Hi Junkies – It’s Prediction Revelation Day!!! LOL!!!

For 11 years now, we’ve been making predictions regarding the Miss America pageant.  In fact, “making predictions” is pretty much the entire reason Pageant Junkies started in the first place (you can read the full story at this link here)!!!  Within the last couple of years, we started making predictions for each state pageant and for MAOTeen… However, this is the first year that our predictions were only offered through the Pageant Junkies Newsletter.

Therefore, in an effort of full transparency, we always post a blog with our full list of predictions and then compare them to the actual results!  Today is the day when we reveal our picks to everyone beyond the Junkie Newsletter – Here we go!!!

It’s all in chronological order (and honestly, it’s kinda long) – starting with the first round of Preliminary Competition on Tuesday Night, and ending with the non-finalist winners announced on Wednesday.  ENJOY!!!

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 8th, 2015

HOLY COW!!!  Ok – Before we get to tonight’s predictions, you should know that honest-to-goodness, serious-as-a-heart-attack, I just got butterflies in my stomach when I began writing this email!!!  LOL!  Gosh!  It’s been a LONG TIME since that’s happened and knowing me, that pretty much means one of two things…

Either I’m REALLY EXCITED about this year’s competition…
Or… I’m REALLY NERVOUS about my picks tonight!!!

Full Disclosure Here – It could easily be the latter (lol!).

Let’s just say there are some KILLER Talents and some GORGEOUS bodies that will hit the stage tonight… The problem is, I CAN ONLY CHOOSE 4 STATES!  And in Talent especially, this is gonna be tough!  There are probably 6 or 7 states who could win Talent tonight – Points may end up all over the place! Frankly, I expect LOTS of ladies to score well and I also expect many of you to reprimand me for not choosing your state – lol!  Again, I CAN ONLY CHOOSE FOUR!!! 🙂

The fact is, I could easily get this one wrong tonight… But this is why we play the game.  So!  Who do we think it is???  AHHHH!!!  It’s killing me!!!  ALRIGHT ALREADY!!!  HERE WE GO!!!

Tonight we have the Alpha Group in Talent and the Sigma Group in Swimsuit.  Junkie Predictions Are…

TALENT = MISSISSIPPI, IDAHO, ARKANSAS, KENTUCKY
SWIMSUIT = SOUTH CAROLINA, LOUISIANA, TENNESSEE, COLORADO

And there you have it!  Don’t forget ladies (and directors, parents, relatives and BFFs of contestants), if we said your name, we hope you prove us right!  And if we don’t say your name, WE HOPE YOU PROVE US WRONG!!!  Good Luck Ladies!  #JunkiesLoveMissAmerica

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9th, 2015

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 10th, 2015

WHOOOOOO HOOOOOOOO for NIGHT NUMBER TWO!!!

After last night’s prelim competition, the picture becomes a little bit clearer in regards to those who will be making the Top 15 come Sunday night… Here’s who the top contenders were last night!

Talent – Louisiana (a correct pick)
Swimsuit – Florida (a correct pick)

We posted a video of Miss Louisiana, April Nelson’s Talent on our Facebook page and Tweeted it out as well… April is a graduate of Oklahoma City University, where they churn out some pretty incredible vocal and theater majors in droves!  To know April graduated from OCU means she received excellent training and her Talent win was a no-brainer last night! CONGRATS APRIL!!!

Junkies were also thrilled to hear MaryKatherine’s name called as the Swimsuit winner last night!  I shared a moment with MK in Orlando… She stole my sharpie… Only because she couldn’t find it to give it back to me… And then she promised to think of me every time she used a sharpie from then forward. 🙂

Truth is, MaryKatherine is one of the NICEST and SWEETEST people I think I’ve ever met!  Letting her keep my sharpie and then saying she stole it makes a great story because the girl wouldn’t say “crap” even if she had a mouth full of it (lol!).  She stole my sharpie – and I stole that line.  I think we’re all even now. 🙂

So – Once again, Big Junkie Congrats to our Prelim Winners from Wednesday night!!!  This is now 3 in a row for Florida (Myrrhanda Jones in Talent, Tori Cowen in SS, and MK Fechtel in SS) – And Louisiana’s first Prelim Talent win since Faith Jenkins in 2000!  Awesome job, ladies!!! 🙂

That means Junkies are now 3/4 with one more night of prelim winners to pick… AND LET ME SAY… Tonight is a DOOZIE!!!

