We check out around 10am or so and go to breakfast not too far from our hotel. I opted for the strawberry pancakes and we discussed the day to come. I explained that the pageant takes place on a stage that sits behind a pool and the audience, made up mostly of old people and girls in their twenties to thirties, watches the show from around the pool. I was getting in on a press pass, but the rest of us had to pay thirty bucks to get in. (I planned on donating money anyway.)

...Or so I thought. As we would soon learn, most of these "facts" would change...but not in the way you'd expect with a paragraph opener like "or so I thought." The first surprise happened as we approached the gate of Exotic World and I saw the new sign which said "Exotic World Museum" instead of "Exotic World Muesum." When we got to the gate my friends were only charged 25 dollars to get in. Hey it's only five bucks difference, but still nice - although I worried that he cheaper price would affect the show's profits. Yes I am a nerd that way

Another big sign that things were going to be different was blazingly obvious once we parked.

Out in the back behind the former goat farm, to the right of the gated pool area, was a huge stage that hasn't been there in previous shows. This wasn't some homemade new stage either. This was a full-on professional concert style stage. Things really were going to be different this year.

So it wasn't long after getting there that we saw that people were still setting up things to the last minute. So Finch, Huff, Scott, Phil and I volunteered ourselves and helped set up chairs and put up lights. After doing this for a while, I went inside to say hi to friends and check out the digs.

There was fresh pink paint everywhere which gave everything this pink glow (see photo on the right) and over the pool area were these brightly colored screens in fun shapes. It was pretty obvious at this point that the old stage wasn't going to be used...at least not in the way it has been in the last several years. It was here that I saw Augusta aka Penny Starr Jr. (her grandmother was a burlesque dancer who went by the name Penny Starr) dressed in a gold bunny outfit.

Inside the conference room was buzzing with people setting up tables to sell their burlesque related wares. Guerrilla Monster Films was there selling the BROAD DAYLIGHT dvd whose cover I designed. Kitten and Tura were there setting up autograph tables where they also had merchandise available. Rita D'Albert (of Lucha Va Voom which was a major sponsor of this year's show) was busy at her table typing away at a computer. Indigo Blue was there selling her homemade pasties and tassels. I think I've conveyed it was pretty busy at this point. So, yeah, it was busy.

By the time I got back outside after saying hello to everyone, the show had started...and another new aspect of the show was revealed. The Miss Exotic World competition was sectioned off into different categories. Best newcomer, Legend In The Making, Best Troupe performance, and the main Miss Exotic World competition. I think this was a smart move as it gave the audience a better idea as to what we were seeing and who was qualified for what title.

So I did the press photo guy thing and joined the other press at the front of the stage. Kitten DeVille was one of the judges as was Slymenstra Hymen of GWAR for the Best Newcomer part of the show which was hosted in part by sideshow performer Tyler Fyre. All of the performances were great, but it became obvious, once one barefoot performer couldn't even venture out to the part of the stage not covered by the roof, that the catwalk at the front of the stage was blazing hot and was burning the feet of the performers. Eventually they covered it with some mats.

Other than the heat on stage, and I assure you that the pun was intended, the weather really wasn't that bad, nor as hot as it could have been, being practically in the desert. It also lacked the wind that plagued the first Exotic World pageant that I attended which almost caused a knife thrower to have an unfortunate accident with his partner. Each "newcomer" performer was great and while many of them seemed fresh, none of them came off as amateurish.

There were a lot of performers and it was hard to pick favorites. Jami Deadly sang "Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend" before stripping down to,...well,...her diamonds., Diamondback Annie did an amazing drag strip as Elvis featuring music by "The E" himself. I think the person who may be my favorite of this part of the show went by Zara Ra'Naa whose top-tacular talents rivaled any Russ Meyer film star and had a great command of the stage with her dancing.

