| Subject: FULL RECAP OF MVA FINAL NIGHT |
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Date Posted: 18:30:27 05/08/22 Sun
Happy Mother’s Day to all! Whether you are a mom, or celebrating your mom, I hope you are all having a blessed day. I trust that we are all still having a pageant hangover today. From the comments I have been seeing, the Miss Volunteer Pageant was a big hit. It seems like a lot of people agreed, including myself, that the production was great, it was well done, and exactly what we having been looking forward to for so long. Let’s face it-we haven’t had this kind of pageant for almost 5 years. 2017 was the last Miss America pageant to feature a traditional competition as we have known. There was glamour, tradition, and great women, what more can you ask for? Here’s my full rundown:
TOP 15 ANNOUNCEMENT
I had 10 of the top 15 in my own prediction list. The rest came from the unlikely but not totally surprised to see them there, including AL and AR especially. I wasn’t totally surprised to see FL more than AL or AR. IN wasn’t a total surprise, either. People’s Choice just that-I didn’t have KS there but at least there is that option for someone to get one more chance to compete. I was really, really shocked that New Hampshire was not there, especially seeing how weaker some of the talent performances were who were there. And she looked great in gown and SS. That will always be one of the headscratchers for me in my pageantdom, but I am assuming she probably didn’t have the interview scores. Everything else was there. I wasn’t totally surprised that HI was not there, either. I thought she did well all week but I would say that I have seen many Miss Hawaiis in the MAO who had the same kind of personality that did not advance. I wish they would, but I am not judging, either.
TOP 16 SWIMSUIT
All in all, I thought it was a great competition. I said it during the week and will say it again-these contestants came ready. They looked fantastic, I thought. There really wasn’t a bad one in the whole group, although I thought AR wasn’t as toned as some of the others. I had her out because of that, I thought the judges were going to have to split hairs. I think it came down to presentation. Even though I loved RI, I thought she didn’t have as much presence during the competition and that she would also be eliminated. I kind of thought KS might last another round because she had a good presentation, better than some of the others. I had out AR, AL, RI and possibly TX after that round. I would have NEVER guessed that OK did not make it through to the next round. She, along with NH, had a great week all week and did well in the SS round. I had her, in the top 5 in that competition. I guess she just didn’t have the interview or composite points, I was just very surprised. And also surprised that AL and AR made it through as well. TX and FL I wasn’t totally surprised that they did not advance; FL based on her overall performance during the week and TX was kind of reserved in her presentation. Although, I did think that FL performed well enough in SS to make it through to the next round.
TOP 12 TALENT
Some of the contestants upped their game from preliminaries, and NJ started off by doing so. She was very energetic, animated, and made a strong case for herself. She set the bar very high, I thought. NY seemed a little more reserved in her presentation from preliminaries but I still think she did a decent job. LA did about the same as in preliminaries, she had a lot of energy about her performance. IN was solid and she has a great voice. I think she picked a great song which highlighted her strengths, she did plenty enough at that time to advance to the top 10. She also reminded me of our dearly departed Leanza Cornett with long hair. GA actually seemed to sing a bit better than in preliminaries as well, she does have some problems hitting high notes sometimes, but it was certainly good enough. SC doesn’t seem to have a good high range though I thought it was passable. TN was good as she was on her preliminary night, though I thought she didn’t quite have the energy level at the beginning of the song. AL good lord, all that was missing was sparklers. She did have a few decent gymnastic moves but it was just so old school pageant cheese that it was hard to take it seriously. AR was about the same as in the preliminary-off key a bit and couldn’t hit the high notes. I just did not think she had the kind of voice that could pull that song off. RI was good as she was in preliminaries-a very solid performance from her. UT-this is where I think she scored high, the dance was very lovely indeed. You could tell she had some serious dance training, I found her very lovely to watch. MS was good enough in prelims but I think she turned it up a bit last night and would certainly have had no questions about the performance. I thought NJ and TN were the best in talent and would have had UT and RI behind them. I thought AR had to be out by that performance. I had AL advancing instead of RI because she seemed so unlikely in the first place I figured she was resonating with the judges. Everyone else I had going forward, and I was very happy I was wrong. I really liked RI, she was one of my favorites throughout this whole competition.
TOP 10 EVENING GOWN
First of all, PROPS PROPS PROPS for that fantastic evening gown presentation. I know some people go back to the Lady in Red production in 1989 at Miss America a lot. Everybody LOVES gown presentations! The contestants appeared to be grouped with the color of their gowns and it was just regal, classy, and got a chance for all the contestants to have their moment and celebrate their glamour and class. After all that work to get there, it is just nice to have your moment to feel like a queen, and I am sure they did. Very well done. I thought the whole competition was pure class. For me, SC led off very strongly and was probably my top pick in that group, but they all looked great. Once again, it came down to presentation for me. Besides SC I had NY solidly at the top, and I thought LA, TN, and GA were all very strong in gown as well. But who didn’t look great and rock it?
