[> [> Subject: Hi, WI Fan! Great comments! I am looking forward to your comments as well. I have been waiting for the rest of the contestant videos, but they don't seem to be up yet. Like you, I hope that what we see this year is not repetitive. I thought the first round of "questions" pretty much said the same thing. The only hope is that we hear about the individual platforms.
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Date Posted: 20:15:26 12/06/19 Fri
>I'm glad you viewed the videos and shared your
>opinions here. I've been watching them and wanted to
>discuss my thoughts on them with someone. Sharing them
>here will be the next best thing! I agreed with a lot
>of your comments. To be fair, in these videos the
>girls were asked all the same questions, so the
>answers would probably have a similar tone to them. I
>do not like it when they say that "we're no longer
>judged on how we look or what we wear." But, of
>course, they are all just drinking the Kool-Aid and
>stating what Regina said incorrectly when she was
>interviewed by Taylor Kinstler in the interview
>promoting the up-coming competition. For many years
>now, we've been emphasizing that Miss America isn't a
>beauty pageant -- that's what's important is the
>contestant's intelligence, how well spoken she is, her
>relatability, her commitment to community service, and
>her dedication to talent. Swimsuit was never about how
>sexy the contestant was or how well-endowed she was,
>but about their commitment to physical fitness. The
>problem with swimsuit, I believe, came about when they
>allowed two piece suits and then those awful platform
>shoes. When judges started awarding girls who were
>almost to the point of anorexia, the relevancy of the
>swimsuit competition really became questionable. I
>have no problem with there not being a swimsuit
>competition, but evening gown should have remained.
>Evening gown was never about the gown, but how the
>girl presented herself, her confidence, poise, and
>sense of style. Miss America should be stylish,
>poised, and make a good first impression, and gown
>allowed her to showcase that in a formal setting. I
>am going to be very anxious to see just how much MORE
>we learn about the candidates in this year's
>competition, because much of what was said last year
>was very repetitive.
>I will share my individual thoughts on the interviews
>in another post, once I have viewed them all. I had
>contemplated going to Miss America this year to see
>for myself how this all turns out, but the timing was
>wrong, I worried about the weather, and being that
>next year is the 100th anniversary (if there still is
>a competition) I felt it would make more sense to go
>then.
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>>I finished up with the videos, all of the ones that
>>seemed to be on that channel. I assume this man works
>>or contracts for NBC. But, I didn't see everyone.
>>There are some missing like IL, and mostly all of the
>>ones past the letter R are still missing.
>>
>>I am going to say this once and not discuss it again.
>>I do believe in discussing what we need to discuss and
>>get it out in the open. But, that being said, nothing
>>any of us says or does is going to change this in the
>>immediate future. What you see on these videos is
>>pretty much what you are going to get. I have a
>>major, major news flash for everyone:
>>
>>*****THIS IS NOT ANYTHING NEW*****
>>
>>All of this talk could be heard in personal
>>interviews. When has it NOT been about platforms? Or
>>social initiatives, etc? This is what you hear ALL OF
>>THE TIME. Why is this new all of a sudden? I did
>>hear the following over and over and over again:
>>
>>1. I am from a small town. When have you not been? I
>>heard this for years and years. I'm from a small town
>>with small town values, etc.
>>
>>2. My personal Miss America is my mom. I guess this
>>is the new buzz phrase for the year. But whatever you
>>do, PLEASE do not give these people any ideas. Next
>>year it will be like that show Crowned with the
>>mother/daughter pageant. Remember that? Miss WY 06
>>was on, she and her mom won the whole thing. Then in
>>2021, mothers and daughters will face off with each
>>other, and whoever wins becomes Ms. America. No more
>>ridiculous than this.
>>
>>3. We can now be ourselves. Really? Everyone said
>>the same thing. This is about who we are and how we
>>want to implement our social initiative. This is
>>about showing our hearts. This isn't about appearance
>>anymore. 2.0. You could just wind up a group of
>>Chatty Kathy dolls and this is what you would get.
