At Miss Latina Belleza, Mom gets a shot at the tiara, too

Backstage at the Latina Belleza beauty pageant, Ruby Webb applies lip liner to the tiny, pursed mouth of her six-year-old daughter, Stephanie.

Nearby, Webb’s other daughter, Michelle, an 18-year-old knockout, shimmer sprays her good friend, 17-year-old Colombian beauty Francoise Renteria. Renteria’s mother, Rosalba, crouches on the ground to dust highlighter on Michelle’s toned, tan legs.

All five women are competing on March 7 for sashes and crowns and glory: Stephanie for the title of Miss Chiquitita, Michelle and Francoise for the crown of Miss Latina Belleza, and Ruby and Rosalba for the title of Miss Elegancia.

Both families, the Webbs and the Renterias, are from Colombia, but they met and became friends here in Las Vegas. Michelle and Francoise attend Palo Verde High School and are aspiring models; Michelle has modeled for the Gap and Francoise for several companies in Colombia, where she lived until she was 12.

All the pageant contestants are Hispanic, primarily Mexican, Cuban, Costa Rican and Colombian. Many of the younger girls’ moms are backstage even if they aren’t competing in Miss Elegancia. They pass the time before their curtain call applying makeup to their daughters’ faces and curling their daughters’ hair. When I attempt conversation, the daughters, who are under 10, have to interpret—their mothers only understand Spanish.

Among all the dolled-up women is pageant organizer Ricky Vargas, a longtime dancer and actor who now dedicates his time to community events like this one. He loves the limelight, and while this pageant puts other people at center stage, Vargas is a constant source of entertainment, frequently breaking out into flamboyant dancing.

He puts on the pageant for two reasons: his love of performance and spectacle and to give the contestants, many of whom come from single-parent households and several of whom are first generation Americans, the chance to feel their most beautiful with all eyes on them. This is the second annual Miss Latina Belleza pageant, and Vargas promises the third one will be even bigger and better.

"I open my door for every girl to participate in the show," says Vargas. "This show is for everybody in Las Vegas. I 'm so excited, I'm so happy. You see the little kids, the mothers, they’re very happy."

Clad in bright swimsuits, the aspiring Chiquitas, ages 3-11, strut down the runway with the grown-up éclat and sass of Gisele Bundchen. They are natural performers who love attention, and most of them are extremely involved in dancing, singing, acting and modeling and daydream constantly of stardom.

Their talents, on display for hundreds of onlookers and a panel of judges in a large showroom at the Plaza Hotel, range from belting out Selena songs to hip-shaking to Shakira and the Pussycat Dolls to delivering a monologue about how their dog died and their father left them when they were 18 months old.

Soon, the teens take the stage. Ages 13 to early twenties, the young women are very close to being all grown up. Backstage, while the younger girls flit around and beg to be picked up by last year’s reina, Gladys Gonzales, 23, whom they all adore, the teenagers monopolize the mirrors, chat into cell phones and primp one another endlessly.

Any one of them could be la reina: They all have lustrous, long dark hair, flawless coffee-colored skin, and bodies that ranged from adorably petite to lusciously curvy. When they stride down the long runway in high heels and with heads tilted proudly and hips swaying audaciously, the audience pays eager attention.

As the teens displayed their talents (mostly hair-tossing, butt-shaking, highly suggestive hip-hop dancing) and answered their interview questions at the microphone (example: “Que haras si fueras el alcalde de Las Vegas?,” “What would you do if you were the mayor of Las Vegas?”), the mothers prepare for their turn on stage. After decking their daughters out to compete, the older women have just enough time to coat their faces in makeup and squeeze into a curve-hugging dress before it’s time to go.

“I like this production because for the first time they gave all the women the opportunity to compete,” says Ruby, who modeled and danced for 10 years and ran a modeling and dancing school in Venezuela for more than 20. “This is a big motivation for women in their 40s. Sometimes they’re down because they think they’re ugly and they’re fat, and this gives them the chance to dress up and participate.”

However, only only one from each category can win: Miss Chiquitita--Sarah Espinoza, Miss Latina Belleza--Maribel Cervantes and Rosalba Renteria—Miss Elegancia. They radiantly smile with the bright lights flashing on their tiaras, while many of the other little girls cry rivers of mascara backstage. But the tears don’t last. Their dads brought them McDonald’s, and there’s always next year—after many more months filled with practice, preparation and nervous anticipation.