WELCOME JUNKIES ~ TO ANOTHER NIGHT OF PRELIM WINNERS!!! 🙂

A FABULOUS Night in Vegas – and 2 well-deserving winners!  Here’s the run-down…

Swimsuit Winner = Illinois!  Megan Ervin was solid – and had a teeny black bikini last night!  She smiled ear to ear and ‘worked it’ if that makes sense… You could tell she felt strong and beautiful when she walked.  While others might have been taller, or ‘leaner’, Megan was ‘in the moment’, she’s incredibly ‘fit’ and it showed!  When we saw her on stage, we knew she would be near the Top, but we didn’t originally pick her yesterday… our first ‘missed pick’ of the week.

Talent Winner = Maryland!  Joanna Guy sang her heart out with a lovely rendition of “I Dreamed a Dream from Les Miserable”.  We also loved Joanna’s Evening Gown on Tuesday – and given she’s a Student at Cornell, we believe her interview must’ve been strong as too.  Make sure she’s on your ‘list’… Happy to have picked her correctly yesterday. 🙂

AND NOW FOR TONIGHT!

So far, we’re 3 for 4… so we’re starting to feel the pressure of getting 2 more correct picks tonight!  Over all the years we’ve been doing this, we’ve never done better than 5 for 6… we usually go 4 for 6… and anything less than that is a let-down.  I mean, honestly… my husband who only puts up with my Miss America insanity for a few days a year can practically go 50/50. 🙂

So – once again – without attending rehearsals – here’s who we say you should watch for Prelim Winners tonight!

SWIMSUIT
California =  Leah Cecil was long and lean and lovely in her contestant video… Plus, she has that whole ‘California-Beachy-Laid-Back’ attitude that is perfect for the Swimsuit Competition.
Tennessee = Chandler Lawson is the tallest contestant this year at 6’0.  She just finished as the 2nd Runner up in the Quality of Life Service awards (Winner = Miss Alabama, 1st Runner up Miss Maryland) which tells us she has a strong interview.  Typically, on Night #3, the swimsuit winner is the girl who had the best interview AND looks great in a swimsuit.
Colorado = Although Hannah Porter isn’t 6’0, I think she just might pull out the win tonight for the same Night #3 Theory listed above… I expect her to show well.
Missouri = Tippe Emmot is the 4th blond we’ve listed tonight… and another super-duper-pretty girl.  I’ll say it one more time… I believe tonight’s Swimsuit Winner will go to the girl who had the best interview.  If they liked you in interview, you will ‘shine’ that much more in a swimsuit tonight.

We also expect good scores for UT, OK and FL

TALENT
Kentucky = Jessica Casebolt is lovely – and has a some-what surprising voice coming out of her.  Tough though, because last night’s winner was more ‘classical’ and Jessica is more ‘contemporary’.  We shall see.
Connecticut = Emily Audibert is a very strong lyrical dancer with long lines and flexibility… And, while a tapper has won Talent this week, a Lyrical Dancer has not.
Wyoming = Lexie Madden is playing an original composition… and no doubt she’ll look beautiful again, because we haven’t been disappointed with any of her looks yet!
North Dakota = She should have the most ‘technically sound’ performance of the night, but I’m not sure if this is the kind of ‘sound’ Miss America is looking for.  She’s very contemporary and in the category of ‘hipster-uber-cool’.  While I’m 100% certain that Rosie Savageau will go one to enjoy a wonderful life in music, I’m not sure Miss America/these judges are on that same wavelength.

Good scores for VT and MN are possible.

