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Date Posted: 23:50:48 01/15/24 Mon
Who's got a pageant hangover today?
There's a lot of talk about the production, the pageant, and the leadership, and I want to address all of those. But I definitely want to recap the final night last night. Here are my thoughts:
INTRODUCTIONS-I enjoyed hearing the introductions like they used to be. Every now and then you have a corny introduction, but overall, the contestants presented themselves well.
INTRODUCTION OF TOP 10: The host and hostess seemed to lack polish. I do not think the announcements should be stiff; they should be exciting and capture the excitement of the top 10. However, I think they should be a bit more polished than ad libbed. Certainly someone can write something professionally. The hosts asked each other and the crowd if it was okay and just seemed to run with it. I will post more about the hosts later, but I think that it was a little long.
TOP 10 ADMISSIONS/OMISSIONS: Except for Kentucky and Florida, I was completely on board with the top 10. I saw a lot more competitive contestants than Kentucky, and I really didn't think she was as competitive. Florida also seemed shaky and a bit off her first night. As I said earlier in the week, it should have been no surprise that some of the well-performing contestants would not make it in. However, I do think the top 10 overall was solid and most were completely understandable to me. As far as who was left out, I predicted AL would be in the top 10 based on her preliminary win, good talent, and overall state success. I suppose if I am being realistic, she didn't quite stand out to me the first night, so maybe she didn't score as high in other categories. TN I would have easily replaced FL or KY in the top 10. She was really on her game this week, including a preliminary win. I probably would have added OK as the other, but I still think WI did very well all week. I saw OK and WI on a lot of people's lists.
FITNESS: Overall, I think that it was a good group and a good presentation. I thought that TX started the competition well, and I also think that CO, IN, and KY were really good, they were the best for me. I thought RI and MD were good, although MD's presentation wasn't as strong as when she won a preliminary earlier. If the music was giving you earworm, imagine multiplying that by 5 lol. That song will be seared in my head for months to come.
THE ONSTAGE QUESTION PORTION: It was billed as "hot topics." I did not have a problem with the concept as I do not think, I KNOW contestants should be prepared to speak on a variety of topics. The problem I had with this competition was two-fold. First, some of these were completely low-ball questions and then you had to ask about things like terrorism and immigration. Asking about families and money is not even in the same ballpark. You can give fluff, canned answers to those. I think TX did not answer the question correctly and deflected. NC got families, and I think she answered well. This was probably one of the easiest answers, it is hard to go wrong when you talk about families. I thought IN gave a great answer about her education and spoke well about her success. I was starting to think with the way she could connect that she would be Miss America. CO-got an answer about drugs and while I think they were going more for opioids and drug abuse, she did say that she was going to talk about life saving drugs. It was probably very wise and she deflected very well. I think she spoke eloquently and probably won points here. But I think she did what a started to see, in that the rest were using it to talk about platforms. Even Ellie did. I thought FL answered confidently and spoke with conviction. And then came RI who completely owned that question. She hit it head on, she did not deflect, and she said that it was most important for each person to form their own opinions. When I heard that I thought perhaps it would win her the pageant, and I was thinking she might win. AR really went off topic about technology. I think she took too long trying to tie it to her platform. I think it was rather easy to answer as you could have gone in many different directions-social media, responsible usage, false information, AI, the list goes on and on. NY had a topic which is completely divisive and she said that she thinks there needs to be reform but she also said that she thought people should be let into our country. You could heard a pin drop, just about. I think it speaks to a larger issue (more on that later.)
Where I think this needs to go if you see it next year is to call it "controversial topics" and give equally challenging questions. Like for example, terrorism, book bans, abortion, freedom of speech, immigration, climate change, voting rights, privacy rights, healthcare, government assistance programs. See, there's 10! That wasn't hard. When I think of "hot topics" I think of Taylor Swift or a new movie. Some of those were controversial topics and others were just topics. Some pageants I have seen said they are all determined to be as equally challenging when they ask about controversial issues. That should be the standard for this competition as well.
TALENT-I think TX picked up her performance from preliminaries-she did not seem to have that energy during prelims. I thought it was as good as she could have performed it. NC completely hit it out of the park, that was fantastic. I knew it would be hard to follow, but IN held her own. Her preliminary performance was a bit better than last night. KS was much better than in preliminaries-she really was giving that everything she had, and I felt like she was very entertaining and energetic. I probably would have scored it well on entertainment factor. CO did HERstory as well as she did in preliminaries. I still say it was the standard in HERstory. If you want to be really good at it, you use music, props, the whole package. It was very dramatic and once again, I think she scored well. She was standing out. MD was entertaining and I think it pleased the crowd. It was a decent performance but once again, it wasn't quite as strong as preliminary night. FL-Although not as good as NC she held her own. I started to think she was building momentum to be able to get into the top 5. She seemed to be gaining confidence each round. RI-she did better preliminary night. It was a bit more soulful and maybe nerves or something hit her, but I really enjoyed her performance during preliminaries. It was connecting, it was more subdued last night. KY-hers was about the same as in preliminaries. I just do not think she had the best voice and the performance was a bit overdramatic. AR-One of the things I like is when a dancer has a fast paced song and what I really notice is how they maintain the energy throughout the song. I thought Cori did that very well and ended strongly. It was very entertaining, her costume completely fit the idea of the song and overall, very entertaining. NY-Again, I think she kind of lost her energy this competition. I have seen her dance with much more energy at Volunteer America, though it was certainly good enough. I had NC far and above the best talent, and then I followed with FL and the two dancers, actually.
