Ladies and Gentlemen…

Everyone’s favorite time of year is just around the corner… That special time when we all unite around a common purpose and love for all things that sparkle! Yes – it’s time to Crown a NEW MISS AMERICA!!!

In multiple years past, I’ve compiled emails for friends and family which I’ve sent out daily. But this year, rather than bothering your inbox with my silly, but exceptionally thoughtful emails, I decided to officially begin this blog. Just for fun, I’m going to post some of my emails from previous years (kinda like a high-light reel for pageant people) so we can re-live some of the bright spots as well as the big upsets (can we say, Vermont and “Talent Winner” in the same sentence?). Might be a bit confusing, but I’ll do my best!

Also – This year, I’m THRILLED to report that I’ll be making the trip to Las Vegas, to watch the 90th Anniversary of Miss America Live and IN PERSON! Not only that, but I’ll be reporting live for my radio station – which means I’m hoping to get even more inside scoop than normal! Perfect time to launch a blog — I’m sure you’ll never be the same! 🙂

So – get ready! The big day is January 15th on ABC! OH – and please note… this year, “DSW PRESENTS… Miss America!” Two of my favorite brands partnering together for Fabulous-ness!!! 🙂

Now… back to hunting down my tiara… 🙂

crl

So – who is the new Miss America? Why it’s Caressa Cameron, Miss Virginia!!!!

Miss Virginia won talent the first night by singing Beyonce’s “Listen” from the movie Dreamgirls (she’s the one who looks like Vivica Fox). Upon seeing a few interviews of her after the event – you quickly see why she was chosen — she’s very sharp and obviously talented! She worked 4 years to become Miss Virginia… Finishing at the 2nd runner up twice, 1st runner up and finally winning the title this year. Her father owns a business and is a musician – her mama is just so stinkin’ proud of her daughter you wanna hug her all over! In a couple of different interviews, I learned that her father had a drug problem years ago and she was made fun of at an early age because of her hand-me down clothing and ‘uni-brow’. Today – she’s Miss America! What a great country 🙂

In case you didn’t get to see the event… Here’s how the rest of the Top 5 broke out…

4th runner up – Kentucky (or as I liked to call her – Spunky Blonde)
3rd runner up – Louisiana (daughter of a Methodist minister… So sweet)
2nd runner up – Tennessee (this year’s sleeper in my opinion – gorgeous, but very ‘pageant looking’)
1st runner up – California (Jimmy thought she had a ‘weird look’ and told me over and over she wouldn’t win because Miss America couldn’t be weird looking)
Winner – Virginia 🙂

For the record – when they went to commercial break… I picked 5 states to be in the top 5 no (I didn’t pick the order)… The only one I missed was Tennessee — I chose Hawaii instead (so sorry she didn’t place Cori – I know how much you liked her!). Guess I’m not so awful once I know what the judges are looking for. 🙂

And now – for my thoughts on the show overall….

Where that Top 15 came from I have no clue. My first list had 9 of the Top 15, but my second list only had 7 of the 15. Ouch.

Colorado and Nebraska are perfect examples of what I said last year when Florida finally hit it out of the park with her Broadway style dance. Get a good choreographer – make a few high kicks – use a few props and voila! You too can dance, as a finalist, on the Miss America stage 🙂

The opening number was L – O – N – G . . . With a TON of dance moves that personally, I would be annoyed to have to remember. Just sayin…

The 15th finalist being chosen by the girls???? WOW! DOUBLE WOW!!! Makes me wonder if Miss America is trying to get rid of the ‘mean girls’ and make sure everyone plays nice in the future.

Guess the judges didn’t have a problem with blondes after all — this makes me believe that many of the preliminary winners had to have ‘split’ the judges votes… Meaning, half the judges thought contestant A won prelim talent and contestant B came in second, while the other judges thought contestant C won prelim talent but contestant B still came in second… When votes spit – that means contestant B wins talent.

