Fifty delegates are in their final stages of preparing for the 35th annual international beauty pageant hosted by Virgelia Productions that will take place at the Redondo Beach Performing Arts Center on Nov. 18. For this pageant, Spruch will be returning to Redondo Beach, where she was a longtime resident.

This year, the pageant will combine three previously separate events into one evening: the Miss and Mrs. Europe Global; Miss, Mrs. and Teen Asia USA; and Miss, Mrs. and Teen Latina Global pageants. During the pageant, contestants will represent various nations from around the world and will participate in a national costume competition, a swimsuit competition and an evening gown competition in pursuit of 20 titles that will be crowned at the end of the night. These titles will include the winners of each pageant as well as special awards that recognize charity and community work, such as Miss Global Ambassador and Miss Global Entrepreneur.

This year’s theme is unity and diversity as this year will be the first year that the three global pageants will combine into one event.

“[One] challenge is really finding delegates that are diverse and representing those countries that have not yet been represented,” says Virgelia Villegas, the producer and president of Virgelia Productions and owner of the pageant since 2003. “Los Angeles is a melting pot of diversity so here, we don’t even have to go outside of the country to look for representation.”

The pageant provides opportunities for the contestants to connect with other women from around the world. Jay Rinaman, the current Mrs. Europe Global titleholder, entered the pageant last year representing Cameroon. She said it exposed her to a new experience much different from her roles as a mother, wife and physical therapy assistant.

“It opened me to people I never thought I would meet — a lot of entrepreneurs and people who have major charities and things that they really stand for,” Rinaman says. “It allowed me to learn who they are and how they are making an impact locally and internationally. That alone, by winning this title, is a completely different world.”

Contestants are selected for the pageant through an application and interview process with Villegas. They attend rehearsals for months leading to the main event and prepare for the pageant by designing their costumes and practicing for a dance performance that all the contestants participate in at the end of the night.

“The cornerstone of our success is we focus on high-quality production,” Villegas says. “We are not just giving the delegates a beauty pageant. We are giving them a journey. We are giving them training and workshops so that whatever they learned in the experience they had in their journey in our pageantry, they take it with them. They come out of it with a greater sense of self-motivation and inspiration.”

The contestants also receive the opportunity to promote their own platforms through the pageant and raise awareness for causes they support. Violeta Martin, who will be Mrs. Mexico in the upcoming pageant, is using her title to share her story of her struggle with domestic violence. She will be releasing her first book, “If You Create the Dream, God Will Give You the Wings,” about her own experience with domestic violence and looks forward to reaching a new audience through her role in the pageant.

“I am a happy ending of a domestic violence case,” Martin says. “It’s a long story. There was a lot for me to break free. It wasn’t easy. That crown is dedicated to every woman who has gone through what I went through.”

The pageant aims to promote personal growth among the contestants. Cheyenne Hinojosa, who will participate as Miss Teen Mexico, has seized the opportunity to learn more about her own heritage as a Latina throughout the pageant process after feeling as though she did not connect deeply to her heritage while growing up. Ultimately, she aims to convey a positive message to other women and girls through her participation.

“[I would like to] be a positive role model to girls like me,” Hinojosa says. “To know that it’s not always just about how pretty you are, you can also be educated and talented. It doesn’t matter how beautiful you are if you lack that on the inside. You can do whatever you want.”

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