For those of you not in Vegas this week… There’s a saying that always comes to light about this time… “Miss America is a Marathon, not a Sprint”.  We’ve only been here a day and a 1/2 and The Junkies are feeling a little ‘Tuckered Out’ already!  Lucky for us, our “Meet and Greet” at Starbucks inside Planet Hollywood takes place Friday from 10:30-12:30… We simply can’t get enough of Women in Crowns… and Coffee… 🙂

Now THAT’S how to start Miss America Week! 🙂

The Junkies correctly predicted both the Talent and the Swimsuit Winners last night – which makes for a great beginning for Miss America 2013 in our book! 🙂  And for the record – The Junkies don’t even arrive into Vegas until today (Wednesday)!  We’ve always based our predictions on our own research, not on seeing the contestants during rehearsals… Considering we didn’t get much sleep last night (if you’ve never ‘watched a pageant’ via Twitter – I encourage you to do so!  Up way too late – but So Much Fun!)… not sure if we can pull off another 2 for 2 tonight, but we’re going to give it our best shot! 🙂

So – one more time… here’s the contestant lineup for this evening…

 
Tonight features Sigma in Talent and Mu in Swimsuit… Here’s who we’ve narrowed it down to:

TALENT
Georgia = Leighton Jordan moved to Houston to be a professional ballerina when she was only 15… Her mom was a professional ballet dancer… which tells us, she’s the one to watch tonight.
Virgina = As I said yesterday, Rosemary Willis is moving up on my list quickly… She was a Talent Winner at Miss Virginia and we’ve heard a few You-Tube Videos of her voice. Small in stature, mighty in vocal strength! 🙂
Maryland = Joanna Guy is a former MAOTeen from Maryland and was 3rd runner up at MAOT in 2008.  We’ve also heard You-Tube videos of her… another ‘tiny girl’ with a strong voice.
North Carolina = The Junkies heard Arlie Honeycutt in person this summer during the 75th anniversary of the Miss North Carolina Pageant.  She won ‘overall talent’ and is a vocal performance major at Eastern Carolina University.  Don’t count her out! 🙂
Others who should score well tonight in Talent include Arkansas (a’capella tap), New York, (another tapper), Mississippi (piano) and a possible crowd pleaser in DC (artistic roller skating – which we’ve never seen, but could be fabulous). 

SWIMSUIT
Wyoming = At 5’10 without heels, Lexie Madden is one of the tallest contestants this year.  Plus – we’ve never seen her without 2 inch platforms to boot!  The Junkies thought Lexie made the biggest impression during the Contestant Arrival Ceremony and we expect her to look good tonight.
New Mexico = Candice Bennatt looks beautiful in every photo we’ve ever seen of her – and has been an NFL Cheerleader… Body Boot Camp is nothing new to her! 🙂
Virgin Islands = Aniska Tonge can walk!  Go watch the Fashion Show Video again and see for yourself!  If she brings that walk tonight, you could see her walk away with the hardware. 🙂
Kentucky = Another Super-Tall Girl, she was stunning at Miss Kentucky and wowed everyone with her Swimsuit presentation.

Others who could do well tonight in Swimsuit include Minnesota, Illinois and Wisconsin.

Otherwise… the Junkies will land in Vegas today – and will be attending prelims tonight!  And don’t forget – if you’re in Vegas, you’re invited to join us on Friday from 10:30-12:30 at Starbucks inside Planet Hollywood to “Meet The Junkies” 🙂  We’ll be on hand to say hello, reminisce about your favorite Miss America moment, and offer all “smiles”, “kisses” and “pageant waves” free of charge 🙂

Until Tomorrow!  Junkies Unite! 🙂

MAJ

WHOOOOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! 

Well – here we are again !  It’s time for some ‘on-stage competition’ – which means it’s time for some Junkie Predictions!

Because we do have some “New Junkies’ in our audience now… and just in case you haven’t found yourself spending every waking moment reading through the archives of this blog, here’s how it works… 🙂

The girls are split into 3 groups and each group performs a different category of the competition each night… In case you haven’t tattooed the contestant lineup on your body yet, we’ve posted it once again for your viewing pleasure…

Tonight – Alpha will perform Talent, Sigma will perform Swimsuit/Evening Wear and Mu will answer an On-Stage Interview Question.  Preliminary Awards are given for Talent and Swimsuit – No award is given for the on-stage question or Evening Wear.

