Miss Louisiana 2011 Hope Anderson might of been a bit of a surprise to some people, but we saw her from the get-go!  Super tall, dark hair, and oh… turns out the men in her family (father, uncles) used to vacation/hunt near the Junkies hometown !!!

This dress was stunning on-stage… her Top 10 finish was well deserved! Hope also received the Miracle Maker Award, given to the 3 contestants who raised the most money for Children’s Miracle Network… Hope raised $40,000!!! 🙂

Louisiana History:  Out of all the states who’ve never had a Miss America, Louisiana is our pick for getting one the soonest!  Sooooooooooooo many 1st runner ups, it’s not even funny!  Patricia Brant (the ventriloquist in ’85), Ericka Schwartz in ’97, Faith Jenkins in ’01 and Jennifer Dupont in ’04.  If the Saints can pull out a Super Bowl victory, we’re thinking Louisiana can find a Miss America in the next few years!!! 🙂

Best Junkie Research Tool:  Hands Down… This video is worth the 28 minutes.  If you want to know who will will Louisiana, just take notes while you watch… then see if your picks match our below. 🙂

Who to Watch:

Carly McCord – 1st runner up in ’11, her first year at Miss LA

Mallory Cox – 3rd runner up in ’11, piano player, Prelim Talent Winner

Lauren Vizza – 4th runner up in ’11, and 3rd runner up in ’10

Kassy Sanchez – Honebee Festival Queen… 1st time at LA (we think)

Megan Dupre – strong presence, 2nd time at Miss LA

Aja Majkrzak – violin player, former talent winner and 4th runner up at Miss Minnesota

Miss Louisiana will be webcast this year!!!  Looking forward to the first round of Prelims Tonight!!!

GEAUX LOUISIANA!!! 🙂

MAJ

The pride of Goshen, Indiana… Jackie Jerlecki, Miss Indiana 2011 is beautiful, talented and in her spare time, she talks to frogs…

 

Photo by Nicole Mehl…

Well ok… that’s not quite the whole story… Jackie was at an appearance and was participating in a frog jumping contest.  On her Facebook page, Jackie said she was trying to offer some ‘encouraging words to Walter’… but to no avail.  Obviously, the frog must’ve been deaf to begin with.

We loved watching Jackie all year long… and we’re guessing Indiana was pretty happy with their 2011 queen too! 🙂
 
Miss Indiana History:  The one and only Miss America from Indiana was Katie Stam, Miss America 2009.  Katie was also “America’s Choice” on the show.

Best Junkie Research Tool:  The Miss Indiana Organization keeps a strong Facebook and Twitter presence… Their competition order can be seen here… But full headshots of the girls can be seen here… 🙂


Who to Watch:

Caroline Holcomb – 1st runner up in 09 and 11, 5th time at Miss IN

MerriBeth Cox – 3rd runner up in ’11, Illinois OT in 07, baton twirler

Rachael Bazzel – ANTSO Teen in 05, 4th runner up in 10, Top 10 in 11

Victoria McKee – 4th runner up in 09 and 11

 PRELIMS START TONIGHT for Miss Indiana!!!  All the Best to Everyone!!!

MAJ

Ellen Bryan… not only did she have an unusual platform to promote at Miss America (“When Lightening Roars, Go Indoors”… based on her own sister being struck by lightening 12 years ago)… Ellen decided to do something we’ve not ever seen a Miss State even pretend to attempt!

She decided to ride her bike across the state of Ohio, visiting 6 different Children’s Miracle Network hospitals and raising money along the way!  Yup!  27 days, 45 cites and 850 miles across the Buckeye State in the name of CMN! In case you missed it, the official webpage with all the details is here… 🙂

Ellen’s platform work earned her a Quality of Life finalist award at Miss America… Well Deserved!!!

Ohio History:  Technically, Ohio has 6 Miss Americas — but one of them was crowned twice!  Mary Campbell in ’22 and ’23 (the only Miss America to hold such a distinction), Marily Meseke in ’38, Jacquelyn Mayer in ’68, Laurel Schafer ’72, and Susan Perkins in ’78…So 5 different women from Ohio have been crowned Miss America a total of 6 times. 🙂  Ohio’s been in a bit of slump… once upon a time you could count them in as always having a strong competitor, but it’s been 18 years since they’ve had a runner up (Lea Mack 2nd runner up in 94).

Best Junkie Research Tool: Here’s the link to the Miss Ohio contestant page…

Items of Note:  This is simply our observation… Ohio seems to want to crown “good girls” who love the program, will represent the state of Ohio well and continue to give back.  They don’t seem to take chances on girls who might perform well at Miss America or ‘stand out’ specifically for any reason.  Almost as if they’d prefer to have a great “Miss Ohio” instead of a chance at Miss America.

