Sweet Music Made By Pasco Miss Florida Contestants

Two of Pasco County’s Miss Florida contestants took to the stage on the second evening of pageant preliminaries, wowing both judges and the crowd with their performances.

Miss Pasco County Fair, Aaliyah Manning, played a soothing rendition of “The River Flows in You,” on the grand piano while Payton Barrington, Miss Pasco County, sang and upbeat and playful version of the classic “Ain’t Misbehavin’.”

The Miss Florida Scholarship Pageant, an official preliminary to the Miss America Pageant, is being held at the Youkey Theatre inside the RP Funding Center in Lakeland, Florida.

Winning over the judges with a thundering performance of the opera classic Nessun Dorma, Miss Tampa Olivia Butler took home the coveted talent award on the second night of the Miss Florida contest. Miss Miami, Stephanie Almeida, won her division’s lifestyle, fitness and swimsuit preliminary title.

To win the Miss Florida tiara, contests vie in five categories – interview, on-stage question, talent, evening wear, and lifestyle and fitness swimwear. Each category is weighed differently – in the preliminaries, talent is worth 35 percent and interview 25 percent. On the other end of the spectrum, the on-stage question event is worth 5 percent and swimwear earns 15 percent of the needed total. The percentages vary in the final event.

While preliminary winners aren’t guaranteed access into the final round of 11 – 10 by point count with one chosen by online vote – they do receive a $300 scholarship. This is the pageant’s 82 year.

The third night of the preliminaries starts at 7:30 p.m. at the RP Funding Center’s Youkey Theatre, 701 Lime Street, Lakeland. The final 10 contestants will competeS aturday evening.

Story by Jack Cormier/Photos of Barrington and Manning courtesy of Visit Central Florida