Miss Deaf International competition took place for the first time during DeafNation World Expo on July 23rd in Las Vegas, NV.
Bonita Leek founded the Miss Deaf International competition. They hope to host subsequent contests annually. Among cities being considered: Durban, South Africa; Poland; Greece; Las Vegas, NV, and; Paris, France.
According to their website, “Women from countries all over the world are welcome to participate. An announcement will be made three months prior to the competition date stating exactly how many contestants will compete.”
The Competition consists of a private interview, swimsuit competition, artistic expression performance, and an assessment of leadership abilities. Judging will be based on these four categories with a dual-panel of judges scoring the competitions. There will be one Panel of judges for the preliminary round, and a second panel of judges for the Finale.
Julie Abbou was crowned as Miss Deaf France during this first Miss Deaf International. Runner ups were Lore Ameloot as Miss Deaf Belgium, Vicki Fourie as Miss Deaf South Africa, Laura Levita Valyte as Miss Deaf Lithuania, Sahar Motogain as Miss Deaf Iran.
The following participants in the Miss Deaf International are Jewish:
Miss Deaf France
(her father is an Israeli Deaf Jew).
Miss Deaf Israel
Also:
* Raymonda Azrelyant Yeh, Director of Internal Affairs for Miss Deaf International.
* Debra Hast – Secretary for Miss Deaf International.
* Liz Tannebaum who was Mistress of Ceremonies.
* Alan SPO Schwartz who was one of the judges Friday evening along with Joel Barish, whose dad is Jewish.
Contestants & Bios – missdeafinternational.com/photosbios.php