Who to Watch: 
Alyssa Brumbaugh – 1st runner up in ’11, prelim swimsuit winner, 2nd time at Miss OH

Meggie Whitman – 3rd runner up in ’11, prelim swimsuit winner, musical theater major, 3rd time at Miss OH

Jenna Fowls – Top 10 in ’11 and prelim talent winner

Cayla Hellwarth – Top 10 in ’11, prelim talent winner as well

Tera Coleman – Top 10 in ’10, law student, should have a strong interview

Junkies Love O – HI – O !!! 🙂  All the Best, Ladies!!! 🙂

MAJ

Anna Simpson, Miss South Dakota 2011 wins our vote for most original training opportunity with a mentor!  Check out this nation-wide story that NBC’s ‘Today Show’ did featuring Anna and her piano teacher!

Now THAT’S a benefit to technology we never envisioned!!!  What an amazing way to train with one of the best mentors available!  Big Kudos to Anna and the Miss South Dakota team for finding a way to hone your craft without regards to the miles in between!!!

Anna Simpson was also wonderful at updating her Facebook page with new photos almost every week of her reign! There were plenty to choose from, but we’ve always loved this ‘artsy’ pic of her at center ice, about to ‘drop the puck’ during a Rapid City Rush Hockey game (kinda like throwing the opening pitch at a baseball game!).

Miss South Dakota History: Having never produced a Miss America, SD did come stinking close one time… Irene O’Connor was the 1st runner up to Yolanda Betzebe in 1950.

Best Junkie Research Tool:  All headshots can be found here on the Miss South Dakota website…

Who to Watch: Actually – this is interesting… 12 girls competed last year… of the 11 who were eligible to come back this year (12 minus current queen Anna Simpson), 7 are back! 

Veterans Include:
Calista Kirby – she & Anna were double prelim winners last year, and Calista finished as the 1st runner up
Heather Johnson – 2nd runner up in ’11
Brittanie Vernard – 3rd runner up in ’11
Autumn Simunek – 4th runner up in ’11

Rookies Include:
Jade Possail – she’s an athlete and she’s got that ‘cute and spunky’ thing going for her
Tessa Dee – she’s done A LOT of work on her platform and was even featured in FourPoints Magazine

If I name any more names, I’m gonna end up telling you about every girl in the contest (lol)!

Best of Luck Ladies!!!  Make this year one to remember in South Dakota!!! 🙂

MAJ

Miss Georgia, Michaela Grace Lackey went to Miss America channeling her inner ‘Audrey Hepburn’…

Taken by Matt Boyd Photography, this photo quickly became our favorite of the entire year (and for the record, Matt Boyd Photography takes some pretty amazing pictures/headshots of lots and lots of pageant girls!).  Michaela was also the first GA Outstanding Teen to win the Miss Georgia title (one of the nine girls who competed for Miss America 2012 which we wrote about here…).

Michaela was also the 3rd consecutive winner from Marietta/Cobb County to win the state title!  Now that’s quite a winning streak! 

Georgia History:  One Miss America comes from Georgia, Neva Langley in ’53… and at least four 1st runner ups to Miss America including Jody Shattluck ’57,  Kara Martin ’93, Monica Pang ’05 and Chasity Harmon ’08.

Best Junkie Research Tool:  Headshots can all be seen here…

Items of Note:  This is another ‘WIDE OPEN’ pageant where anyone can win!  Lots of beautiful girls, lots of veterans and a fair amount of girls who could ‘come outta nowhere’ to win this year!


Who to Watch: Veterans
Briana Jewett – 1st runner up ’09 (originally 2nd runner up, but Winner gave up crown and everyone moved up one position), 4th runner up in ’11
Stephanie Burkhalter – Prelim Swimsuit and Gown in ’11, and Miss Cobb County this year
Leighton Jordan – Top 15 in ’11, very ‘even’ in all areas of competition
Abby Killough – 4th year at Miss GA, Semi-finalist twice
Lauren Edmonds – GA OT in 06, Top 10 in ’10
Carly Mathis – 2nd time at Miss GA, Top 12 in ’11

Rookies to Watch (well ok. not all rookies – but girls who haven’t yet made the cut… this could be their year)
Jazmine Scroggins
Charlene Bibeau
Shelby McLeod
Annie Wilson 

Who will take the Miss Georgia Crown this year???  Stay Tuned… Prelims begin Wednesday with the Finals on Saturday!  All the Best from the Junkie Nation!!! 🙂

MAJ