Source: Adult Industry News
By: Myles Shaffer
Myles’ Weekend Adventures: Bonjour mon amis! Comment ca va? Myles Shaffer here. Okay, so this isn’t what I would call one of my normal, ”weekend adventures.” However, it does fall within the things I most love to do. So please read on.
Exotic Dancer Gentlemen’s Club Owners Expo
Before I go any further, I would like to thank Don Waitt, Dave Manack, Teresa, Mike in security, and all the other nameless Exotic Dancer Publications employees who worked so hard to put together and manage a great event! All of these people do a spectacular job of putting on an excellent event, making it run smoothly, and making absolutely certain that the attendees all have a great and very enjoyable time! (There is a certain, ”entrepreneur,” and I use the term loosely, in Los Angeles who could and should take lessons from these fine people!)
I also wish to thank Rio Rivera, the owner of the Miss Exotic USA contest, for her stupendous efforts at putting on an excellent and very entertaining contest! I just wish that I had the money to follow the contest around the country from start to finish at least once in my life!
Sunday morning, August 23rd, I hit the road to Las Vegas, Nevada at 9:50AM. Once I had arrived in Las Vegas, and had gotten checked in, I met my editor-in-chief, Steve Nelson, at Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino. Steve and I then went to the Expo registration desk to do an early registration.
While we were in the registration area, we ran into John Alleyn, Tony Batman, Ethan Cage, Daisy Duxe Nakita Kash, Lexi Lamour, Devon Lee, Kloey Love, Dave Michaels, of a-List Features, Jade Simone St. Clair, and Don Waitt, publisher of Exotic Dancer Publications, and we met April Flowers for the first time.
Miss Exotic USA
Sunday evening, Steve and I attended the Miss Exotic USA semi-finals at Little Darlings Gentlemen’s Club. Steve photographed the contestants performing their shows, while I ogled the contestants and took notes. (On an odd note, when Steve and I checked in with registration earlier in the day, there was an Expo photo badge in my envelope, but none in Steve’s envelope, and he is the boss! I turned the badge over to Steve. After all, he is a photographer, and I’m a writer.)
The legendary Jade Simone St. Clair hosted the semi-finals, and journalist Helen Bedd, Chanel, Nakita Kash and Aspen Reign, were the judges.
The semi-final contestants, in the order of their performances, were: Miss Exotic North Carolina – Krystle Cummings Miss Exotic New Mexico – Sophie Miss Exotic Pennsylvania – Montrelle Miss Exotic Arizona – Pasha Yanina Miss Exotic New York, Destiny B. Wilde Miss Exotic Virginia – Crystal Rayne Miss Exotic Missouri – six feet one inch tall Tanya Towers (Lord, how I love tall women!) Miss Exotic Ohio – Serena Marie Miss Exotic Illinois – Sondra Saxon Miss Exotic Kentucky – Lizzy Styles Miss Exotic New Jersey – Tali De’Mar Miss Exotic Indiana – Stephanie Stalls Miss Exotic Florida – Madison Q Miss Exotic Nevada – Asia (Asia did some of the most fantastic pole work I have seen in a long time.)Miss Exotic Wisconsin – Tiffany West and Miss Exotic South Carolina, Roxanne.
The three winners of the semi-finals were not announced after the contest had ended. I got a chance to ask Rio Rivera why that was. Rio told me that decision had been made for a very good reason. Nobody wanted to risk having thirteen irritable dancers at the finals on Wednesday evening. That makes perfect sense to me.
While there at Little Darlings, I ran into: Daisy Duxe, April Flowers, Susie Malone and Victoria Valentina. Also, I met Sondra Saxon and Stephanie Stalls for the first time. (I owe Steph a huge thank you. She went out of her way to provide me with the greatest, ”girlfriend experience,” I may have ever had for the entire time of the Expo! Sondra also was a great help in making the Expo one of the most enjoyable events I’ve ever attended. I am heavily in like with both of these ladies!) I also met Stephan Wesley. Stephan has recorded a pop/rock album called, ”the Road,” which will hit the stores sometime in September.
Monday, August 24Th
Steve and I found out that there would be nothing going on during the day Monday but seminars and workshops. Since neither of us work for a club, we decided that the best thing for both of us to do would be to attempt to catch up on some much needed rest and sleep.
