‘Looptopia’ organizer wants event to showcase Loop
Ty Tabing
(Crain’s) — Tens of thousands of people are going to forgo a night of sleep next month because of Ty Tabing.
Mr. Tabing, 40, executive director of the Chicago Loop Alliance, came up with the idea of “Looptopia,” an all-night event that begins May 11 modeled after similar, so-called White Night events in Rome, Paris and other cities around the world.
Chicago will be the first American city to host such an event, and Mr. Tabing says he thinks more than 100,000 people will attend.
…For those who favor competitive fare, there will be a chess tournament, an artwork challenge and an “Opera Idol” contest fashioned after the TV show “American Idol.”
Mr. Tabing says almost 90% of the program’s funding, a budget of about $1.5 million, is in place thanks largely to a $100,000 grant from the state and a more than $100,000 contribution from LaSalle Bank as the event’s primary sponsor.
Here is the full story.
Good idea!
Scandal Rocks “Miss Looptopia”
Miss Michigan Avenue Voted Out of the Pageant
Miss Looptopia Launch Party and Beauty Pageant
Friday, May 11, 2007 – 6 to 8 pm
Hard Rock Hotel Chicago, 230 N. Michigan, Chicago
Dateline Chicago, May 9, 2007 – The tribe has spoken. And then there were 9. Elvis has left the building.
Whatever the cliché, the Chicago Loop Pageant Tattler has learned that Miss Michigan Avenue, one of the favorites to win the title of Miss Looptopia 2007, has been unceremoniously booted out of the competition.
Pageant officials aren’t saying much in the final days before Friday’s Miss Looptopia Launch Party and Beauty Pageant at the Hard Rock Hotel Chicago. The party and “spoof” drag beauty pageant is an official launch party for Looptopia, Chicago’s all-night downtown arts, culture, music and performance spectacle taking place from dusk to dawn May 11-12, 2007.
But an inside source tells the Pageant Tattler that Miss Michigan Avenue was voted out of the competition by the other contestants meeting over the weekend to pick up their depilatory creams and size 12 pumps. Speaking under condition of anonymity, our source said: “Miss Michigan Avenue’s personality clashed with the other contestants from the very beginning. The pageant officials were concerned that her negative energy might impact the competition and so when the other contestants asked to have her removed, they agreed.”
None of the contestants will comment officially, but another source tells the Pageant Tattler that Miss South Loop blurted out at a Looptini tasting party: “She’s lucky she won’t be on stage with me. I’d have snatched that wig right off her head.” We suspect the possibility of an ugly incident on stage prompted officials to allow the change.
Miss Michigan Avenue’s representatives declined to comment except to confirm she would no longer be competing. Businesses along Michigan Avenue seemed unconcerned about the change as Miss Millennium Park is now favored to win the competition.
About Miss Looptopia
Get your Looptopia evening started with the “Miss Looptopia Launch Party and Beauty Pageant,” a cocktail party with an interactive, improvised “drag” beauty pageant theme. Sip your special “Looptini” while asking Miss South Loop about her gown, Miss Millennium Park about world peace, Miss Block 37 for makeup tips, or dish the “dirt” on Miss Lower Wacker Drive. Performances throughout with short program at 7:30 crowns “Miss Looptopia.” There is no cover or RSVP required. Cash bar. “Looptopia Survival Pack” gift bag for all attendees. Sponsored by Chicago Loop Alliance, Hard Rock Hotel Chicago, GayCo, and Third Coast Marketing. For full details, visit http://www.looptopia.com.