Miss Vamp 2012, Tabatha "Tab" Sabre Brown, took her place on the winner's divan Oct. 12 at Hawaii Theatre, where she was crowned by Miss Vamp 2011, Tara Tynanes.
From the white of POW WOW Hawaii's "Blank Canvas" event, I visited the opposite end of the spectrum with a journey to the dark side and the Miss Vamp Hawaii pageant Oct. 12.
Prior to the event, I was at the Honolulu Firefighters Foundation's 3rd annual Signature Chefs Food Festival, so some there wondered why I was dressed for early Halloween in Rodarte's ribcage sequin dress, but I was happy to have occasion to wear it.
Fifteen women vied for the Miss Vamp title, which put them through the rigors of a more mainstream beauty pageant's talent and Q&A sessions ... but not quite when most of the contestants sported fangs and other accoutrements of the undead. And the usual swimsuit competition is replaced by sexy lingerie in a "Moonbathing" segment.
Judging the event staged by Camera Obscura, DJ Nocturna and Lana Saldania, were filmmaker and casting director Brent Anbe, theater director and teacher Taurie Kinoshita, and filmmaker Aaron Yamasato, who had a tough task.
Tabatha "Tab" Sabre Brown made quite an impression on the audience with a seductive vampire act (an excerpt is included in the video), and was named Miss Vamp 2012 as well as Miss Photogenic. First runner-up was "Ecstacy" Ashley Balmores, and Ai Saito was named Miss Congeniality.
Just as at a more typical beauty pageant, disappointment among non-winners was palpable. But, unlike a Miss America contestant, with a competitive shelf life of about six years, these creatures of the night have many lives ahead of them.
The timing of the competition means they all have time to recover in time to emerge on All Hallow's Eve. It's no big secret that downtown Honolulu happens to be a fertile feeding ground and the women said they find easy victims among those stumbling home from the bars.
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