Miss Iraq in America (Arabic: ملكة جمال العراق في أمريكا) is an annual beauty pageant, first held in 2013. The competition has been presided over and supervised by Yalla Fan, an artistic production company founded by Joe Rasho. The competition requires the contestants to be women between ages of 18 to 27 who are residents of the United States. The competition intends to promote Iraqi culture and introduce Iraqi women to the world.[1]
History
The first Miss Iraq-America ceremony was held in 2013 in Chicago, Illinois with 25 competitors. Lavin Hama won, Alina Oraha was the first runner-up, second was Sjaa Al-Otaibi and third was Stavni Mikhail".[citation needed] The contest began with 15 young women from the theater, competing for the title in front of a panel of judges from different fields, by producer Billy Hado, Iraqi hero Julius Isak, Dasco Charwani, celebrity decorator Per Mimi, decorator and designer Ghada Ajami, Dr. Rachel Corcis , Activist Samira Kirkawes.[2][better source needed]
The ceremony started with a dance that symbolized peace. The audience was introduced to the participants in the competition, who represented different cultural backgrounds. The contest had video interviews, including a section in which each woman spoke about her home city and another about Iraq as a country. The ceremony also included song performances and interaction with the audience in the theatre. The evening of celebration lasted until the early morning hours, with a conclusion presented by the 19-year-old winner Lavin Hama .[3]
On November 26 2014, the Miss Iraq-America Award ceremony was held for the second consecutive year in the state of Michigan and was won by "Melinda Tuma"[4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14], a student at the College of Pharmacy.
The first runner-up was Farah Sto, second Lavinia Issa, third Rita Ghannam, and the fourth runner-up was Marie Curcis.[15].
The opening ceremony again consisted of an expressionist dance symbolizing peace. The participants, along with visiting artist "Megan Hormuz', sang "Ghali Ya Iraq" by the Lebanese artist "Rabie Baroud." Artist Ismail Faruji opened the concert with the song "Raise Your Head to the End of Iraq." The ceremony was also attended by a selection of famous Iraqi artists, including Dean Asmro, and Melad Yunus.
The next Miss Iraq-America contest was held in Bellagio Hall on Warren Street in Michigan on 12 March 2016, attended by several acclaimed artists, most notably Hussam Al-Rassam[16]. Sarah Abdali Idan won the Miss Iraq-America title, "Lord Hanna" won the title of second runner-up and "Anwar Hussein" won the title of runner-up third of 15 girls. Sarah Abdali Idan[17][18][19][20][21] participated and represented Iraq in the Miss Universe 2017 contest.