Miss America in review

So you might remember me mentioning that I was a Miss America contestant a few years (and a few dozen pounds) ago.  Actually, that was… 7 years ago that I was Miss Maryland… and things have definitely changed.  Miss America has gone through some troublesome times in the years since I competed.  First, the pageant moved from its seaside home in Atlantic City, New Jersey and landed in Las Vegas (a change that I was sad to see).  Then network TV dropped the show and the pageant was picked up by CMT, then dropped by CMT.  This year, Miss America found a home at TLC, and has been working to establish a new image and get more viewers.

I’ve been saying for a while that Miss America has become somewhat irrelevant.  The contestants, while being smart and talented and well-spoken, just haven’t been able to connect with the TV audience.  These well rounded and community-service-driven women just were not “packaged” well.  They seemed… plastic… and came across as more old fashioned.  Miss America needed to get with the times. 

This year the pageant made it a point to encourage contestants to look their age.  Seriously.  Things that should be common sense, really.  Wear current fashions that are young, flirty, and age appropriate.  Trendy, beautiful haircuts.  Fresh, light makeup.  In other words… hey, 18 to 24 year olds!  Stop looking like you’re 40!  It might sound silly, but that’s what was happening.  I’m not sure what it is about pageants, particularly Miss America, but it seems like heavy stage makeup and overly hairsprayed ‘dos were the status quo.

I was excited to watch the pageant this year (it was on Saturday night, but I’m sure TLC will re-run it if you missed it).  I wanted to see if the contestants would actually follow the new directives of being fun, young, and fresh.  For the most part, I think I did see a difference.  I loved some of the clothes, there were a bunch of girls with the Posh haircut (you know the one I’m talking about!), and some of the contestants wore LIP GLOSS instead of heavy lipstick!  This is a BIG DEAL in pageant land, people! 

Funny enough, I wasn’t a huge fan of the actual winner.  Miss Michigan was actually the youngest woman in the competition, but she didn’t look it.  Her hair was sort of messy and teased up, she had heavier makeup on, and her lipstick… ugh.  I hated it… dark red and so thick it actually SMEARED on her teeth during her talent and got rubbed on her cheek when she won.  Yuck.

I could tell she was a very talented, smart, and beautiful girl.  It was just hidden under the overdone styling.  Still, I was a little disappointed.  Until I saw her appear on Re.gis and Kel.ly this morning.  She was fresh, cute 19 year old.  No ugly lipstick, no teased hair.  Maybe some stylists got to her and fixed her up… I don’t care how it happened, but I am glad.  I hope this new and improved Miss America can show people how great this program is… and bring it back into popularity.  It helped me with $20,000 for college, improved my confidence, and helped me land a job in TV.  I hope Miss America can live on and do the same thing for other young women for a long time to come.