— PAUL HOWE / For the Eagle Times
NEWPORT — It was a royal moment when Alia Gonsalez stared wide-eyed into a cheering audience when she was announced the 2018 Newport Winter Carnival Queen.
Glowing in her glistening white gown, the sparkling crown was placed on Gonzalez’s head by 2017 Newport Winter Carnival Queen Danielle Cherry.
“This is so great and I sure didn’t expect it,” Gonzalez said as she held court onstage after the pageant. “It’s been an experience of a lifetime.”
Gonzalez was voted as Top Fundraiser and also received the Lisa Gauvin Award, presented every year to a contestant who has overcome some challenges. For her talent routine, she sang, “Don’t Rain on My Parade,” from the musical Funny Girl. The stage seemed to transform into Broadway, with Gonzalez’s mature vocals and animated performance.
She is a senior at Newport Middle-High School and the daughter of Chris Gonzalez and Amy Barton. Her proudest accomplishment is maintaining high honor roll.
First runner up was Victoria Burroughs, who wore a mesmerizing sequined dress of green and blue. She was chosen as Miss Congeniality, a title determined by the contestants. Her talent demonstration was a science experiment, which involved mixing 30 percent hydrogen peroxide with potassium. The combination fizzled into foaming blobs to everyone’s delight.
“It is surreal and I never expected it,” Burroughs revealed of her win. “This is a great group of girls and I am so glad I did this.’
She is the daughter of Newport Chief of Police Jim Burroughs and Stacy Burroughs and a junior at Newport-Middle-High School. Her goal is to build confidence and pursue a career in genetics and food science.
Capturing the place of second runner-up was Jazzy Durgin, who wore a sleek, pink full-length dress for the evening gown competition.
“It was a lot of fun and we bonded a lot,” Durgin said of her pageant experience.
Durgin’s dancing talents earned her the place of Top Talent, with a sophisticated and snazzy performance to the song of “No Roots, by Alice Merton. Mason Martell, from the Newport Ballroom and another first place winner in Dancing With the Stars, stepped in as her partner. Durgin had won first place for the second night of Dancing With the Stars show in January.
She is most proud of qualifying for the 4H Eastern States with her pony, Pistol. Her future goals are to go to Brigham Young University in Utah and make it to their World Champion Ballroom Dance Team.
Durgin is a home-schooled junior and the daughter of Tony Dattola and Dubie Durgin Dattola.
Other contestants were: Jasmine Patenaude, senior at Newport Middle-High School and daughter of Aaron and Jodi Wheeler and David Boissonneault; Gracie Brown, senior at Newport Middle-High School and daughter of Paul Brown and Lisa Ferrigno and Emily Guyett, junior at Newport Middle-High School and daughter of Andrew and Tiffany Guyett.
Brown tied with Burroughs for the Miss Congeniality title. Patenaude, Brown and Guyett all danced to their choice song for the individual talent portion.
The contestants kicked off the pageant with a peppy performance to the upbeat song, “Happy” by Pharell Williams. Each contestant had her own cheerleading squad and it was an enthusiastic audience, with a very full house.
The contestants were judged in four categories: private interview 25 percent, on-stage question 20 percent, talent performances 35 percent and evening gown 20 percent.
Before the announcements of the winners, DiPaola had the contestants join hands and take a bow.
“You should be very proud of yourselves,” he said. “They have been fabulous to work with and they have bright futures ahead.”
Pageant princesses were attired in candy-patterned dresses and the princes were in black suits, with pink striped ties in keeping with the “Life is Sweet” theme of the winter carnival. They performed to “Kid in a Candy Store” by Jojo Siwa. MC, Anthony DiPaola, Jr., asked them some general questions and their answers provide endearing entertainment.
The stage backdrop illustrated the carnival theme with pictures of candy and ice-cream cones.
The judges were Kristen Collins, Julie McCarthy and Bridget Overson. Ben Gallagher and Dylan Palmer acted as ushers.
Co-directors of the pageant were Kristin Howe and Amy Bailey, executive director of the Newport Opera House Association,
As it was stated in the program, the pageant has been a tradition associated with the longest-running town winter carnival in the country for its 102-year history. Eleventh and twelfth grade girls living or going to school in the Newport area are welcome to participate.
As your daily newspaper, we are committed to providing you with important local news coverage for Sullivan County and the surrounding areas.