This contest was created by George Stinson and Ed Lewis, owners of the successful Connection Complex in Louisville, Kentucky. They drew their inspiration from Female Impersonator of the Year, a one-time pageant event held in Houston in 1985, hosted by Ruth Buzzi and Lyle Waggoner, and released as a cable-TV special and home video. The winner of that contest, the late Naomi Sims (Newman Braud), is honored as EOY Emeritus.