Judges select 2024 homecoming court in pageant show
This year’s homecoming pageant was filled with tiaras, gowns and fairytale music. Twelve students showcased their personalities, talents and involvement at the University of Miami for a chance to participate in this year’s royalty court.
This year’s “Royalty Ever After” fairytale-themed show brought 500 audience members to the Shalala ballrooms on Monday at 8 p.m. where Asia Blocker, Daniela Dechard, Albertie Regalado and Maui Candela were chosen as this year’s Homecoming Royalty.
“I felt blessed and privileged to win among so many talented contestants,” Dechard said. “I am extremely glad I had the opportunity to represent the Association of Commuter Students on the homecoming court. I was also excited that I was able to win in the presence of my family who came to watch and support me, it was fulfilling to make them proud.”
The four royalty court members will represent the University as homecoming festivities continue.
“The royalty court is four people that represent the University of Miami wholeheartedly,” junior global studies and Royalty Chair Jana Faour said. “The reason we do it on the first day is so that they can be at every single homecoming event for the rest of the week.”
Faour, as well as junior psychology major Kerrigan Wesley and senior political science and sports administration major Sidra Al-Ktaish, began serving as co-chairs for the Royalty Pageant, a subcommittee of the Homecoming Executive Council in the spring.
This fall, 18 contestants applied to be a part of the pageant. These applicants were evaluated by a panel of judges in the preliminary rounds. The 12 finalists then began working with the committee chairs to plan this year’s show.
Weekly rehearsals began on Sept. 23, with additional three-hour dress rehearsals on the Sunday and Monday before the show.
A lot of the rehearsal time was focused on creating the opening dance that all of the contestants participated in together. The music for the dance was a mash-up of Disney fairytale songs to fit the royalty theme.
The first round was the new runway portion of the competition. Contestants introduced themselves with a one-minute bio that the chairs read out loud. They were also able to wear an outfit to showcase their personality while they walked to a song of their choice.
“They are putting their personality into a runway walk,” Al-Ktaish said. “I think our biggest thing when we chose to do the runway portion is that we wanted to see who they are on and off the runway. We just felt like that was the best way to do it and they got to show their style and how they’re represented.”
The pageant then moved into the talent portion, where contestants got to present a talent of their choice. Participants sang, danced and even presented motivational speeches.
“For my talent portion I chose to play ‘Photograph’ by Ed Sheeran on the piano and play a video of pictures of mine from getting accepted to the school to today,” Dechard said. “I chose this talent because during my freshman year I made a promise to myself to capture every moment and memories with pictures.”
The final round of the competition was the poise round, which is similar to a traditional pageant with formal gowns and suits. The contestants were asked one question pulled randomly from a fishbowl.
“Every contestant got a different question just to make it as fair as possible to everyone,” Faour said. “They heard their question right before they went, and then they answered it to the best of their ability.”
The three chairs made sure to incorporate the fairytale theme in subtle ways throughout the show. Audience members were all given paper crowns on their seats. The trio also dressed in pink, blue and green gowns during the poise round to mimic the three fairy godmothers from “Sleeping Beauty.”
“I don’t know if anyone really knew, but we knew,” Wesley said.
Trumpet entrances, light-up balloons and regal decor all added to the aesthetic of the show.
The KAOS hip-hop team, LOCKED K-Pop dance team and BisCaydence acapella group had performances throughout the show to provide additional entertainment to the audience while judges deliberated and contestants changed.
After the judges took the contestants’ pageant performance and UM leadership involvement into consideration, they came up with scores for each of the participants. The top four winners were then announced at the end of the show.
“Being on the court allows me to represent the University during such a special time such as Homecoming,” Dechard said. “It showed me I have contributed to the University enough for it to allow me to be the face of its values.”