Monday night, Steve and I attended the Expo Kickoff Party which was held at the Rok Club in the New York, New York Hotel and Casino. That party was a virtual adult entertainment industry who’s who! I ran into: Christina Aguchi, Brad Armstrong, Tony Batman, Ethan Cage, Jessica drake, Daisy Duxe, Hailey Heart, Nakita Kash, Naomi Knight, Lexi Lamour, Rachelle Laree, Devon Lee, Shy Love, Mya Luanna, Monica Mayhem, Trina Michaels, Pason, Amber Peach, Aspen Reign and Cory Heart, Ann Marie Rios, Schevelle, Nikki Sexton, and Tricia Uptown. I also met for the first time: Barbie Baja, newcomer feature dancer Jocelyn Jade, Kylea Killean and Kursten Love.
After the party shut down at Rok, a bunch of us moved the party over to Eyecandy at Mandalay Bay. Some of the people who made the transition, besides Steve and I, were: Tony Batman, Monica Mayhem, Pason and Schevelle. While there, I finally got to meet Jaded Dawn.
There came a point where Steve and I were both about to fall asleep on our feet, so we decided to call it a night. Wrong! We had no sooner stepped out of the elevator and into the parking garage when we ran into Stephanie Stalls, Destiny B. Wilde, Pasha Yanina (pronounced yah-NEE-nah) and Marco who were arriving a bit late. They convinced us to go back to Eyecandy with them. (it didn’t take a lot of convincing.) After a couple more hours of partying, we finally broke it up and headed out at four in the morning. (I think I may be getting entirely too old for all that partying.)
Expo Tradeshow
Tuesday afternoon, August 25Th, Steve and I attended the Expo Tradeshow at the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino. While there I saw and/or ran into: Lisa Ann, Brad Armstrong, Tony Batman, Patrick Bishop, Zoe Britton, Ethan Cage, Charisma Cappelli, Chelsea Charms, Cherokee, Jaded Dawn, Jada Deville, April Flowers, Hailey Heart, Jocelyn Jade, Ron Jeremy, Julianna Jolene, Kagney Linn Karter, Nakita Kash, Kylea Killean, Naomi Knight, Vanna Lace, Lexi Lamour, Devon Lee, Marcus London, Shay Lynn, Heidi Mayne, Dave Michaels, Devon Michaels, Trina Michaels, Gia Nova, Prinzzess, Cindy Pucci, Aspen Reign and Cory Heart, Ann Marie Rios, Jade Simone St. Clair, Taryn Thomas, Trisha Uptown, Victoria Valentina, Echo Valley, and the legendary Randy West.
During the afternoon, I also met for the first time: reality star Marcia Brazil, Tali De’Mar, Diamond Foxxx, Eva Lauren, Tawnie Monroe, Rachel Ryder, and Trina Taylor.
Exotic Dancer Awards Show
Steve and I had both been looking forward to attending the Exotic Dancer Awards Show Tuesday evening. However, there was a fly in the ointment. For several understandable reasons, the media badges would not get us admitted to the show.
Fortunately for Steve, Destiny B. Wilde had a ticket she didn’t need since she was taking part in the show. So she gave Steve her ticket at the last minute, and he was able to attend after all. As for myself, I could have gone to the awards show, but I would have had to purchase a ticket, and, as badly as I wanted to go, I just didn’t feel that it would be prudent for me to spend ninety dollars for a ticket given my current financial situation. Ah well, maybe next year, if we can get press badges again.
Expo Tradeshow (second day)
Wednesday afternoon, August 26Th, Steve and I attended the second day of the Expo Tradeshow. On this day, in addition to many of the same people that I saw on Tuesday afternoon. I also saw: Teagan Presley, who won Adult Movie Feature of the Year at the awards show the night before, Rachelle Laree, who won Entertainer of the Year.
Rachelle Laree is now a triple crown winner having won the overall Golden G-String Trophy during the Golden G-String Awards at the Penthouse Club, in the New Orleans French Quarter, last February. She also won first place in the masters division during the Exotic Dancer National Championship at the Pink Pony, in Atlanta, Georgia, a few months ago and now the Exotic Dancer Entertainer of the Year is hers.