GO TO VEGASDELUXE.com to see photos of the winner AND an interview with her… You’ll start to see how and why she ran away with this competition. If you’re super curious, you can become a fan of the Miss America Organization on Facebook (seriously SF Amy – you need to join Facebook) and then watch the winner’s first press conference just 45 minutes after winning the title. She has the crowd laughing and gives a wonderfully well-spoken intro thanking the sponsors of Miss America. This girl’s gonna be a hit. 🙂

And there you go! Another year down and another Miss America crowned! As always, I hope you had a grand old time participating in my crazy-obsession… Next year will make the 90th anniversary of Miss America and I’m toying with the idea of actually going! I figure the older I get, the less likely I’m going to want to go – so perhaps next year would be a fun time to experience the whole thing live. If you’re up for a girls weekend in Vegas and feel like buying your own Fabulous Purple dress between now and then, please let me know!!! I’ll be the one using the stair-master DAILY between now and then (lol) and searching for the most amazing pair of ‘lucky shoes’ 🙂

Until Next Year…. Sing Along With Me Everyone…. “There She Is…. Miss America…. “

Love to all –

crl

Oh – My – Goodness. It’s here – it’s finally here!!!!

TONIGHT WE CROWN A NEW MISS AMERICA!!!!!!!!!!!! 🙂

Someone remind me again why I knowingly volunteered to emcee an event tonight… ? Maybe because I just wanted to avoid the conversation with the client… “I’m sorry… I’d love to host your event, really – I would! But you see, that night I’m going to be… Ummmm, well – it’s kind of a tradition that I always… How can I explain this… I’m going to be busy… watching Miss America…”

And that’s why I’m emceeing.

Actually – it should be a great time — just a REALLY late night for me… It’s possible I won’t be home until midnight and will then turn on the TIVO (and NOT check twitter, facebook, texts or voicemail) to watch everything until 2am. I thought about just going to bed and watching it tomorrow morning… But I highly doubt that happens.

Also – I think I finally understand how the whole “people’s choice’ contestant thing is gonna work… I think the judges are going to pick 12 girls – then the next 3 highest vote getters from last night’s program will be in the top 15. This certainly makes a whole lot more sense than any other scenario I’ve thought through… But don’t quote me on it. I wish they would’ve explained it this way earlier — then again, I may be totally wrong, so whatever!

That being said – i’m giving you a new Top 15 list and my final selections as well. Here we go!

New York
Oklahoma
Michigan
Arkansas
Virginia
Oregon
California
Florida
Iowa
Minnesota
Ohio
Texas
Hawaii
Massachusetts
North Carolina

Yes – I’m going with North Carolina. That state ALWAYS sneaks up on me – and based on the amount of press she’s getting, I’m putting her on my list. She’s also got her real estate license which means she can ‘sell’ herself among other things. North Carolina has had 2 Top 5 finishes in the past 5 years… And I never see them coming. I’m hoping she doesn’t let me down tonight. 🙂

Now Top 5
Michigan
Arkansas
Virginia
California
Oklahoma

And the Winner…
California

California has been on a roll recently as well… They made Top 10, 5 of the last 6 years and the year they didn’t…the girl won the preliminary talent award. I’m going with her to win the whole thing tonight.

Final Note – the reigning Miss America will be wearing something brand new tonight that she hasn’t worn all week — Katie Stam became engaged to her boyfriend of 4 years Brian Irk last night, on stage at the Evening of Dreams gala. Pictures are at Robin Leach’s blog… Vegasdeluxe.com/blogs/luxe-life. So cute…. 🙂

And here’s the run-down for tonight’s show… It appears there’s another ‘new element’ that’s a big secret until the show actually takes place… Hmmmmm…. Straight from Robin Leach’s blog…

Here’s the running order of tomorrow night’s telecast: After the parade of all 53 contestants, Mario Lopez is introduced as host and makes his welcoming remarks and introduces the judges. At that point, look for a totally new and unexpected twist that will affect the entire show. TLC will have kept the startling, unknown segment, a secret from everybody. Immediately afterward, the 15 semifinalists will be announced, and 2009 Miss America Katie Stam is introduced for the final time, along with Outstanding Teen 2010 Jeanette Morelan.

Then come the four competition segments of Lifestyle & Fitness, Evening Wear, Talent and the onstage question that cut the candidates down to a final seven. Katie takes her final walk as Miss America, and the four runner-ups are announced. That will leave three contestants onstage, and one of them will then be crowned 2010 Miss America.