The judges score each contestant as they see them perform and here’s how each category weighs in the girls’ over-all score:

• Lifestyle and Fitness in Swimsuit – 15%
• Evening Wear – 20%
• Talent – 35%
• Private Interview – 25%
• On-Stage Question – 5%

Each day, I’ll pick 4 different states that I think will possibly win Prelim Talent and Prelim Swimsuit for their night… Sometimes you get commentary and reasons why, sometimes, I just pick…

SO ~ NOW WE BEGIN!!!

Talent
HOLY SCHMOLY GUACOMOLE!!!  Tonight is PACKED with amazing Talent and this might be the toughest prediction I’ve EVER had to make!  We can only pick 4 (and I’m telling you – there are 7 or 8 girls who could win talent tonight)… So here’s what we’re going with…

Oklahoma = The Junkies saw Alicia Clifton at Miss Oklahoma and were flabbergasted!  One of the best Tap Routines I’ve ever seen in person… Multiple Talent wins under her belt… Entertaining and Technically Sound. 🙂
Florida = Both Laura McKeeman and Alicia are working with an amazing choreographer who is acclaimed for her work on and off-Broadway.  She was also a Talent winner at Miss FL – I expect Florida’s routine to be strong tonight.
Indiana = The lovely Merribeth Cox has been THE Golden Girl at Purdue for 5 solid years.  There’s only 1 Golden Girl and she’s it!  I’ve seen pictures of this girl twirling on top of “The World’s Largest Drum”… and she’s got an intensity that just won’t quit.  Twirling done well is extremely entertaining – When it’s good, it scores high because you just don’t want it to quit!
Alabama = This girl can SING!  In fact, if we’ve done our research correctly, Anna Laura Bryan has NEVER lost a Preliminary Talent award!  And it took 4 tries to win Miss Alabama!  WOW!

Again – Talent could go any number of a zillion directions tonight… California, Utah, Arizona are more strong contenders, but I’m sticking with the Top 4 listed.  And in my humble opinion, I think we’ll see 3 out of 4 of those talents come Saturday night.

Swimsuit
Some fabulous swimsuit bodies are going to cross the stage tonight in Swimsuit… This is another hard one to predict, but I think we’ve narrowed down our choices.

South Carolina = Ali Rogers is getting lots of photos taken of her because she has a natural sparkle and is super pretty.  Tall Too… A former SCTeen winner…
DC = Allyn Rose is the former Miss Maryland who finished Top 8 at Miss USA 2011.  She’s a model, has walked the runway during Fashion Week in NYC and although she might be ‘too sexy’ for Miss America, we think she’s been prepped well enough that she’s got a great chance.
Texas = Texas is TINY!  But the judges just saw her in interview today and because she’s in Law School at Texas Tech, I’m guessing she was pretty well prepared for the numerous Political/Current Events questions that many girls are saying they received today.  It’s possible her interview could impact her Swimsuit score.
Virginia = This girl has bumped up my list quickly… She’s looked stunning in the candids I’ve seen of her… I think she’s got the Virginia Team behind her in a big way and she could surprise a lot of people.

Again – Swimsuit could also go to Iowa, North Carolina or Massachusetts in my book… but only the top 4 count as my official predictions.

That’s what The Junkies think!  What say you???

Until tomorrow…

MAJ

Fellow Junkies… I have a confession to make…

I have been over-taken by the Frenzy…

True Junkies know EXACTLY what I’m talking about… It’s in the form of Tweets and Updates and Statuses and Instagrams and Videos that have all taken center-stage (which is amazing), but seriously… Try to compare it to the days when you had to wait for a phone call from Atlantic City (on a land-line — not a cell phone) just to find out if your girl made it across the stage without falling on her face, let alone who won Preliminary Talent!  Even a short 7-8 years ago, I can remember scouring the internet, begging for photos in the middle of Miss America week and after hours of getting nowhere, I would finally stumble on to some rehearsal photos.