As an extra added bonus, I ran into my long time friends Christi Lake and Hank Armstrong! I also got to meet for the first time, Dakota Skye, and Jada Cheng. I also finally met Kayla Paige.
Kayla and I spoke about what happened at the Rio Gentlemen’s Club last month. While I stand by what I recently wrote regarding the incident, Kayla told me that she had become confused, and that it was the club that didn’t return any of her calls. She apologized for her part in my being disappointed.
No matter who was to blame for the mess up at the Rio, Kayla did strike me as being a nice young woman, and I would still love to see her perform in a club if I’m ever given a chance.
Miss Exotic USA Finals
Wednesday evening, Steve and I attended the Miss Exotic USA Finals at Rick’s Cabaret.
In order of their appearances, performances were given by Tiffany West, Tali De’Mar, Montrell, and Shay Lynn. Rachelle Laree and Gia Nova also performed one of their Blondelicious Duo shows. Last but certainly not least, Daisy Duxe performed her Michael Jackson Tribute show. Then it came time for the presentation of the winners.
The winners of the mini-titles were: Most Beautiful Face – Serena Marie Hottest Body – Krystle Cummings Hardest Body – Sophie Best Breasts – Roxanne Hottest Buns – Sondra Saxon Hottest Legs – Tanya Towers (At six feet one inch tall, how could she miss?) Hottest Stage Personality – Lizzy Styles Hottest Newcomer – Tiffany West Pole-Champion – Asia Hottest Gymnast – Montrelle Most Original Show – Madison Q Best Show – Tali De’Mar Audience Favorite – Stephanie Stalls Best Costumes – Crystal Rayne
The Miss Exotic USA winners were:
Fourth place – Asia, representing Little Darlings, Las Vegas, Nevada Second runner up – Montrelle, representing Delilah’s, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania First runner up – Tiffany West, representing On the Border, Wisconsin and Tali De’Mar, representing Delilah’s, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is now the currently reigning Miss Exotic USA 2009.
Rio Rivera has told me that Montrelle and Tali both representing Delilah’s is not a mistake. While the ladies are from two different states, the regional contest they both placed in was held at Delilah’s.
Last year’s Miss Exotic USA, Robyn Foxx was present to pass the crown to Tali.
At one point during Tali De’Mar’s performance this evening, I asked, ”What do you want to bet that Tali wins first place?” Both Destiny B. Wilde and Pasha Yanina turned to me and said that she probably would, and that she definitely deserved to win. I couldn’t have agreed more.
If anybody reading this might be a club owner or general manager, I would highly recommend that they make every effort to book Tali to feature in their clubs as soon as possible. And, for all you readers who are not connected with a club, you should start the process of bugging the owners and managers of your favorite clubs until they give in and book Tali. Nobody should be disappointed. Tali is a great performer!
Pasha Yanina is another lady to watch for in the near future. Her performances are a combination of old style burlesque with a goth, fetish, cyber cutting edge. Pasha is referred to as a mysterious siren with a mesmerizing personality, and after having spent a good amount of time around her I can easily see why!
Anybody who would like an interesting and rather unique feature dancer experience should get out to a club to see Pasha perform and to meet her in person. It will be an enjoyable evening!
For anybody who lives in the North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina area, or anybody who might be able to make their way to North Myrtle Beach, all of the ladies who competed in this contest are also suppose to be at the 46Th Miss Nude World 2009 contest. Miss Nude World will be held at the Crazy Horse from September 29Th through October 3rd.
Both the Miss Exotic USA and the Miss Nude World contests are products of, ”the Worlds Pageants,” which is owned by Rio Rivera.
Once again, my hat is off to Don Waitt and all of the Exotic Dancer Publications employees for providing us all with a terrific event! I do very much look forward to next year’s event. (a little bird told me that the Exotic Dancer Fan Fair event may be resurrected in the very near future. I certainly do hope so, and I hope that it is a huge success as it has been in the past.)
That now brings us to a close once again. Hopefully, I will be able to cover the Expo and report on it again next year. Until then, everybody stay safe, have a great week, and live life as if there were no tomorrow!
Bonsoir et au revoir,
Myles Shaffer