There you go! I’ll get everyone an update tomorrow afternoon in case you miss it… Or haven’t cared… 🙂 I’ll also do my best to get a photo of the PURPLE gown I’ll be wearing tonight at the ball. And yes – I purposely left Puerto Rico OFF the top 15 list as I think she’s a total bimbo and guessing Rush Limbaugh gave her a 4 out of 10 in interview.

Until then – Thanks for making this a fun year for me…. We’ll see if California can pull it out or not… 🙂 And Go Wildcats!!! (Sorry Nathan, Amy, Nicole and other friends of mine who have poor taste in collegiate athletic teams).

🙂

crl

Ladies and Gentlemen…

Here we are – the Preliminaries are complete, 6 winners have been selected… and TONIGHT starts the official Countdown to the Crown!!! If you can’t watch tonight’s TLC Special called “Behind the Curtain” then be sure to Tivo it – or kick the kids out of the house early on Saturday night so you can watch the 1 hour special PRIOR to the big show. If memory serves me – the official pageant starts at 6:00pm Mountain, 7pm Central and I have no clue what they’re doing on the West Coast (sorry SanFran Amy). Therefore, the pre-show is an hour AHEAD of the time I listed above. I know, I know… The K-State/KU Basketball game starts at like 5 Mountain… so I understand completely if you watch the ballgame and then watch the RE-BROADCAST of Miss America starting at 8pm Mountain, 9pm Central. Usually I watch the first broadcast – then I watch the whole thing again… but I understand the splitting of priorities 🙂

That all being said – let’s get to the results of last night’s competition!

Thursday Swimsuit Winner = Miss Oregon
A drop dead beautiful body on this gal… she wasn’t on my radar because she’s a bit short and hasn’t been getting very many photos. For the record – sometimes the swimsuit winner is given to the woman who looks the best in swimsuit… but sometimes, it’s also given to the girl who was absolutely amazing in interview. The trick is to know which is which… In this case, I would venture to bet Miss Oregon gave a good interview – but I can’t promise you that’s the case. I didn’t pick her… bummer.

Thursday Talent Winner = Miss Michigan
Now this one is tricky. I really like Michigan… she was one of my first thoughts for Top 10 – she’s very articulate, tall, beautiful and she’s not a ‘pageant girl’ (meaning she had never been to Miss Michigan before and won it on her first time). Her platform issue is also very interesting… Families Facing Substance Abuse… she’s working on her MBA and wants to be in Sports Marketing. So I was drawn to her – but she won talent last night with a LYRICAL DANCE!!! Not ballet, not a perky tap routine or clogging… but a regular, lyrical dance! No offense to the dancers in my audience, but let me break this down for you… usually – when a girl’s talent is ‘Lyrical Dance’ that’s code for “I’m brilliant, I’m beautiful, I have a great body, but I have no talent so I’m dancing”. SERIOUSLY! I have NO IDEA when the last time was a girl won Talent on a lyrical dance! This isn’t QUITE as bad as Vermont winning talent last year – but it ranks right up there!

Some may say I’m just cranky that I went 3 for 3 again this year. You might be right. Very disappointing. However – I’m not giving in and I’m not giving up. It’s the end result that counts.

OK – So here’s how this will work… I’ll send you my Top 15 list before 5pm (if you’re playing along at home, please do the same). Normally, we’d also make you choose your Top 10 and Top 5, but because this is all a little weird (I’m still not sure I understand how the whole selection will work) – let’s do this. Send me your Top 15. That’s all – Then after tonight’s show and we learn a little more about how this will work, you can send me your Top 10 and Top 5 – and of course, don’t forget to send me the WINNER!!!

So just top 15 today by 5pm Mountain… I’ve included the contestant groups to help you as well – remember, each group will have 4 girls nominated from it… so you might want to split your picks fairly evenly amongst the groups 🙂

I’ll get you my picks — if they aren’t to you all by 5pm mountain, it’s because my sales meeting ran long and I promise I’ll send them asap 🙂

So EXCITED!!!! Can’t Wait!!!! And do you realize only ONE BLONDE was a preliminary winner????

Crazy!

crl