Miss Michigan

Miss Michigan 2010 took place last week, and in my role as executive director of a local teen pageant, I spent the entire week in Muskegon (right on the shores of Lake Michigan) wearing dresses and sparkly jewelry and lots of mascara. LOTS of mascara.
My favorite part of Miss Michigan week is... the gossip. I can't even apologize for it. I've found an amazing group of women who have taken me under their collective wing, and after each night's show (two night of preliminaries for the teens and misses, then a night of finals each) we sat around in our hotel room and dished about unfortunate choices in talent, swimsuit and evening gown.
And even if we didn't 100% agree every time, there were some ensembles that just couldn't be supported. You're just going to have to believe me on this one, friends, there were a couple gowns that NO ONE I know could get behind.
And my girl made top ten, and I'm so proud of her. That's her, playing the piano in her INCREDIBLE talent gown. (photo courtesy Evan Witek, The Muskegon Chronicle)

And now it's back to real life, where nothing shines quite as bright. But I do love my own bed.

Miss Michigan - A-

Welcome to Summer

Fuck you, Mia Michaels, how did you get to be so good? I love love love this piece. I cried while I was watching it last night.

And BIG UPS to the all stars. They feel like a reward for watching the show for the last four seasons.

the return of So You Think You Can Dance - A+

This Week on Glee!

I have been remiss in writing about my new favorite scripted television show, Glee. If you know anything about Glee, you have already assumed that I love it. It's got everything I love: hysterical teenagers, singing and dancing, and Jane Lynch. I really don't think there's anything that could make this show better - unless it's the addition of an episode dedicated to the genre I like to call Lesbian Acoustic: Indigo Girls, Dar Williams, Tori Amos etc. Although I'm not sure those lend themselves well to choreography. On to the spoilers!



So this week on Glee, Mr. Schu and the kids finally got their shit together and selected their songs for regionals - remember, Glee Club's continued existence is riding on them winning or placing. But Sue was a celebrity judge (along with a local news anchor, Olivia Newton-John and Josh Groban) and was set to foil the Glee-sters. Nevertheless, they KILLED and were shoo-ins to win. And Quinn's mom had a change of heart and wanted to be her mom again - good thing, too, since Quinnie went into labor right there at regionals. And if you want to see what is quite possibly the most ridiculous montage in television history, watch Quinn giving birth while Vocal Adrenaline performs Bohemian Rhapsody. Awesome... sort of? Maybe?

Alas, even though Sue had a change of heart and decided that New Directions really were the top group, they didn't win. They didn't even place. I got a little teary when Brittany was still clutching Santana's hand even after they had announced the winner. Tears all around - the kids sang To Sir With Love to Mr. Schu. For real? You had to know that this song would be sung at some point this season; it's a miracle they held off this long. But it was nice to hear Matt & Mike actually speak - and for Mike to say "I was afraid to dance outside my bedroom" was a killer, too. Seriously, TEARY-EYED.

Long story short, even though Figgins had said they had to win or place for Glee Club to continue, he gave them another year to prove themselves. So another season of Glee is guaranteed! YAY!!!

Glee season finale - A-