I tended to the Guerrilla Monster Films booth during the Legends Of Burlesque section of the show while Emmy took a break. While I was sad to miss that part of the show, it was nice to be able to hang out with Kitten Natividad, I also got to talk to some of the ladies who starred in the film and took photos of many of them posing with the Double DVD (which illustrated why I chose to make each of the DVDs pink in the case). Emmy came back to see that I had sold three DVDs while he was gone. Heading outside, I saw Miss Lilli Von Schtupp of signmyboobs.com and she asked me if I could take pictures of Tura Satana signing her breasts for her site. She was the first person I met on arriving at Exotic World and we got along great. Honestly I feel like I've made a cool new friend as we has a lot of similar interests (besides boobs) and in the things we do. Earlier she said she was sad that she didn't get a lot of photos of herself from the last time she was there so I offered to do a photoshoot for her and she said she'd let me know once she was ready to do it.

I got back just in time to catch the Best Troupe category of the show. Again, each act was amazing, but it was really obvious that it would be between two acts that a winner would be found. The first being a balancing act between Trixie Little & The Hate Monkey which involved a man dressed like a monkey in a white leotard and his human female partner who balanced on the feet of the monkeyman in several poses and states of undress down to her pasties.

Then there was the wild energy of The Wau Wau Sisters who entered the stage in catholic school uniforms with very short cut skirts. As they sat on their knees reading their own bibles, the song "Sister Christian" began to play (a break from the traditional burlesque and exotic music heard for most of the day) and what unfolded was a series of mini skits in which the Sisters play out several Catholic themes, including stigmata from the hands, until they end up tearing each other's clothes off to their panties and bras which ends in one of them being crucified. They didn't even go down to pasties and g-strings nor was it nessesary. The crowd went seriously wild.

During the break I saw Lili again and she thought it would be a good time to do the photoshoot. It was really fun, but short. Actually it would have been sorter, but so many people kept coming up and asking for pictures during the shoot. What am I? A piece of meat? Some sexual object to be the star of your personal picture show? Ok, I'll pose for a couple sho... Oh, what? You want a picture of Lili and not me? Oh, uh... I knew that.

Anyway Lili was great and so easy to work with that, I'd love to do a bigger shoot with her sometime. She mentioned that Don Spiro offered to do a photoshoot with her as well. Now I know most of my pics with Lili came out great, but I am no match for Don Spiro's work. So you can imagine how good HIS pictures of her will be.

Well it's off to the stage again...

The next set was for the Legend In The Making Category. This was a category made for the modern burlesque performers who have made a big name for themselves one way or another, but haven't had the same exposure as the top performers to be featured at the end of the day. I found myself to the right of the stage which ended up for a little bit of a backlit view as the sun started going down. I did get a chance to go backstage and shoot some photos here and there. I also got to see Miss Anna Bells again who was a delicious dish in a blue corset and panties set under a superfancy umbrella. I don't understand why she wasn't chosen to be a part of the main show and she was definitely missed by more people than just me.

Well on the main stage, things were hopping...and jumping...and bouncing. Kitten On The Keys hosted again, as she did the night before and was as lovely and funny as one would expect from her if you've seen her perform before. There were a lot of performers, but the following were my favorites of this part of the show. Miss Delierium Tremens did a ballet routine which put everyone on their tippy toes. The lengthily titled Charlotte La Belle Araignee reminded us of the Day Of The Dead. The Velvet Hammer's Venus De Mille (who gave me a copy of her new album with ARTICHOKE the night before) played accordion in a traditional German dress, which seemed to have gotten lost, along with most of the rest of her clothes, just as the notes coming from her instrument did in the open air without an amplifier.

Bella Berretta, who runs many of the burlesque shows at The Derby in Los Feliz, performed what she said would be her final burlesque performance so she can concentrate on producing shows and it was a wonderful sendoff for an interesting person. Eva Von Slut controlled the stage and audience alike with a firm grip. The final performer for the Legend In The Making Category was Little Brooklyn who came out looking not unlike the WWII poster woman "Rosie The Riveter" asking women to help make weapons of war and thus empowering them more than they ever had in history. Her performance was played as tough girl with big tools, but she had these little moments of sweetness that offset her role perfectly. I even saw some elements of Joan Crawford in her performance. It was a tough call, but ultimately my favorite performances were by Venus DeMille and Little Brooklyn. Two acts that couldn't have been more different, but both worthy of being even in the main competition.