By: Kalene Brennan
Posted In: Entertainment
Photo credit: David M. Warren/Philadelphia Inquirer
Miss Alabama, Diedre Downs, won the Miss America title for 2005 leaving many hopeful for the future.
We have all watched a Miss America pageant sometime in our life. We have watched our state’s beauties perform their talents and answer questions on morals, politics, and world peace. But this year, Miss America took a different approach. Rallying behind a new campaign, Miss America delved into the world of reality television and modern women. all hoping to become the next “It Girl.”
The Miss America Organization, which hosted its first pageant in 1921, is a scholarship fund that supports outstanding women from all 52 states. Known for the mechanic pageant walks, gaudy gowns, and untouchable hairdos, the Organization wanted to modernize the pageant to bring it back into the limelight of American television. “The old Miss America was full off blonde, stereotypical-looking pageant women with fake smiles, answering air-headed questions and judges basing their scores on nothing but appearance,” said Jonathan Parkin, a senior at Salve. The chic, modern Miss America wears jeans, may not be a size double zero, and is not all blonde. To complement their new image, a new reality show hosted by TLC, the “Miss America: Reality Check” helped revamp the Miss America competition. Faced with challenges, makeovers, style consultations, and more, the women were critiqued each week on showcasing their individuality, creativity, beauty, and style. Told to abandon their pageant training, the 52 Miss America hopefuls took everything from runway lessons to challenges testing their inner diva. The reality show also gave America a glimpse into the life of pageantry and tried to break stereotypes about pageants and the women who participate in them. The women were together until the live finale where the top 15 were announced. On Jan. 26, 2008 at the Planet Hollywood Resort in Las Vegas, the 52 contestants were narrowed down and the new Miss America was crowned. Taking an interactive approach, the Organization asked Americans for their favorite Miss America contestant by voting online for TLC’s “America’s Choice.” The lucky winner of a coveted 16th spot was Miss Utah, Jill Stevens. New England states Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island won awards in the preliminary days of the Miss America competition but none progressed to the top 15. Miss Massachusetts, Valerie J. Amaral was Wednesday night’s preliminary Talent winner with a vocal performance and Miss Connecticut, Dana Elaine Daunis was Thursday night’s preliminary Talent winner with a vocal performance as well. Our own Miss Rhode Island, Ashley Bickford was the preliminary Lifestyle and Fitness winner and recipient of a $1000 scholarship on the first night of competition. The real winner was the newly crowned Miss America, Kirsten Haglund, formerly Miss Michigan. “I don’t think the new Miss America has changed in the way they wanted it to, the winner was the stereotypical pageant girl,” said Catalina Sears. “I think Miss Utah should’ve won because she was voted as the best by Americans.” But the real question is: did the reality show and the new image of Miss America improve viewer ratings? Yes, it rose a substantial 52 percent from last year. According to Nielson ratings, 3.63 million people tuned in to watch the pageant. So whether or not it broke all stereotypes or revolutionized the way we think of pageant girls, at least more people watched Miss America 2008-a definite step in the right direction.
