Crowning moments

After four hours of competition, numerous costume changes, technical difficulties and some audience confusion, Samantha Lynn was crowned Miss Gay Bloomington 2004 Friday night at Bullwinkle's Nightclub. The audience was confused because Sugar Blackmon, the first alternate, won more individual categories than Lynn. Blackmon won the categories of evening gown, slow talent, on-stage question and interview. Lynn just won the categories of glamour and fast talent. \nJason Ervin, the owner of Storm Productions, the promotion company of Miss Gay Bloomington, offered some clarification regarding the judging.\n"Each category is worth a different amount of points," Ervin said. "It all just comes down to the numbers." \nErvin said he and an accountant crunched the numbers to determine the winner. Before calculating the glamour and talent categories, Blackmon was in the lead. After consideration of the other two categories, Lynn took the title.\nIn addition to the crown and title of Miss Gay Bloomington, Lynn received $300 and will perform Wednesday at Bullwinkle's. Blackmon, a frequent performer and show director at Bullwinkle's, won $150.\nMiss Gay Bloomington is a self-standing pageant, which means the winner can go on to compete in other pageants such as Miss Indiana U.S. of A. In addition to donning evening gowns and lip-synching and dancing to fast music, contestants had to do interviews as their male counterparts before the start of the pageant. They also answered on-stage questions in their evening gowns and later performed a slow talent, which for most contestants involved lip-synching. \nAs a promoter for the competition, Ervin brought back 10 of the former 20 winners of Miss Gay Bloomington. \n"It is exciting to have them here tonight, especially Pauline St. James," Ervin said.\nPauline St. James won the first Miss Gay Bloomington title in 1984. At that time the pageant was a small event with minimal funds, so she was not given a crown. On Friday, 20 years after she won her title, among tears and applause, she was finally crowned.\nDanny McNeely, whose on-stage personality is Annastacia DeMoore, gave up his title as Miss Gay Bloomington 2003. McNeely had been doing female impersonations for four years before winning the title, but 2003 was his "power year," he said. Hitting the circuit and doing every pageant possible lead to a title-rich year for McNeely. In one year, he won five titles -- Miss Gay Indianapolis U.S. of A, Miss Gay Indiana U.S. of A, Miss Gay Elegance Continental, Miss Gay Zimmara America and Miss Gay Bloomington.\n"I love doing this, the illusion, going from one extreme to another," McNeely said. "I have always enjoyed entertaining."\nDeMoore said it's difficult to start female impersonation in Indiana. \n"Other states ... seem to appreciate their queens more," McNeely said.\nSam Waites, whose stage name is Samantha Lynn, said doing female impersonation was just something he always wanted to do. He holds the titles of first runner-up for Miss Gay Indiana America 2003 and Miss Gay Three Rivers 2004.\nWaites described the art of female impersonation as a great opportunity and outlet.\n"I get to express my feminine side and entertain," Waites said. "I am more outspoken and vocal when I am Samantha, she is very different from me. Samantha is a very classy woman." \nBlackmon, the state name for Nicholas Simpson, said entering the realm of female impersonation was not a certainty for him, as it was for some of the other contestants. While a student at IU, Simpson was struggling to discover himself as gay and black. Simpson first saw the Miss Gay IU contest in 1998 and began to wonder if doing such a thing was possible. \n"I wondered, can I do that? Should I do that?" he said.\nSimpson said he does not see female impersonation as a hobby, but rather as a venue for education and diversity. Blackmon used her title as Miss Gay IU to speak to classes and participate in discussions and debates about diversity. Simpson said he feels very strongly about education in diversity.\n"Now that I do impersonation, I love it," Simpson said. "It is very exciting because it is such a great outreach opportunity." \n-- Contact staff writer Maurina Paradise at paradise@indiana.edu.