Yes – It’s FINALLY that time of year… it’s MISS AMERICA WEEK!!!

Can you believe we’re going to crown another Miss America in JUST SIX DAYS???

We can’t either… the anticipation is KILLING US!  Especially since we’re not going to be in Atlantic City this year (sniff, sniff)… 🙁

It’s so hard knowing we aren’t going to be sitting in the audience, or strolling on the boardwalk… or buying ‘new bling’ from trade show… or getting totally drenched by an unexpectedly large wave from the Atlantic Ocean when you thought standing in “knee deep” water was safe!  LOL!

In addition, we’re afraid this means we won’t get to meet any of you in person…  Which is a total bummer because, let’s face it, meeting other Junkies is half the fun of being a Junkie! 🙂  But we know the show must go on and we will survive from afar…  In fact, we were going through our old blog archives to see when was the last time we watched Miss America from our living room!   It was the year Caressa Cameron was crowned and it turns out, I had a rather interesting series of events take place that year… If you’re curious (or bored), you can check out these 3 different postings:

Here’s the first…
Here’s the second…
And here’s the third…

It’s a bit funny to go back down memory lane while reading these… They were all in the “JBFoT” days (Junkies Before Facebook or Twitter) – when I sent emails to all of my friends during Miss America week!  If you’re brand new here and don’t quite understand what I’m talking about (or again, you’re bored)… you can check out the details at this post here from 2012. 🙂

But enough reminiscing!!!  It’s Business Time!!!

INTERVIEWS BEGIN TODAY – which means, PRELIMS BEGIN TOMORROW – which means… JUNKIES POST PRELIM PREDICTIONS TOMORROW!!!  WHOOOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

As a quick review, here’s how it works:

1. Two awards are given on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday night… one for Fitness in Swimsuit and one for Talent (no on-stage awards for Evening Gown or On-Stage Question). Three nights of prelims times 2 awards each night means 6 awards total (who says pageant girls can’t do math? GO STEM!).

2. Ever since we began making prelim predictions, we’ve been listing 4 states each night as our potential winners.  However, because Junkies went a perfect 6 for 6 last year, this year, we’re only going to select 3 states per night and 1 “bubble” state (lol)… This is basically our way of making things a bit harder – and seeing if we can still pick prelim winners each night!

3. To provide complete disclosure… I’ve seen 4 of this year’s contestants in person and have only met 1 of those 4 ladies in person.  99% of our research on our picks is from online research alone.

4.  Here’s the Prelim list… for Tuesday, we’re working with Alpha in Talent and Sigma in Swimsuit…

And of course, because we have so many new followers, I need to take a few moments to remind everyone about our ground rules…

1. These predictions are my way of making Miss America week interesting and are the continuation of something that was started long before the word “Blog” was even in the dictionary. 🙂  If I don’t pick your favorite state, it doesn’t mean she isn’t smart enough, it doesn’t mean she isn’t pretty enough, it doesn’t mean she isn’t talented enough or that she doesn’t have what it takes to win… It only means, I’m not perfect and I get it wrong from time to time.  It’s not personal!  We want all the ladies to do their best!  If that means surprising us, then so be it!  As Junkies like to say, “If we pick your girl, we hope she proves us right… And if we don’t pick your girl, we hope she proves us wrong!” 🙂

2. Just because we accurately predict a prelim winner – it doesn’t mean she is the next Miss America.  Remember, neither Mallory Hagan nor Nina Davuluri won a single prelim!  Further, neither girl was even listed as a part of our prelim prediction list – But they both walked away with the crown!  Your girl can too! 🙂 

3. This is supposed to be… (wait for it… wait for it…) FUN!!! 🙂  Since prelim predictions are the origin of this whole crazy movement, those of us in the Junkie-Nation have a blast seeing if we can accurately predict a winner simply through online research and Junkie intuition.  Please don’t take it personally if the girl you adore is not listed in our posts… especially this year… The competition is fierce this year and if we forget the fun – well, then we’re just being dumb.  And nobody likes a dumb pageant girl. 🙂

Predictions will begin Tuesday – and we’ll post our blog sometime before the preliminary competition begins!  Don’t forget – you can check out our judges post here…  This post will give you a little more insight into the people responsible for choosing the next Miss America and how we think they might lean…

Until then – NOW IS THE TIME for you to begin making your own lists!  Feel free to “play along at home” and create your own list of potential prelim winners for each night!  Seeing your predictions is what makes this whole thing FUN! 

Plus, it reminds us that the Junkie-Nation is alive and well!  So grab a pencil (because every time we grab a pen, we regret it!) – go back and check out the contestant lineup above – and let’s get this party started!!!  MISS AMERICA 2015 AWAITS!!!

Until then – Toodle – Loo!!!

Founding Junkie

JUDGES!!! WE FINALLY HAVE JUDGES!!! 🙂

Junkies and contestants get excited about the “Judges Announcement” for a couple of reasons.  Here’s Why…

When you have 53 articulate, intelligent, talented and overall fabulous ladies competing for the Miss America crown, it is darn near impossible to figure out who really is “better than the rest”.  That’s why the judging panel is important.

As a contestant, in order to be successful at Miss America, you need to know who’s judging, then leverage that information in order to “connect and impress” in both the interview, and on stage.

