Sydney Sill and Lauren Cabaniss are stunning for Friday night’s gala at the Miss South Carolina Forum last weekend in Columbia.
Lauren Cabaniss models a swimsuit for Tara Grinna Swimwear in Conway. The company is the official supplier of swimsuits for the pageant and the first time Miss contestants have worn one from a South Carolina manufacturer.
Gina Sill, left, and Stacy Cabaniss, right, stand next to their daughters at Friday night’s gala at the Miss South Carolina Forum.
Sydney Sill and 2011 Miss South Carolina Teen Caitlyn Patton take time during the Miss South Carolina Forum to pose for a stunning photo.
Miss Greater Greer Lauren Cabaniss and Miss Teen Sydney Sill attended the Miss South Carolina Forum in Columbia last weekend. This is the workshop before we go to the State competition in July. It is held at the Columbia Marriott, which serves as the host hotel for Miss South Carolina.
The Greer entourage came in full force with 12 people in all. Check in was Friday afternoon and meetings began on Saturday morning at 9. There was a fashion show thrown in for fun where many of the contestants, including our Greer girls, were asked to model swimsuits and gowns from pageant vendors across the state. The contestants also signed autographs and posed for pictures.
Saturday evening was concluded by a gala, judge’s seminar and the always exciting lottery placement. Everything wrapped up on Sunday morning when the girls converged on the City of Columbia taking group pictures that will be used to promote the pageant as well as appear in the program book.
The pageant dates are: Tuesday, July 10 through Saturday, July 14. Tuesday through Thursday is preliminary competition nights with Saturday, July 14 being the final night with the crowning of our new Miss South Carolina and Miss South Carolina Teen. It will be held at the Townsend Auditorium in Columbia.
This year there will be two judge’s panels, one for the Miss Division and one for the Teen Division, with five judges on each panel. In years past there has only been one panel of judges that have chosen both titleholders. Miss South Carolina participant numbers are up. This year there are 48 Miss contestants and 54 Teen contestants so the Miss South Carolina Board felt it would be good to have two panels instead of one.
Preliminary awards will also be different. For the Teens, there will be a Talent and Evening Gown award for each group. For the Miss division, there will be a Swimsuit and Talent award for each group. Until now, the Teens also received a Fitness award and the Miss received an Evening Gown award. Miss South Carolina wants to conduct the pageant as close to the Miss America format as possible and this is the Miss America format.
Saturday evening after the gala and judges seminar a placement lottery was held. The lottery determines where the girls will be in the competition line up. Each division has three groups to choose from. Each group competes in a different category each night. The idea is to pick the group that showcases your greatest strength on the first evening of competition. By doing this, the contestants are hoping to impress the judges from the very first night.
Here’s how the lottery works: Each contestants name is placed in a bin. Then the names are randomly drawn. When your name is drawn you have 90 seconds to decide which group you want to be in and which number you want to be in that lineup. The more names that are drawn the less spots you have to choose from. This makes for a very exciting and nail-biting event. We are pleased to say that both our girls were able to choose the spot that they felt would showcase them the best.
Sydney will be in the Blue Group for Teens. She is contestant No. 6 in the group. She has Interview on Tuesday morning followed by Physical Fitness on Tuesday night. Wednesday Sydney will perform her Talent and Thursday she will present her evening gown and answer On Stage Questions.
Lauren is in the Sigma group for the Miss. She is also contestant No. 6 in her group. She has Interview on Tuesday morning followed by Swimsuit and Evening Gown on Tuesday night. Wednesday Lauren presents her talent and Friday she will answer On-Stage Questions.
Also different this year is the fact that the Miss contestants will all wear swimsuits from a South Carolina manufacturer. Tara Grinna Swimwear in Conway is the official supplier of swimsuits for the pageant. They designed several different styles and offered several different colors for the Miss contestants to choose from. The contestants were able to try these on at the forum so they could choose the style that suited their body type the best. The Teen contestants do not wear swimsuits. They wear tank tops and leggings for Physical Fitness.