Compare and contrast that with today – where everything is multiplied times 53 contestants and their 53 twitter feeds/facebook pages/youtube videos.  The information gap has officially closed.  And it’s easy to get lost – or better yet – it’s easy to get CONFUSED about which girls have a shot at the crown verses those who will simply make their mamas proud.

All of this ‘information-overload’ forces us to simplify and consider who Miss America is looking for this year… After much consideration, I believe the new Miss America will come from one of these categories…

Former MAOTeen Winners:

We’ve said for YEARS that Miss America is dying to have a former State Teen become Miss America so it can continue to promote the MAOTeen competition… and let’s face it, it’s gonna happen one day… perhaps this is the year?

These ladies all won a Teen State Title before winning a Miss America State Title and were all featured on the MAOTeen stage in Orlando last August.  From left to Right, we have: Oklahoma, Indiana, Maryland, West Virginia, New Hampshire, Arkansas, Massachusetts, South Carolina and New Jersey.  It’s possible that Miss America could be one of these lovely ladies…

Tragedies and Triumphs:  

There’s something to be said about states who suffer tragic circumstances shortly before Miss America… Shawntel Smith from Oklahoma won Miss America after the Oklahoma City Bombing, Leanza Cornett from Florida won after Hurricane Andrew swept Florida.  Plenty of girls finished well after tragic circumstances struck their state.  It’s not that the judges ‘feel sorry’ for a certain state and want to give it hope – it’s more the fact that the contestant has been involved in the ‘healing efforts’ around their community and has an emotional story or two to tell.  Ladies who fall into this category this year include:  Connecticut = Sandy Hook Shootings, New York and New Jersey = Hurricane Sandy, Colorado = Aurora Theater Shootings/Colorado Wildfires.  When you have stories about how you helped the relief effort and/or what you think should be done to avert such tragedies in the future, that means you have the opportunity to ‘connect’ during an interview.  And if you haven’t heard by now, Miss America is won in the interview room. 🙂

Marketability:  These are ladies who bring something unique to the table that the Miss America Organization can promote.  Theresa Scanlan was only 17.  Nicole Johnson wore an insulin pump.  Heather Whitestone was deaf.  Girls who fall into this category for me include:  Florida and Massachusetts = Sports Reporters (we saw FL several times this Fall covering some of the Junkies favorite football teams)… If these girls pursue careers in this field and they win the Crown, you know they’ll be supportive of the MAO for the rest of their lives (ala Gretchen Carlson).  DC = has chosen to get a double mastectomy because of her genetic predisposition to breast cancer (her mother lost the battle when Miss DC was 16).  And while I don’t think she’s going to win, it’s been lots of fun to watch Miss Montana = Has Autism and has been getting lots of celebrity support including Jenny McCarthy, Maria Shriver and Doug Flutie – who are all encouraging people via twitter to vote for Montana to be the people’s choice into the Top 15.

And Finally – the category we call… 

“Gosh, She’s Gorgeous!”

Every once in a while, we get a Crazy-Beautiful-Super-Gorgeous Miss America.  Since the pageant moved to Vegas, ‘beauty’ seems to actually play a role in the final decision more so than usual.  This year, there are LOTS of pretty girls competing for Miss America… but we think a few stand out based on looks alone… South Carolina, Wyoming and Minnesota, Missouri and Colorado.  Don’t get me wrong – this doesn’t mean they aren’t talented or they aren’t strong in other areas of competition… It simply means you notice them first, because your eye can’t help but see them when they enter the room.

Also – we’d like to clarify… THIS IS NOT OUR TOP 15 LIST!  This is simply a blog outlining the kinds of women Miss America typically likes to crown.