>>
>>4. And I heard the dreaded "I'm not your typical
>>pageant girl" more than I would have liked.
>>
>>That brings me to the larger issue. Some of these
>>girls DO sound programmed, pageanty, rehearsed, and
>>just like anyone you would hear in the good old days.
>>What are they really competing for? I know,
>>scholarships and to implement their initiatives on a
>>national level. This is what you heard from Miss
>>Americas for the past 20-25 years now. These things
>>are everything you heard in interview. But at least
>>we pretended to have a pageant to get a top 15 or
>>whatever. Everyone's video pretty much sounded the
>>same. When you read my comments, I personally
>>preferred the videos where we at least got to hear
>>some kind of personal information about the
>>contestant.
>>
>>I want to clarify something-I hope I do not come off
>>as critical in the comments about the videos. Before,
>>we might get to use these to assess someone's speaking
>>skills. But this year, these videos are pretty much a
>>preview of the "job search" or whatever you want to
>>call it. I was looking for who REALLY stood out.
>>You're going to have to stand out somehow even though
>>you are all saying the same thing. The only
>>difference is when you talk about the social
>>initiative. To be fair, the contestants were
>>competing at least thinking they would have an evening
>>gown competition. Even though swimsuit was a thing of
>>the past, you had at least some normalcy of
>>competition with those two things left. Now you have
>>none. Also, this has now become nothing more than a
>>public relations search. It always has been, but you
>>had to at least excel in one or all areas to make the
>>top 15. Now, you have to prove that you are the best
>>person to be the spokesperson for the Miss America
>>Organization, what is left of it. I get the feeling
>>that the state titleholders feel that they have to go
>>out and get sponsorships. Mallory kind of
>>disappointed me during all of this, but one thing I
>>will say about her is that she actively solicited
>>sponsorships on her own. It wasn't a "job
>>requirement".
>>
>>I was underwhelmed with these videos in general. It's
>>not the contestants in general-I think they're a great
>>group of young women, as always. They are the ones
>>that the state judges thought to be the best to handle
>>the title as best as they could. But I just didn't
>>see a lot of what I think they need to present in this
>>particular year. Here's what I thought. Again, I
>>don't mean to come off as critical. But, in this
>>year, you have to be top notch all of the time. They
>>need to pop and connect with whoever is viewing them
>>at any time. Here are my thoughts on the videos that
>>are posted as of now:
>>
>>AL-I don’t know. I think she was a little flat. I
>>see some potential, she can speak well, but she needs
>>to show a bit more enthusiasm.
>>AK-Average, though I like her social initiative. We
>>have a local organization that does something like
>>this, and it’s quite needed.
>>AZ-She does speak confidently and convincingly. I
>>would notice her in a group. The only thing I would
>>recommend is not disparaging the people where you come
>>from.
>>AR-I thought she spoke well. She didn’t sound
>>rehearsed, she sounded grateful. I think she seemed
>>approachable.
>>CA-I don’t think she came across as dynamic as she
>>can be in this video, but I appreciated her message.
>>CO-I thought she did a good job of presenting herself,
>>not just rehearsing MAOspeak.
>>CT-Too sing-song pageanty. I think she has a nice
>>message, but as much as she speaks about 2.0, she
>>sounds very 1.0.
>>DE-I liked her presentation. She was natural and
>>conversational. This was a good example of a
>>difficult subject and presenting it very well and with
>>sensitivity. She was very convincing and has a good
>>personality.
>>DC-Look, I like Katelynne a lot, but I don’t know
>>about her presentation. She spoke about a very
>>sensitive subject and spoke very eloquently, but she
>>also spoke in a very pageanty and programmed way. I
>>appreciate the story she told about being contacted,
>>but I would rather speak to someone about a subject
>>like this who didn’t present herself as a pageant
>>queen. I didn’t like the hat, either. Something
>>was just off putting about this video. It wasn’t
>>the subject, it was more of the way it was presented.
>
>>FL-Very pageanty. I like her, but she’s very
>>pageanty and programmed.