GOWN-It is hard to mess this up. TX really showed up nicely and showed us why she was the preliminary winner. NC I thought had a nice elegance and presence about her. IN really shone to me, I think she had a lot of stage presence and she just radiated happiness. KS-yes, the design of that gown left a lot to be desired. It would have definitely worked without the huge robe (LOL let's call it what it was.) The blue would have looked nice with her coloring even without that. I do think she had confidence and walked well. CO-I thought she had a great presentation. She modeled well, the dress flowed, and her presence was strong. MD-Just like her other competitions, I think she was a bit more subdued than in preliminaries. FL-Once again, I thought she was gaining momentum and I thought she displayed confidence and presence RI-I think she was a bit weaker in this group in her modeling, she was a bit quieter KY-I thought she really rocked it in gown, very fashionable, she walked like a model AR-I thought her gown was a bit basic, and she didn't quite have the presentation as some of the others and NY-once again she was decent but wasn't as memorable.
When it was going to the top 5, I was having a hard time because I think only CO and FL were the most consistent across each competition, but there were others who excelled in two categories. Then there was KS who I am pretty sure was the people's choice (I can't seem to find out who won that yet) and really outperformed herself in preliminaries. If she wasn't sure if she was the winner she sure gave it everything she had, but I did not have her advancing just for that reason. I thought by virtue of the best talent that NC had a good chance of getting in. I felt like IN was going to get in because she was really shining all night and she just had something about her. Truthfully, I thought FL was gaining so much momentum that she was heading to the top 5 and possibly winning. I thought MD overall did not perform as well as preliminaries and probably reached the end of her night. I think AR was the same way, I think she was good in all categories but not outstanding or towards the top. KY I thought was out for sure, but she did do well in fitness and in gown. But I still thought others did better. I wasn't sure about TX because of her talent but then I thought there was something about her that could not be denied. RI I thought could have been the winner, although she seemed to be a bit more subdued than the others. I thought NY was possibly going to sneak into the top 5 but I would have had her no higher than 3rd runner-up.
TOP 5 I think they all did very well with their questions. Nobody bumbled, they all sounded very confident, logical, and they did not make the judges' job easier. I still think overall I did not have KY as a factor but I did the other 4. I thought it was possibly IN-she really brought something to the table. She was inspiring, joyful, and I could have seen her with children, speaking to them and motivating them. She has something that draws you to her, very likeable, very grateful and very humble. I thought that is who the judges might pick. I also thought that if TX made it that far that her strong passionate answer about being a uniter might have solidified the deal for her. More on that later, but I still think she would have been a great choice for moving this organization forward. I felt like RI might have had the quiet confidence to win and especially if her interview was like her OSQ that she just might have nailed it. Of the top 5, CO was the most consistent across each category. Just like Grace, there were no holes in her competition. But I was looking at the personal qualities as well. I didn't get a strong sense of who RI was, I think she didn't quite let you know enough about herself, if that makes sense. In my gut, I thought IN was going to be the ones the judges thought had those great qualities, but I couldn't help but think maybe they would see something in TX, the same thing I saw when she competed.
THE ANNOUNCEMENT I think the top 3 were absolutely the best choices for the crown and I really wasn't sure how it would go. When IN was called out I really thought TX had it. I think she thought so, she became very emotional. It almost looked as if she was expecting it, not in a cocky way, just I think she thought what I think a lot of us thought. Madison's reaction was very sweet and I got choked up when she looked up to her mother. I do think she's a wonderful young woman and I know how hard it is for her to not have her mother here with her.
THE HOSTS Very amateurish. He was trying way too hard. The only good hostesses this week were Grace and Morgan. The talent hostesses were just as bad as last night. They really need to get better talent next year. I realize that not everyone is suited for hosting duties. That was apparent in 2021 and it was apparent last night. Hosting is a skill. There are former Miss Americas who I have seen host and they are always very professional and very aware of what is needed. Or state winners. Dena Blizzard (Miss NJ 1995) is fantastic and funny. She would have the whole room in stitches. She knows how to interact and engage the crowd. I also think you need to know how to professionally stall if something happens. He talked too much, improvised too much. She seemed decent but I know there are plenty of others who would do a better job.
THE PRODUCTION Overall, I think the production itself, minus the unexplained what seemed like an intermission, was good. It was better all week than I expected it to be. The stage was nice, the music was good, and I think it had somewhat of a better vibe than the last year at Mohegan Sun. The first year in the arena (when I was there last) it had the feel of Atlantic City. This doesn't, this feels more like a state pageant. I think Vegas at least had a better vibe than this. I am used to Convetion/Boardwalk Hall where it was huge and cavernous but it was fun.
I am going to post my final thoughts tomorrow, so stay tuned! I ran out of time today. What are your thoughts?
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