Naked Favoritism

[May 21st, 2003] It was held at the Dolphin Club, sponsored by the Dolphin Club and, just like last year, won by Dolphin Club dancers. Some may say it's a home-court advantage, but critics of Miss Nude Oregon 2003 say the event is a sham.

One of the four judges for the April 9 semifinals, held at the Dolphin Club in Beaverton, says the contest was--brace yourself--rigged to favor the club's own dancers.

Judge Juli Dorland told WW that contest organizers pressured her and other judges to favor Dolphin's performers, who made up 12 of the 15 contestants. When Dorland refused, she says, three bouncers escorted her out of the club.

Miss Nude Oregon 2003 is "a big scam to make money and make it look like [the Dolphin's] got the best girls in town," Dorland told WW.

Dolphin owner Dean Macbale disagrees. Macbale says Dorland was disqualified because he suspected her of conspiring with a dancer known as Capri to throw the contest her way and split the $2,000 first-place prize.

Dorland gave Capri 10 points "because she was her regular," Macbale says. "So I felt and the other judges felt she had sided for this girl all the way." (Macbale would not disclose the other judges' names.)

Dorland and Capri deny any conflict of interest. Dorland, who is currently unemployed but says she once worked for the Dolly Parton clan in Tennessee, insists Capri was the clear winner.

Not surprisingly, Capri agrees. She says a Dolphin bouncer--she doesn't know his name--even visited her later at the Acropolis to tell her he thought she outperformed her rivals.

Capri, 31, has worked in Oregon clubs for the past eight years, and remains--as she points out--the only dancer ever to win the coveted triple crown: Miss Nude Oregon (1998), "Best Breasts in the West" and "Best Exotic Dancer."

Capri says Miss Nude Oregon was once legitimate--a class act, even. She says that when T&A Times publisher Phil Yoder sponsored the event, it boasted beauty-pageant-style interviews and celebrity judges like Ron Jeremy. "That was the last time it was actually a real pageant," Capri remembers wistfully.

It's unlikely Yoder will return to restore Miss Nude Oregon to its former splendor. He was arrested in February 2001 and later convicted on two counts of attempted first-degree sodomy. He was released Aug. 9, 2002, and is currently on probation in Marion County.