In a move from Phoenix's Arizona Center, the 11th annual Ms. Hooters Arizona Pageant will be poolside at the Hotel Valley Ho on May 7.
Close to 90 Hooters waitresses will compete in two rounds—wearing nightclub attire and then bikinis—for the Ms. Hooters Arizona title.
"There are definitely crowd favorites," Hooters spokeswoman Melanie Gulmetti said of the boisterous, mostly male crowd usually at Hooters' pageants. "But it's a classy event in a fun, casual atmosphere."
The Valley Ho in Scottsdale has been hosting fashion shows since it opened in 1955, but this is the first time it will host a Hooters contest. Scottsdale does not have a Hooters restaurant, but it will host the 2009 pageant with employees from six Valley locations and two in Tucson.
The Hooters girls do not compete wearing the company's signature uniform of a white tank top, orange running shorts, pantyhose, white socks and tennis shoes. That dated look of the 1980s is being updated with snug-fitting boy shorts replacing the running shorts, but the pantyhose will remain, said Gulmetti, a Hooters director of marketing.
Ms. Hooters Arizona will win $1,000 and a chance to compete in the Ms. Hooters International Pageant on June 20 in Hollywood, Fla.
The contestants will be judged on their beauty and stage presence.
A panel of judges will include 2006 Hooters calendar centerfold Sarah Coggin.
Among the contestants are Rachel Mortenson of the Chandler Hooters and Wendy Ojeda from a Tucson Hooters. Both are featured in the 2009 Hooters calendar.
