Candace Otto
Encyclopedia
Candace Otto is a pageant
titleholder was Murrysville, Pennsylvania who held the Miss Pennsylvania
2003 title and competed in the Miss America
pageant.
. In 2001, while attending college in Evanston
she entered the Miss Illinois
contest and won the non-finalist talent award.
Two years later, after winning the Miss Three Rivers local title, Otto competed in her first Miss Pennsylvania
pageant. She won the Talent award in preliminary competition and was crowned Miss Pennsylvania at the conclusion of the final competition on July 12, 2003. She was the first Miss Pennsylvania from Murrysville. Her win earned her a $6,000 scholarship.
In September she went on to compete in the Miss America 2004
pageant where performed "Non Ti Scordar Di Me" as her talent selection, the same song she performed in the state pageant. She was awarded the Bernie Wayne Performing Arts Award and a non-finalist talent award, the first Miss Pennsylvania to win the former and the first since 1991 to win the latter.
During her reign she made over 150 appearances as a keynote speaker or featured performer, travelling between 2,000 to 4,000 miles each month crisscrossing the state by car. Her platform issue "Challenging Americans to Address Poverty" was inspired by her work with National Student Partnerships (NSP), for which she served as co-director in 2001. She also appeared on the game show Pyramid
Candace was a co-founder of NSP Evanston and has served on the advisory board of NSP Pittsburgh.
At the Miss America
Pageant, she was awarded the Bernie Wayne Performing Arts Award and a non-finalist talent award. She was the first Miss Pennsylvania to win the Bernie Wayne Performing Arts Award and the first Miss Pennsylvania since 1991 to win a non-finalist talent award.
in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
, in 1998, she studied Musical Theater at Northwestern University
. After graduation, Candace was given an opportunity to study opera with the Ezio Pinza Council of American Singers of Opera, in Italy. In November 2001 she performed with the Sistine choir before a papal audience of 250,000 at the Vatican City
.
Otto married Matthew McDonald on June 10, 2006. The couple now live in San Francisco, California
.
Pageant
A medieval pageant is a form of procession traditionally associated with both secular and religious rituals, often with a narrative structure. Pageantry was an important aspect of medieval European seasonal festivals, in particular around the celebration of Corpus Christi, which began after the...
titleholder was Murrysville, Pennsylvania who held the Miss Pennsylvania
Miss Pennsylvania
The Miss Pennsylvania competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of Pennsylvania in the Miss America Pageant. Pennsylvania, including early years' city representatives, has won the Miss American crown on 5 occasions....
2003 title and competed in the Miss America
Miss America
The Miss America pageant is a long-standing competition which awards scholarships to young women from the 50 states plus the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands...
pageant.
Pageants
Otto first competed in a pageant in 1996 when she competed at Miss Pennsylvania Teen USAMiss Pennsylvania Teen USA
The Miss Pennsylvania Teen USA competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of Pennsylvania in the Miss Teen USA pageant. This pageant is directed by Sanders and Associates....
. In 2001, while attending college in Evanston
Evanston, Illinois
Evanston is a suburban municipality in Cook County, Illinois 12 miles north of downtown Chicago, bordering Chicago to the south, Skokie to the west, and Wilmette to the north, with an estimated population of 74,360 as of 2003. It is one of the North Shore communities that adjoin Lake Michigan...
she entered the Miss Illinois
Miss Illinois
The Miss Illinois competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of Illinois in the Miss America pageant. The Miss Illinois pageant started in 1927, several years after the initial Miss America pageant. The first "Miss Illinois" sent to the national pageant, Lois Delander,...
contest and won the non-finalist talent award.
Two years later, after winning the Miss Three Rivers local title, Otto competed in her first Miss Pennsylvania
Miss Pennsylvania
The Miss Pennsylvania competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of Pennsylvania in the Miss America Pageant. Pennsylvania, including early years' city representatives, has won the Miss American crown on 5 occasions....
pageant. She won the Talent award in preliminary competition and was crowned Miss Pennsylvania at the conclusion of the final competition on July 12, 2003. She was the first Miss Pennsylvania from Murrysville. Her win earned her a $6,000 scholarship.
In September she went on to compete in the Miss America 2004
Miss America 2004
Miss America 2004, the 83rd Miss America, pageant, was broadcast from the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey on September 20, 2003 on ABC Network.-Placements:*Miss America 2004: Ericka Dunlap...
pageant where performed "Non Ti Scordar Di Me" as her talent selection, the same song she performed in the state pageant. She was awarded the Bernie Wayne Performing Arts Award and a non-finalist talent award, the first Miss Pennsylvania to win the former and the first since 1991 to win the latter.
During her reign she made over 150 appearances as a keynote speaker or featured performer, travelling between 2,000 to 4,000 miles each month crisscrossing the state by car. Her platform issue "Challenging Americans to Address Poverty" was inspired by her work with National Student Partnerships (NSP), for which she served as co-director in 2001. She also appeared on the game show Pyramid
Pyramid (game show)
Pyramid is an American television game show which has aired several versions. The original series, The $10,000 Pyramid, debuted March 26, 1973 and spawned seven subsequent Pyramid series...
Candace was a co-founder of NSP Evanston and has served on the advisory board of NSP Pittsburgh.
At the Miss America
Miss America
The Miss America pageant is a long-standing competition which awards scholarships to young women from the 50 states plus the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands...
Pageant, she was awarded the Bernie Wayne Performing Arts Award and a non-finalist talent award. She was the first Miss Pennsylvania to win the Bernie Wayne Performing Arts Award and the first Miss Pennsylvania since 1991 to win a non-finalist talent award.
Education and career
Otto, a professional real estate agent, is an accomplished performer and vocalist. She started taking acting classes at age six and in subsequent years performed in a number of minor roles that were noted in local newspapers. She then took voice lessons and joined the chorus of the Civic Light Opera. After graduating from Shady Side AcademyShady Side Academy
Shady Side Academy is a private, secular coeducational PK-12 preparatory school located on three campuses in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States, established in 1883.- Campuses :Shady Side Academy has three campuses in Pittsburgh....
in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh is the second-largest city in the US Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Allegheny County. Regionally, it anchors the largest urban area of Appalachia and the Ohio River Valley, and nationally, it is the 22nd-largest urban area in the United States...
, in 1998, she studied Musical Theater at Northwestern University
Northwestern University
Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston and Chicago, Illinois, USA. Northwestern has eleven undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools offering 124 undergraduate degrees and 145 graduate and professional degrees....
. After graduation, Candace was given an opportunity to study opera with the Ezio Pinza Council of American Singers of Opera, in Italy. In November 2001 she performed with the Sistine choir before a papal audience of 250,000 at the Vatican City
Vatican City
Vatican City , or Vatican City State, in Italian officially Stato della Città del Vaticano , which translates literally as State of the City of the Vatican, is a landlocked sovereign city-state whose territory consists of a walled enclave within the city of Rome, Italy. It has an area of...
.
Otto married Matthew McDonald on June 10, 2006. The couple now live in San Francisco, California
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
.