You know what Junkies? I’m about to say something that a whole lot of you are thinking…
Sometimes, it sucks to be right.
It’s no secret that many of us have been outspoken critics of the current leadership within the Miss America Organization. For me, everything started brewing when I watched Gretchen Carlson make the “bye bye bikini” announcement on Good Morning America at the beginning of June. It slowly escalated as I learned talent would be worth 50% of the preliminary scores and that there was no plan in place to roll out the new formula on the state and local level. Then, we discovered how many states and board members felt “strong-armed” and “misled” into believing Swimsuit HAD to be removed, or there would be no future television contracts. Finally, my personal frustrations hit an all-time fever-pitch when I read Cara Mund’s 5 page mantra to her Miss America sisters about what she’s experienced since the new leadership came into play.
And last night, was the final nail in the coffin.
I’m sorry Junkies – but it’s over.
The Miss America that we know and love, is dead. And it sucks to be right.
It has nothing to do with the winner… She’s lovely. Exceedingly talented. Obviously well-spoken. And just like her New York predecessors, I’m sure she’ll do a fine job.
But it’s not the same. Not even close. Here’s why…
No Heart.
I’ll be honest here… When I woke up and heard MAO officially announced a removal of the swimsuit competition, I was sad. My first reaction was, “Oh man – they really did it…” almost in disbelief. But that announcement alone, wasn’t enough to deter me from supporting the organization. I was still “on board” so to speak – and I completely understood the argument for why swimsuit should be eliminated.
But I had no idea we were taking away the heart of the organization.
In my opinion, that’s precisely what happened on Sunday night. Since its inception, the “Lifestyle and Fitness in Swimsuit” category served as the heart of this organization. It gave balance to the other areas of competition. Think of it like a 3-legged stool… Those who are well-spoken and talented, don’t always have a traditional swimsuit body. Those with a killer body and a great interview, aren’t always the most talented. And those who have amazing talent and look great in a swimsuit, aren’t always the best communicators. Therefore, when you take away one of the legs of the 3-legged stool, it falls out of balance. It’s left emotion-less. Without excitement. Boring. And that’s what happens when you remove the heart of the organization. It falls flat.
No Soul.
In addition to having the “heart” of the Miss America competition stripped away, I feel as if we also lost the “soul” of the competition as well. Here’s what I mean…
If “anyone” can be Miss America – then we’ve lost the prestige of what that title represents. I’m not saying Miss America should only look a certain way, or come from a certain part of the country, or any of that nonsense… I’m saying – when you have something so undeniably special as Miss America, and you go and make the position seem readily accessible to the masses, she ceases to be iconic. She’s no longer a challenge to strive for – She’s just normal. And when you make the position so incredibly “normal” – you lose the entire reason for why she existed in the first place. Miss America is supposed to be a “cut above”… That’s the soul of this whole thing. And in Sunday night’s attempts to “modernize” the program, I believe they removed the soul of the organization.
No Femininity.
If removing the Swimsuit category wasn’t enough, removing the “Miss” from each state title is like waving a big red flag that says, “NO FEMININITY HERE”. I’m glad so many of the states used their “Miss” title during the live parade of states (compared to what took place during the preliminaries)… but trust me – without a leadership change at the top, Miss America is only going to become less and less feminine from here forward. Mark my words.
No Individualism.
I thought Miss America 2.0 was going to showcase all different types of women – but I don’t think that’s what I saw Sunday night. In fact, I demonstratively began rolling my eyes when the Top 15 contestants were asking each other questions… “How do you feel Miss America 2.0 is relevant?” “What would you do with the job of Miss America?” “If selected, how would you make Miss America 2.0 a household name?”
Ugh. My apologies for the snarkiness, but seriously – it started to feel like a North Korean campaign rally. And I don’t blame the contestants… I blame the leadership. So many obvious talking points. Such a bummer.
No Crowning Reaction.
