Theme of “I AM” encourages beauty pageant participants
Twenty enchanting young ladies competed for the titles of Ms. India-Georgia 2010 and Miss Teen India-Georgia 2010, on Saturday July 10 th at the Gwinnett Center, hosted by the India American Cultural Association of Atlanta. Rupal Patel and Sapna Shah won the titles in a narrowly contested and spirited Pageant that had taken months of preparation, led by Pageant Director Anisa Daftari. Eleven judges and a Certified Public Accountant had the task of fairly scoring all contestants. Of course, every contestant is considered a winner for mustering courage to walk in high-heels on stage, dance in the group opening act, perform their individual talents, respond to the judge’s question, and be presented on stage for their camera presence through a video as a backdrop, all in front of a sizeable audience.
The opening act was a Bollywood dance performed by all girls, choreographed by Prem Rehman. Emcees were Archith Sheshadri of ABC news Augusta and Vandana Aggrawal, Miss Teen India-GA 2003, dressed in formal western attire with blue and turquoise for the 1 st half, and Indian garb in red for the 2 nd. IACA’s Executive Vice President Viren Mayani thanked everyone for supporting the oldest community organization in Atlanta and reminded all attendees of the spirit of the contest: “Applaud everyone, and no jeering or making condescending remarks of any contestant.” The pageant theme, “I AM,” signified the importance of the female gender with emphasis on combined inward and outward beauty; it also highlighted the importance of confidence in the ability to attain one’s dreams. Additional stage performances included karaoke singing by Laxmi Rao, who belted Ashaji’s famous numbers, and the dance group Silent Killers, also directed by Prem Rahman.
All contestants competed in Evening Gown and Indian Attire rounds, whilst the Talent round went only to the Miss India-GA participants. The concluding Question & Answer round went to the top five Miss Teen India-GA contestants: Preeya Banit, Sapna Shah, Alisha Ukani, Akshaya Kumar, and Shail Vyas, and the top five Ms. India-GA contestants: Sumera Jiva, Amreen Lalani, Bulbul Patel, Rupal Patel and Puja Shah.
Winners for Miss Teen India-GA 2010 are Sapna Shah, 1st runner-up Alisha Ukani, and 2nd runner-up Akshaya Kumar. Winners for Ms. India-GA 2010 are Rupal Patel, 1st runner-up Sumera Jiva, and 2nd runner-up Amreen Lalani. The Best Talent recognition went to Rupal Patel who played the Indian National Anthem on clarinet followed by an Indian dance routine. The Best Eyes recognition went to Anisha Pradhan and the Best Smile recognition to Amreen Lalani. Miss Teen India-GA 2010 Sapna Shah also took the Ms. Photogenic title. Ms. Congeniality, the category voted on by only the pageant contestants, was won by Sumera Jiva.
This year’s pageant was covered nationwide by TV Asia news. Thanks to all supporters, including Board of Director’s member Dr. Gauranga Banik; Mustafa Ajmeri who was at the presentation in spite of ill health; makeup artist Megha Agarwal; the reigning Ms. India-GA Sabrina Nooruddin; and Chairman Shyam Yellamraju.
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