Although, to be honest… our Top 5 is represented here… 🙂

ON-STAGE COMPETITION begins tomorrow!!!  Tune in tomorrow to find out who our Preliminary Predictions will include!!!  HERE WE GO!!! 🙂

MAJ

WHOOOOOO HOOOOOO!!!  We made it!!!  The Competition begins on MONDAY – Can you believe it?  It’s finally here – And it couldn’t come soon enough for me…  Earlier today, our TV was going back and forth between ‘Duck Dynasty’ and ‘Gator Boys’… LOL!  I’d say that’s a sure-fire sign that I’m desperately in need of some good-old-fashioned glitz and glamor, pageant-girl stuff… PLEASE AND THANK YOU!!! 🙂

We begin Monday with Contestant Interviews… 35 girls will be interviewed for 10 minutes with 7 judges all day tomorrow… Here’s the order in which the judges will see them:

Why is the order important?  Well… it depends on how quickly our judges ‘warm up’ to their jobs (i.e., are they asking the girls about their favorite color or their take on the Presidential election?).  Last year, only 2 girls from the far left column even made it into the Top 15 (however to be fair, the year before saw 6 girls make it from the far left column).  I’m guessing this panel of judges is going to be on the ball from the get-go… so each girl is going to have the opportunity to advance (rather than the judges wasting the first 15 interviews trying to get the hang of it).  Speaking of Judges… let’s go there now…

Here’s my personal ‘short summary’ on this year’s judges and what I think they bring to the Table (if you prefer their official biographies, you can find them here at this link on the Miss America website).

Bradley Bayou – Big Fashion Designer, his daughter struggled with an eating disorder so he’s into healthy eating, and I see him as a ‘sash state’ kind of guy (meaning, states with a successful pageant track record should do well with him).

Cheryl Burke – DWTS mega-star, best choreographer on the show IMHO – which means she wants to be entertained with dance, not just see technical ability, from San Francisco, hope-less romantic, likes the ‘party-atmosphere’ of Vegas.

Sam Champion – TV guy for 25 years, announced his engagement to his partner on national television (they were married in December), is very ‘fit’, snazzy dresser, works with many different charitable organizations.  Sam’s also ‘hanging out’ at rehearsals from what we can see… which means he’s paying attention ‘behind the scenes’ and will have more exposure to the girls than the other judges will have.

Daymond John – Branding Genius, looking for market-ability, HUGE first impression guy, has an entire speech he delivers called, ‘Going Toe to Toe with the Big Boys’ which tells me – he’ll want someone who can ‘hold their own’ and not just get away with being ‘pretty’ or ‘cute’.

Mary Hart – Former Miss South Dakota (Top 10 at Miss America 1970), speaks Danish and Swedish fluently, Interview skills must be top notch.  And even though she’s been in Hollywood a long-time, I think she’s still a mid-west, back-to-basics girl at heart (Divas should beware… I’ll bet she can spot a high-maintenance chick a mile away).

McKayla Maroney – Understands dedication and high pressure… some people buckle under that pressure and others push through it. Might have a ‘stereotype’ or a picture in her mind of who Miss America should be… young, but knows what it’s like to be thrust into the media spotlight without warning.

Katie Stam-Irk – “America’s Sweetheart” as MA 2009, Prelim Swimsuit Winner and Darling of the organization.  Been there, done that, has the T-Shirt… and if they’re trying to find another ‘Katie Stam’ then why not put her on the panel.

Judges Summary = While I see this as an over-all ‘left-leaning panel’… that doesn’t automatically mean we’ll get a “Liberal” for a Queen.  The year Chris Matthews was a judge, they crowned Jesus-loving Lauren Nelson.  The year Rush Limbaugh was a judge, they crowned AIDS advocate Caressa Cameron.  So if your favorite state is a ‘dyed in the wool’ Conservative, there’s no need panic… we just have to see who is able to connect with various types of people one-on-one.

More to come!  GOOD LUCK to all the Contestants preparing for Interviews on Monday!  We’re just a few days away from crowning Miss America 2013!!!  Who Will She Be???

MAJ