Now – to me – the most interesting part of the show was the fact that the winner, Nia Franklin, didn’t hardly show an ounce of emotion upon winning the crown. From what I can gather, she’s just that kind of person… She apparently remained quite calm upon winning her local and her state titles – so, this reaction isn’t out of the ordinary. BUT IT WAS indicative of the entire evening.
When you force people to speak in 20 second sound-bites with crazy, intensifying, final-countdown-music in the background, it’s gonna be tough to get any positive energy on camera! On top of that – there weren’t any “light-hearted” moments all night! Even when that Ross guy asked, “Are you sure I’m not the winner?” – Nobody laughed! The joke was out of place because everything was sooooooooooo freaking serious! Almost as if people were going to be punished for having fun in the middle of a pageant (See? North Korea! LOL!)!
I gotta say, the show was just too intense – without any room to laugh. Even the talents I enjoyed were “intense” talents – Which must’ve been why I felt semi-traumatized and a bit baffled when it was all over. The show caused ME stress – And not in a good, “I wonder if Ross and Rachel are ever going to get back together” kind of way…
Overall – I believe my assessment of the evening can be summed up in one word:
Underwhelming.
Yes, I enjoyed the opening number. Yes, I liked the new branding. Yes, I believe the stage looked fine. But in the end, it wasn’t enough to overcome a 2 hour job interview with a talent show sandwiched in between. I was underwhelmed. And like I said earlier, sometimes it sucks to be right.
Ok… So, now it’s time for a few items of note… In random order… Much like the way the ladies seemed to be competing last night…
1. Here’s a Fun Fact: In case you didn’t know it, North Carolina had 4 competitors on the stage Sunday night (kinda)… NY, DC, VA and NC are all women who at one time or another, competed in the Miss North Carolina system. That might be a new record of ladies who all competed in one state – and made it to the Miss America stage in the same year!
2. To have 2 “spoken word” talents advance to the Top 10, and ZERO lyrical dancers advance, was very, very interesting to me. Especially when SO MANY DANCERS were on the stage this year. Congrats to Alabama and Connecticut for being the only 2 dancers in the top 10. Perhaps that’s indicative of Miss America 2.0’s future.
3. New York was on my “bubble” list – simply because I didn’t understand her personality. She’s calm. Cool. Understated. I knew she could sing – and I thought she handled her on-stage question well during prelims. But she just lacked that “spark” I thought Miss America was looking for. I didn’t realize her personality was one that reflected more stoicism that spunk. My bad.
4. SUPER EXCITED for Miss Idaho, Nina Forest – Who finished with the highest placement for her state since 1971 – AND – for Bridget Oei – who finished with the highest placement EVER for the state of Connecticut! I couldn’t be happier to see both of these young women prove me wrong!
5. Of my original picks, Junkies go 9/15, 5/10 and 2/5. I’m not at all upset about those numbers, considering I never set foot in Atlantic City this year… I’ve certainly done much worse when I don’t get to see prelims in person.
So – Unfortunately, like many of you, I knew this end was coming. I knew the changes were going to be too much, too soon, and too radical to maintain the Miss America we all know and love. Which is why you’re reading this blog on our Feminine Revolutionz website.
I know we’re not a pageant – but at Feminine Revolutionz, we’re all about encouraging women to follow their dreams, while developing the heart and soul of who they are. We’re about reminding you to pay attention to the areas of your life which are out of balance, and to not be afraid of trying something new – ESPECIALLY when it has the opportunity to advance you beyond where you’ve currently plateaued. We love individualism, and inspiring you to grow through humor. And, we believe every woman shouldn’t have to choose between being brilliant, or being beautiful!
If you decide to continue your pageant journey either through the Miss America system or through a different organization, we wish you all the best. Whether you’re supporting a contestant, or participating directly, pageants are an incredible way to gain massive amounts of personal development and character growth. But the truth is, you don’t have to do a pageant to discover your untapped potential. And we’d like to invite you to join the hundreds of Revolutionariez who are discovering what it means to be Radiant in the Marketplace – and Glorious at Home.
You can follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
With Revolutionary Love,
Carrie Cox
#FRZ
