Spencerport's Hannah Lopa heading to Miss ...
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Jeff DiVeronica talks with Spencerport native, Miss New York USA Hannah Lopa about the upcoming Miss USA pageant on May 14.
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Las Vegas is the next stop for Hannah Lopa after what she calls a "whirlwind" few months as Miss New York. The Spencerport native heads west next week to prep and begin competing for the title of Miss USA. The 66th annual pageant starts May 4 and concludes with the live television broadcast from the Mandalay Bay Events Center on Sunday, May 14 on Fox.
"I'm really committed to this," says the 25-year-old who earned the state crown in mid-January after coming up empty four times previously.
She will look a little different to the judges and the world because Lopa has gone from being a "platinum" blonde to a redhead. It's a strategic move, she says with a smile, to help her stand out.
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The newly crowned Miss New York USA and Spencerport native recaps her whirlwind week and tells us why bikinis are just fine in pageants. Jeff DiVeronica
"There were a lot of blondes competing. This is actually a lot closer to my natural color," says Lopa, a former dance team member for the Rochester Lancers and Rhinos professional soccer teams. "I feel very confident and very empowered and I feel like this matches my personality a lot better."
She didn't blink an eye when her consultants asked her to switch colors.
"If that's what my team thinks is going to help ... and catapult me into being successful in this competition I"m willing to do whatever it takes," Lopa says.
There were more than 165 contestants for Miss New York. In Vegas, Lopa has only 50 other foes (includes Washington, D.C.). The contestants will make appearances around Sin City in the 10-day span leading up to May 14. Spending more than one week in one city will be a switch. By the time she lands in Vegas, Lopa will have taken more than 31 flights.
In addition to her travels as Miss New York, he has started working for beIN SPORTS Network as a pit lane reporter for MotoAmerica (motorcycling). She'll be back on the other side of the microphone answering questions in Vegas.
She has spent time in Arizona, Georgia, Florida, Minnesota and Texas. This week she was back home for just 22 hours before flying to New York City to shoot a commercial that will air during the Miss USA live show. "It has been awhile since I've spent more than a week anywhere," Lopa admits.
She understands living out of a suitcase comes with the territory, but she also has tried to use her celebrity status to help others at home. She has worked with the Willow Domestic Violence Center and Best Buddies of New York's Rochester Chapter, a nonprofit organization dedicated to help people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
"It's definitely cool to have everyone's attention, but I'm still just 'Hannah' so I guess if I have that attention I might as well use that momentum for something good, something positive."
http://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/lifestyle/2017/04/26/spencerports-hannah-lopa-heads-miss-usa-pageant/100930606/