>>GA-This is why I still think she could win. I have
>>her at least top 5. Out of these videos, she showed a
>>lot of personality. She draws you into her. I think
>>she repeats herself a lot a la Abbie Rabine, but she
>>is fun. I never knew the story about her hair, but it
>>fits her.
>>HI-
>>ID-It would help if they had the right name. I
>>wasn’t overwhelmed, I think she’s too soft spoken.
>> I don’t see a repeat for ID this year.
>>IL-
>>IN-I really liked her message. At least if there is
>>going to be this 2.0 nonsense, let’s have someone
>>who is authentic about her experience. She didn’t
>>come from a family who could drop 5 grand on a state
>>evening gown. Families like her are the new reality
>>in America, and I would like to actually see someone
>>in the top 15 who can articulate that.
>>IA-Not bad at all. I did think she was a good speaker
>>and didn’t come across as pageanty or programmed. I
>>don’t think she brought anything unique to the
>>presentation, but she does have good communication
>>skills.
>>KS-I liked her. I always did. But I do like that she
>>did speak about being an artist. She seemed
>>personable and warm but not over the top, she showed
>>an actual side of herself and her experience.
>>KY-
>>LA-
>>ME-
>>MD-
>>MA-
>>MN-If they are looking for the generic spokesperson,
>>they’ve found her. She has the speak down to an
>>art.
>>MI-I think it was an average presentation. I do
>>appreciate that she spoke about her experience being a
>>teacher and personalized things.
>>MS-Average. I didn’t really get to know her that
>>much. Just a lot of pageant speak.
>>MO-Not bad. She isn’t over the top but exudes a
>>natural confidence. She’s a little laid back, but
>>if her talent is good, you might see her do something.
>>MT-Average.
>>NE-Spoke very rapidly and seemed hyper.
>>NV-Average (and started every sentence but one or two
>>with “So”).
>>NH-Average.
>>NJ-I did appreciate her personal story about her
>>health. But I really appreciated that she stated that
>>she made sure to speak to the runner-ups and related
>>that it’s difficult when you don’t “win”.
>>That to me is the mark of a mature young woman. It
>>was probably one of the more authentic responses in
>>all of this.
>>NM-Very flat affect, but I did appreciate her family
>>story. I think there is a need to support the
>>children of military families and it’s not
>>discussed.
>>NY-Don’t see a repeat for NY this year. I have no
>>doubt she will be in the top 15 because of their
>>amazing prep team, but I don’t see anything special.
>> It was an average video, and she is not very
>>commanding as a speaker. Also, I doubt that the
>>famous resident of her town would not appreciate her
>>outing him.
>>NC-Good speaker, but I kind of felt a lack of either
>>emotion or enthusiasm from her. She speaks well and
>>can communicate intelligently, but I need to see a bit
>>more of a personality or some kind of emotions about
>>her social initiative. She needs to connect more to
>>it. Where as she and DC share the same issue, there
>>should be a balance. Both need to work on this.
>>ND-Definitely has personality. She may stand out in a
>>sea of underwhelming presentations.
>>OH-No audio
>>OR-I was expecting a lot from her, and she is very
>>articulate. I’m just not getting a whole lot of
>>charisma from this video, though. Maturity, yes. She
>>also sounds a bit not “programmed” with the STEM,
>>but she does kind of sound repetitive that it could
>>get annoying after a while.
>>PA-no audio
>>RI-no audio
>>TN-I was kind of disappointed with this video.
>>Brianna seemed very laid back here, didn’t speak
>>with a lot of passion. She’s going to have to step
>>it up a little bit to register with the judges.
>>Otherwise, I’m afraid she will be overlooked. I
>>really like her, I’ve seen her compete all of these
>>years and she does have a decent talent. But I just
>>think if this is how she presents herself, she will
>>get lost in the shuffle.
>>
>>WY-Has a nice personality. I do like her platform,
>>she seems very genuine.
>>
>>Anyone have any thoughts on these? I'd love to hear.
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