: Aleida ::, Adelephia, Opium Fashion Agency/Fanastacia Weddings, Jenna Coppola Studios, Beau Brummells, ALATIEL FASHIONS, Ginevra Lancaster Fashion Designs, caLLie cLine, Sophistication, H8 Motors Express Company, Jador Fashion, XTC Designs, V_V Design Emporium, Caithlin Carter Designs, DB Bailey Architecture, Nardcotix, and Pixelhouse. The Patch Thibaud Auditorium itself could easily be reckoned as much a participant in the festivities as a backdrop. The auditorium, built by noted architect Patch Thibaud, is situated on four Sims to "help reduce lag and to have larger audiences." The auditorium’s Deco-style design lent glitz and drama to the affair with its deep rich green and red hues, gold detail, and simple yet bold lines and curves. Each portion of the event was framed by a different stage design, created by either Patch Thibaud or DB Bailey, which only accentuated the grandeur of the evening - from the talented performers, to the audience decked out in their finest, to the twenty-one finalists, who were introduced in their national costumes: Miss Bahamas - Devine Hunt, Miss Brazil - Preciouss Metall, Miss Canada - Natalia Corvale, Miss China - Sora Tatham, Miss Costa Rica - Nisa Constantine, Miss Germany - Wenadrenia Soderstrom, Miss Holland - Melanie Sautereau, Miss India - Nemi McCoy, Miss Ireland - Dancer Dallagio, Miss Italy - Mavi Beck, Miss Japan - Marry Eel, Miss Latvia - Chirzaka Vlodovic, Miss Mexico - Lovena Allen, Miss Nigeria - Ivyana Szondi, Miss Puerto Rico - Miaa Rebane, Miss Russia - Agtaope Carter, Miss Singapore - Natasja Schumann, Miss Sweden - Butterfli Sorbet, Miss Switzerland - Sabine Blackburn, Miss Turkey - Violette Weymann, Miss United Kingdom - Ella Quinsette, and Miss USA - Janina Scarmon.
Miss Puerto Rico Miaa Rebane in costume "ALB PUERTO RICO" by AnaLee Balut, ALB Dream Fashion
Miss Germany Wenadrenia Soderstrom's in costume designed by herself
Miss Italy Mavi Beck in costume designed by Monica Outlander, Miamai, Hair by Tiny Bird
Sora Tatham in costume by Asalt Eames of Sweetaholic
Ivyana Szondi in costume by Thea Tamura
marry Eel in costume by June Dion of BareRose After the introduction of the finalists in national dress came the swimsuit competition, in which the finalists perched on an array of fantastical flowers, modeling swimsuits designed by Baby Shortbread, owner of XTC Designs, based on each finalist's national flag.
The judges then deliberated to determine the top five finalists. Judges for the Miss Virtual World 2010 contest were Breezie Noel, blogger and Managing Editor for BOSL Magazine; Kimmera Madison, owner of Tres Beau; Amutey DeCuir, owner of Bliss Couture; any1 Gynoid, CNN ireporter; Isabel Brocco, Miss Virtual World 2008; Minx Glaz, co-owner of Violator; and Xochi Tolsen, founder and CEO of Studio Red. During the deliberations the audience was treated to a display of the finalists' stunning evening gowns. Represented on the stage throughout the event were designs by Amanda Bolero (Bolero Collection), Amutey Decuir (Bliss Couture), AnaLee Balut (ALB Dream Fashion), Asalt Eames (Sweetaholic and +grasp+), Blaze Columbia (Blaze Fashions), Elettra Gausman (Orage Creations), Elisea Carter (Gold in the Night), Joy Fellini (Fellini Couture), June Dion (Bare Rose), Kimmera Madison (Tres Beau Designs), Kouse Singh (Kouse's Sanctum), LeeZu Baxter (LeeZu!), Mami Jewell (Azul), monica Outlander (Miamai), Nardya Rousselot (Nardcotix), Nicky Ree (Designing Nicky Ree), Raven Pennyfeather (House of RFyre and RP Couture), Rebel Hope (Rebel Hope Designs), Sissy Pessoa (Baiastice), Sonia28 Jie (Son!a), soraya Vaher (Violator), Wenadrenia Soderstrom (J&W Jewelers), VictoriaV & Vasgez McMillan (Exclusiva), VNP Ninetails (Vassnia), and Ziamela Loon (Jador Fashion). From the opening act to the final announcement, this pageant’s real stars were the designers - the fantastically talented content creators in SL. Frolic Mills stated, "You see, everything I do in SL is really a celebration of the incredible talents that are available to all of us within this virtual platform; and what is Miss Virtual World but a celebration of great skin, fashion, hair, jewelry and shoe designers? That's all it is! The winning girl, aside from having a great social personality, will be the one who has great taste and the ability to play around with these elements to create a harmonious and flawless look." "Harmonious and flawless" definitely describes the final five contestants of the evening:
Mills commented, "Miss Virtual World was the combined effort of many talented artists, and even though there were some technical difficulties, the show was a total success." Mills continued, "I often get asked how will I raise the bar for our next event. It's a hard question, because we can only raise the bar in direct proportion to SL's evolution. This year we found out the hard way that raising the bar has a limit, and we certainly hit that limit right on the nose with MISS VIRTUAL WORLD 2010! "It was disappointing to discover this limit, but then again, the ladies, the designers, scripters, and architects were all on top of their game and wouldn't change this one bit. If SL can't withstand this powerhouse of content creations, we will resource to live streaming all across the grid next year. But rest assured, we will not lower the standards one bit!"
What makes a Miss Virtual World, aside from that "winning personality?" She is a lady who takes the best SL has to offer and creates an elegant and stylish appearance. In that sense, it could be argued that there were twenty one Miss Virtual Worlds on the stage that evening, but, of course, there can only be one. Miss Miaa Rebane will reign as Miss Virtual World until next December, and she carries a responsibility to further define that role.
When discussing her future as Miss Virtual World, Miaa stated, "I have the ultimate respect for Mimmi. She is a great role model to many, including me. She has set the bar high and defined in her own way what a Miss Virtual World is and can be. Over the next few weeks I hope I can introduce myself to the whole of SL and define a new direction for MVW, using the talents and abilities of a young, tech-savvy, quiet achiever to further the MVW organization’s initiatives to the people. I will remember and will act on the basic precept of: Love one another and be true to one's self." Miaa and the other twenty finalists have proven that the Miss Virtual World organization has succeeded once again in its mission to celebrate the extraordinary beauty and talent in Second Life. |
Last year the Miss Virtual World 2009 pageant was universally lauded as a success. Covered extensively in the Second Life (SL) media, the event drew hopeful avatars from all over the grid to audition for the winning spot, making it the most successful competition of its kind yet seen in SL. Given the thousands of Google hits for "Miss Virtual World" throughout this year, it is safe to say that the success of the 2009 pageant was no fluke, and Frolic Mills, the creator of Miss Virtual World, made good on his promise that this year’s 2010 pageant would be "bigger and better than last year’s."
