The Moment of Truth, 370-ish Days In The Making (My Time Competing in the Forest City Pageant) : Part 1
So, after over a year self-building up the hype on social media and yakking my black ass of to co-workers and total strangers, my time to run in the 2018 Forest City Pageant had became a reality last weekend. A total of over $800 was spent for this one-night local tradition, including $500-plus for the coveted evening gown. (relax. I posted either links above and below to see my talent, plus photos before and after the pageant.) I had bought tickets for those who wanted to go, and a kick-ass backup choir was going to back me up.
Well, not everything that happened had a storybook ending. To start, one should never ask a seamstress to work on an pageant gown during their busiest time of the year--bridal season!! I discovered this first-hand. I had to go all the way to her house, in a near-secluded upscale part of town just to find her. Joanne ran Sew it Seems out of her home. OH, so many accessories!!! I went about three times in two weeks just to make sure the gown not only fit, but the alterations of double fabric layers underneath the bust, plus adding a train to it. Miracle of miracles, it all went ok.
Take a look at me in the Cinderella-like dress via this link:
I should let you guys know about these baby pink 3-inch size 16 (you read that right) pumps I have. I've had them since 2012 and this event was their debut. Add to the fact my feet have been sorer than recently, and getting these suckers on were worse than our current president avoiding a soul food restaurant. The heels felt like they were going to come off while I was donning the evening gown. You'd think heeled shoes could stand the weight of a person like myself; then again, being plus-sized takes on a new challenge. At least the gown covered up the shoe's blemishes, especially with marks on the right shoe. I should've went ahead and had them fixed. To think, I came close to getting rid of these shoes because (surprise!) my feet were too big. Yes, they eventually did come in handy, but having large feet has always been a curse of mine. Since seating was at an extreme minimum backstage, with all the entertianers and the three other pageant contestants,I put my type 2 diabetes-ridden feet into these pumps on the floor, which was easier than doing it in a chair. getting up was another story altogether. Putting on the gown without any assistance was equally troublesome. Naturally, I asked about for help to zip up the back and to apply both the earrings and matching necklace, which they happily did. Now, I had bought some new hair exclusively for this gown. I was caught off guard when we were instructed to go straight to the evening gown competition from the intoduction presentation. Hell, might as well get the pain of wearing these damn pumps over with leading into the talent session of the pageant.
My stage name, KK Dillard, gets called, and I walk on the stage( smiling to the crowd, of course) to a nice round of applause from the audience. Now, I go to one side of the stage, then to the other, then onto the catwalk. This was entirely different than the (borrowed) orange-hued cape and gown I wore in the since-forgotten name of the pageant back in 1998 in Milwaukee. This is where not rehearsing walking in both the gown and the damn pumps came into fray. It went smoothly, until I came close to tripping up the step back on to the stage leading backstage...where several power outages occurred due to the numerous fans blowing about to keep us cool. We WERE sweating our asses off upstairs as it felt more humid than an incubator for eggs.Thankfully, bottled water was supplied...ICE COLD bottled water, mind you. I also brung some sparkling H2O of my own, to be sure. I wanted to rip that $500 gown faster than Clark Kent becoming Superman. Getting into the talent outift was much easier...and brung my everyday sneakers to compliment how I wanted to move about the stage.
For my talent, I wore a purple skirt with the sequin-laced collar was only $15 on eBay, yet this order originated from China, taking about a month to finally arrive. I bought some previous outfits prior to this, yet thanks to my size, the damn thing didn't fit! When it finally came, I was afraid the Asian sizing would be too small for a voluptuous queen...damn, it fits. The song was a different story. I orignally wanted to perform "Hold Me" by Sandi Patti spliced with Patti Labelle's "When You've Been Blessed (Feels Like Heaven)". Then, I watched the Academy Awards. Everything changed. I wanted to find out just how inspiring "This Is Me" from The Greatest Showman was. So, I listened to the song several times...one-word: tears. So the talent song was changed. In the coming months, I decided to add an intro to the song, as other talent's numbers would do. Since I was celebrating 20 years of coming out being trans, and I've had my share of trials and tribulations, there was nothing better than Dr. Maya Angelou's signature poem, "Still I Rise". The poem is about 2:30 minutes long, so it had to eventually be dwindled down dramatically to 30 seconds. It was basically complete, until I got to talking with one of my sisters about an inspirational poem entitled "Our Deepest Fear", spoken by Keke Palmer in Akeelah and the Bee. I added to the bit the same day. Now, it was done, and if performed properly, I felt I had a slim chance to maybe exceed expectations from the judges.
I was backstage as the regular performers did their numbers, sitting on my chair and supposedly meditating with my eyes closed. Tempest Heat-Stratton, a fellow Milwaukeean who won this pageant only years ago, helped me touch up my makeup before my performance. Oh, I had planned on having a backup choir, which is in the focused "This Is Me". I didn't blame anyone, but their schedules, along with my warped schedule, basically nixed that opportunity. This meant I had no choice but to go solo. So, the first contestant did her number, while I almost got choked up backstage before I even got on stage. My turn, butterflies and all, get on stage after my name is called, and I almost immediately flub the opening lines. The judges were reading my lips hard. They knew I got nervous and screwed up the opening after all the self-rehearsals I had while driving the cab, and I had to rebound fast. Damage may have been done, but I knew I could'nt quit. Everyone that knew me knows the talent compeition is my bread and butter. As the song continued, I felt more relaxed, and began to strut my stuff on stage. Giving some sassiness while mouthing "So I Rise", then back to the stage and begin "This Is Me" (check video link at top of blog to see the performance). Compared to the songs the other three contestants did, mine was probably the only one with an actual song instead of a dancible beat. It may not have been choreographed, but I did it in my own unorthodox style. There was a huge applause following this, though not shown in the video. I returned to the humid backstage area, huffing my breath, when several dancers from one of the contestants warmly congratulated me for doing that song. I felt that the song had to be done, and I'm glad I did it! After the pageant ended, there were a decent number of people who thanked me for doing this number. Kayleah "KK" Dillard was starting to make a name for herself.
...to be continued
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