I’m reading your mind right now (lol)… and I can tell… some of you… aren’t really “buying” what I’m selling.  Chances are, you’re thinking one of two things right now… 

Thought #1

          “C’mon… I don’t think judges really have anything to do with it.  I believe there’s one girl, who outshines the rest and is destined to become Miss America, regardless of who’s on the judges panel…”

This school of thought isn’t fully without merit.  In fact, Miss America 1995, Heather Whitestone comes to mind… (hope you got to see the YouTube clip we posted of Heather yesterday!)  I truly think that girl was going to be Miss America regardless of who was on the judges panel – Case Closed!

Thought #2

          “C’mon… I don’t think the judges really have anything to do with it.  The “powers that be” at Miss America already know who they want to win and the panel is stacked in favor of that girl.”

Well – We can’t speak to the validity of this claim, although it’s held by many people.  It wouldn’t surprise us if MAO knew the quality traits and specific characteristics they were looking for in a winner… But… we’re not convinced they pick one girl and stack the panel so she can win.  And even if they did – we’re not convinced it always works out the way they had originally intended!!! LOL!  🙂

So – in light of these thoughts… Here’s our “Happy Medium”…

If you’re truly “destined” to become Miss America (by the powers that be or through some higher, spiritual force) – then congratulations – I’m so excited for you – I can’t wait for your dream to come true – please don’t forget to use water-proof mascara on your big night! 🙂

But, for everyone else who thinks Miss America is kind of a “crap shoot” (and I use that term fondly), then, we say it might be a good idea to discover how you can “connect and impress” the 7 people who hold the fate of the crap-shoot in their hands (lol!). 

So – let’s take a look at this year’s panel and see if we might be able to glean some insights… The panel includes:

Lee Meriwether – Actress, Humanitarian and Miss America 1955… Beloved “Forever Miss America” by MAO and pageant fans alike
Marc Cherry – Executive Producer and Writer of multiple hit television shows, has strong fondness for MAO, also judged Miss America 2011
Kathy Ireland – Supermodel, Fashion Guru and CEO/Chief Designer of her own company… Conservative and a strong religious advocate
Donald Driver – All-time leading Receiver for the Green Bay Packers, Continually beats the odds against him, Dancing With the Stars Champ
Anne MacDonald – Retired Army Brigadier General, West Point Grad with 2 Masters Degrees, Glass-Ceiling Breaker, now an Executive Coach
Gary Vaynerchuk – Entrepreneur, Author, Public Speaker, Digital and Social Media Branding Expert, originally from Belarus
Shawn Johnson – Gold Medal Olympian, Dancing With the Stars Champ, judged Miss America 2010

So… What do The Junkies see when we look at this panel of judges???  Here’s a few thoughts…

1.  Marketing Gurus – Every one of these people found success in a certain area and then parlayed that success into a national brand.  We think this panel will choose a contestant who has a strong grasp on her own ‘personal brand’ and has a fundamental understanding of how to market via social media.  Doesn’t matter if your brand is your platform, or your personality, or your life story – These people understand the value behind branding and marketing.  Any girl who doesn’t have a significant understanding on how to sell herself, and how to get the general public to respond, will be left wanting…

2.  Substance Over Style – No Divas here!  These people were not entitled – Far from it!!!  They all started at the bottom and busted their tail to take their career as high as they possibly could.  That tells us this panel will likely choose a hard worker – and someone who is extremely grateful – as opposed to someone who thinks they’re better than the rest and “deserves to win”.  If you’ve mastered the pageant interview but can’t translate those skills into real life, this panel is going to see right through you.  These people can’t be fooled.

3.  Street-Smart and Business Savvy.  These judges don’t fit “inside the box” that others have painted for them.  Think about it… in several cases, when everyone thought they had already given all they could offer in a certain career path, they reinvented themselves to become something more (Driver, Johnson, Ireland, MacDonald).  You can’t do that unless you have a rock-solid belief in yourself and refuse to let others tell you what you can and can’t do.  That means, they’re looking for someone who’s multi-faceted, won’t crumble under a bit of pressure, and has the ability to ‘surprise’ people who think they might have you pegged.

4.  Hello Fitness!  With an NFL player, an Olympic Gymnast and a Super-Model on the panel – you can bet swimsuit is going to be a factor this year.  Some people say although we’ve been crowning “good” swimsuit bodies – we haven’t been crowning the “most fit” girls in recent years.  I’m guessing that changes this year and we’re gonna crown a solidly fit contestant in September.

5. “Entertainment” Trumps “Talent” – No big change here… This is what we’ve seen with the last 2 Miss Americas.  You don’t have to be the most technically skilled contestant to win – But you most certainly have to be entertaining.  If you’re technically sound but not entertaining, Junkies hope you add some ‘spark’ to your routine immediately.  We’re not saying a “Talent Queen” has no chance of winning – we’re saying you’ve got to have “Entertainment Value” – period. 

And there you have it!  I suspect the woman who will be crowned Miss America 2015 will be social media savvy, someone who has inner-strength, who is engaging, personable and unstoppable.  The question is… Who will she be…???

Only THIRTY-TWO more days until we find out!!!

Told you this was gonna be a BIG WEEK – And it’s not over yet!!! 🙂

😉
Founding Junkie