Kaua‘i-raised Justine Michioka, 22, is a competitor in the 53rd Miss USA pageant, to be broadcast live tonight from Hollywood, Calif., on NBC.
A total of 51 of “America’s most beautiful women” are competing for the opportunity to represent the United States at the Miss Universe Pageant.
Before the preliminary competitions, fans will be able to vote for their favorite competitor in the “Miss Photogenic” contest. People can log on to www.MissUSA.com or www.nbc.com to make their selections.
“And it better be Hawai‘i,” laughed 2003 Miss Hawaii USA winner Alicia Michioka-Jones, sister to Justine Michioka.
Justine’s mom, Lori Stillwell-Makuaole, of Kapahi, said Justine got involved with pageantry “by watching her older sister Alicia. Alicia’s been doing it since age 13 (competing in Miss Pre-Teen Garden Isle). She watched Alicia for many years and decided she’d give it a try and she likes it as much as her sister.” Justine was first runner up in the Miss Teen USA and Miss Kauai/Garden Island pageants.
The Kapa‘a High School graduate attends Hawaii Pacific University, where she’s focusing her studies in marketing and advertising. She took off this semester to focus on the competition, her mom said.
She arrived in California last Monday, promptly getting a room assignment — her roommate is Miss Alaska, Cari Leyva, who is actually one-eighth Hawaiian and whose mom is originally from Kailua.
On Thursday, Justine and the other contestants made a trip to U.S. Marine Corps’ Camp Pendleton to visit U.S. troops, and that night, Justine appeared on “Jimmy Kimmel Live” with five other contestants. Because this year’s competition will be broadcast live from the Kodak Theater in Hollywood, and rehearsals have been going on since Monday, many contestants will be featured on television shows till the big night, Michioka-Jones said.
Alicia was the first in the Michioka clan to make it to the Miss USA competition — she said this is the first year Hawai‘i has had sisters in back-to-back competitions, and that it’s only happened twice before in the history of Miss USA.
Some of Justine’s family members and friends from Hawai‘i are taking a trip to Los Angeles, helping to form a 40-member “cheering section.” Among them, grandmother Patty Canastro; dad Blaine Michioka, mom Lori Stillwell-Makuaole; sisters and brothers Alicia, Sara, Kahea and Makana.
“I’ll be at the practices every day,” Stillwell-Makuaole said, “She gets four VIP passes to the practices. It’s really important for the girls to have the moral support of someone who’s a family member or close friend. We want to give her as much encouragement as possible.”
One piece of advice Alicia hopes Justine has taken to heart: “Always have your energy level up. If you’re tired and exhausted — and you will be — you cannot let it show. You’re representing Hawaii, so you want to be the best rep possible. Not just on stage in the competition, but all the time.” Michioka-Jones said her sister probably thinks she needs to do this on her own, not a “mock Alicia” thing. “So I’ve stepped aside and haven’t trained her at all. It’s more like moral support,” she said.
See Justine and the other 50 candidates for Miss USA on April 12 on NBC. The competition will be nationally televised at 9 p.m. Eastern Time and delayed Pacific Time. For more information, for viewing times, or to vote for Justine as “Miss Photogenic,” log on to http://www.MissUSA.com or www.nbc.com.
