Congratulations to Goldie Candela, the recipient of the 2014 Sparkly Devil Memorial Scholarship. As the scholraship recipient, Goldie will receive a full pass to all four showcases and all Legends Master Classes during The Burlesque Hall of Fame Weekend at the Orleans Hotel and Casino this June 5-8, a room at The Orleans during her stay, and will be paired with one of the attending Legends to act as her escort for the Weekender.

Goldie impressed our selection panel — consisting of burlesque Legend Toni Elling; BurlyCon Vice President and co-organizer of the BHoF Finishing School, Jo Weldon; Miss Exotic World and BHoF Board Member, Dirty Martini; community member and performer, Lady Satan; and BHoF Executive Director, Dustin M. Wax — with her strong involvement in her home community in Austin, TX, and her commitment to refining her art and promoting burlesque and its history as widely as possible. We look forward to seeing what she can accomplish with the opportunities to build stronger relationships with our Legends as recipient of this award.

The Sparkly Devil Memorial Scholarship was founded in 2013 following the tragic death of beloved performer and founding BHoF Advisory Council member Sparkly Devil. In honor of Sparkly’s efforts to build stronger relationships between generations of performers, expressed most fully in her role as creator of the BHoF Legends Challenge, a fundraising campaign organizing events around the world to raise money to help bring as many Legends as possible to the Weekender every year, the Sparkly Devil Memorial Scholarship gives one recipient each year the chance to learn from and spend time with the burlesque Legends at the BHoF Weekender.

Choosing one applicant to receive this award was horribly difficult; we received applications from many qualified and worthy performers. We take pride in knowing that, scholarship or not, these applicantswill continue to make their mark on the burlesque community and beyond.