By that time, it was hard for me to narrow it down. I was actually thinking SC might have won. She was having a very solid night, but truthfully, nobody was standing out for me as the clear winner. And that it made it even more suspenseful. I thought that NY did enough to get into the top 5. I appreciated that montage from interviews and from what I could tell, they featured every single contestant. I thought that was a great added touch because each contestant got their time in the sun, even if for a few seconds. And I liked NY’s answer. A lot of what I did see was that the contestants are going to have to have a vision and clear plan about how to market the program. After I saw that, I knew that whoever presented themselves the best in that line of interview was going to excel (see MS in the final round.) I also had TN and MS based on their competition all night and finally GA because I still think she stood out among the crowd. I had to eliminate ones who I really liked, including RI and LA because I think they didn’t stand out as much. I did not have NJ or UT in but was glad to see them nonetheless. UT I really didn’t understand but I certainly did with NJ. She was having a great night and really turned it up. I love when contestants do that. She had done well all week but everything she did last night she really put on the exclamation point. She wanted It.
ONSTAGE QUESTION
Overall, I think all five answered relatively well. One thing I appreciated about this round is not having to be cut off with the chimes. Even though it does open up to some rambling, it still allows for complete thought. I thought SC did a good enough job of answering her question. She got a little rambly but I also think that it seemed easier than the others. It wasn’t controversial in any way. I was hoping they were going to stay away from the landmine of this week with any abortion questions. I didn’t think they were going to, but I think NJ had a very difficult answer. Now, to be as constructive as possible, she was asked about how she would handle herself if someone disagreed about vaccinations. She gave her opinion instead on vaccinations and how she would remind someone that it was good to follow the recommendations. She also, and I thought this was very wise, tied it into her platform and mentioned mental health. She was correct about that, that people are having mental health issues. At very least, this moved her up to around 2nd runner-up in my opinion. TN I thought answered well enough as well. MS was asked about diversity and how they would implement a program throughout the Volunteer system. She wisely turned it back to what I heard in the interview questions and discussed growing the program at the local level. However, I am not sure she really addressed the actual question sort of like NJ. UT also had a question which was more difficult but I can’t remember exactly what it was. I do think that she gave a comparable answer. I thought that it was down to MS and TN and that MS would win and TN would be 1st runner up as to avoid any controversy. I had them like this:
4th runner-up UT
3rd runner-up SC
2nd runner-up NJ
1st runner-up TN
MVA-MS
Utah was not on my radar much last night other than the top 10 and she definitely deserved it. She was consistent across the week and did well last night. I didn’t have her in the top 5 and when she was, I didn’t think she stood out. Some of the others did much more. I thought SC might have won at one point during the night but I felt like overall, the competition was MS or TN’s to lose.
PROPS PROPS PROPS for making the show about the contestants. It was nice to have the teen winner perform a full talent, and it was great to have the NFT winner, Miss New Hampshire, perform again. How often does that happen? And here’s the best part of the night. It was announced that there was a certified nurse practitioner there during the week to monitor the contestants’ physical and emotional health. That is SO important and especially in light of what happened to Cheslie Kryst, this is the first time I have ever heard anything mentioned like that. I think it is very important to attend to the needs of the contestants, and that is something that cannot be ignored. Really, of the many good things to come out of this week, that was something that really resonated with me. The contestants need to make sure THEIR physical and mental health was addressed.
When they started with the announcements, I wasn’t too surprised as SC but I was surprised at TN. I thought she did much better in the competition. After she was eliminated, I thought it was going to be MS. Then I was REALLY surprised! When it was the last 2 standing, I really thought Natalie had won. I thought that she probably solidified her win with her onstage question, it was very well-spoken. I figured UT just kind of snuck into 1st runner-up. When she was called, I was a bit surprised. I was sad that Natalie got that close to a national title but I knew she couldn’t have done anything more. I do like the new MVA. She reminds me of one of my favorite Miss Michigans, Stacy Essebaggers. For those of you who do not remember, or may not have even been alive in 2001, but she injured her ankle and went out afterwards and did her preliminary talent, which was clogging. She made the top 10 that year. You could tell she was in pain when she was dancing but she continued on like a pro. I am in no way dissatisfied; just because I was surprised does not mean I was dissatisfied. Overall, it was a great group of contestants and whoever won would be a credible winner. Even though there were some judging decisions I questioned, I think it was a great, well-rounded top 10 and nobody was a head-scratcher. It was a great competition from start to finish and I have to say this. I am in awe that 3 years ago this was merely a possibility and this past week an entire pageant system was born, birthed, and had a grand first year. I am going to post a separate post about it later, but MVA is here to stay. I think after this year they will be able to recruit more, even in the states which did not send a representative this year. There is only room to grow.
WELL DONE EVERYONE. WELL DONE.
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