If you thought the first night of competition was tough, get ready for a big night tonight!  Talent is going to be a showdown!  And considering the judges have given prelim awards to 2 vocalists already, I’ve been getting lots of questions via email asking if yet a 3rd vocalist will win tonight or not…

My answer?  I have no clue.  We’ll just have to wait and see!  In the meantime, here’s our Thursday Prelim Picks:

Talent – Georgia, Virginia, Indiana, West Virginia
Swimsuit – Oklahoma, Mississippi, Minnesota, Idaho

OK – There you have it!  But before we depart, let’s all stand and raise our right hands together, and say it once again…

If we said your name, we hope you prove us right!  And if we don’t say your name, WE HOPE YOU PROVE US WRONG!!!

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 11th, 2015

HEY JUNKIES!!!
WELL – IF YOU WANTED DRAMA, YOU’VE CERTAINLY GOT IT!!!

Here’s the results of the 3rd night of Preliminary competition at Miss America 2016…

Talent – Georgia (a correct pick)
Swimsuit – Iowa (an incorrect pick)

Big Congrats to BETTY CANTRELL on her Prelim Winning performance of “Tu Tu Piccolo Iddio” from Madame Butterfly.  The last time we had 3 vocalists take all 3 prelim awards was Miss America 1997 (Shani Nielsen, Tricia Leines and Melissa Short).  Betty has been gifted with a truly incredible voice – and her performance last night was full of drama and flair with a big, fluffy red dress to boot!  Great job Team Georgia and Congrats to Betty!!!

Now, I have a lot to say about Taylor Wiebers winning Prelim Swimsuit… So please, bear with me 🙂

First of all, If you’re new to pageant circles, you need to know that being a double preliminary winner at the National level is a BIG DEAL.  Like, a really, really, really, really, big deal!!!

Here’s why… Taylor is the first Double Preliminary winner since Faith Jenkins was Miss Louisiana in 2000 (Faith ended up finishing as the 1st RU to Angela Baraquio, Miss America 2001).

Further, the last Double Prelim winner who was crowned Miss America was Heather Whitestone, Miss America 1995 (NINETEEN NINETY FIVE she screams!!!).  It’s just been so stinking long since we’ve had these kinds of thoughts and conversations because of a double prelim winner at Miss America… and IT’S A BIG DEAL!!!

So – Huge Congrats to Taylor and #TeamIowa.. I’ve since seen the video of the Swimsuit competition from last night and Taylor exuded a CRAZY-AMOUNT of confidence during her performance!  I’ve thoroughly enjoyed hearing from all of my Iowa Junkies, including Taylor’s Dad, who lovingly wrote on my Facebook page saying, “Don’t bet against my daughter – LOL!”!

For the record, THIS is the reason why I started Pageant Junkies… I wanted a positive place where people could support their favorite contestant without tearing down a different girl!  And if I were standing right in the middle of the Taylor Wiebers Fan Club, I would be hugging and smiling and and squealing right alongside each of you!  To go 4/6 this year and have the same girl prove me wrong TWICE is something I will never forget!  LOL!  SO AWESOME!!! 🙂

So – That’s our Wrap-Up for Miss America 2016 Prelim Winners!!!  You can expect a couple more emails between now and Sunday… WE WILL be sending another Newsletter with our picks for the Top 15, Top 10 and the Top 5 – So keep checking your inbox for further emails! 🙂

In the meantime, we’ll be making our list and checking it twice!  Hope you’re doing the same thing!  A NEW MISS AMERICA WILL BE CROWNED ON SUNDAY!!!!!

SO EXCITED!!!  CAN’T WAIT!!!!

NINETEEN NINETY FIVE SHE SCREAMS!!!

Good Luck Ladies!
#JunkiesLoveMissAmerica

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 12th, 2015

HAPPY SATURDAY JUNKIES!!!

Just a quick email to let you in on a big surprise…

JUNKIES ARE FLYING TO ATLANTIC CITY!!!

YES – It’s True!  When it’s the 95th Anniversary of Miss America… And you announce Vanessa Williams is going to be there… And Bert Parks is going to sing “There She Is…”…  And we have our first double prelim winner in 15 years… WE JUST COULDN’T STAY AWAY!!!

We arrive just in time for the parade today (please don’t let it rain… please don’t let it rain…) – And we can’t wait to see the finals on Sunday!

So here’s the deal…  If you see me (Carrie Lakey) – PLEASE STOP ME AND SAY HELLO!!!  I had a Fabulous time in Orlando at MAOTeen meeting tons of Junkies and I WOULD LOVE to do it again!!!  If you don’t know what I look like, just check out our social media pages or the website at PageantJunkies.com and take a peek (click “About the Junkies”).

Seriously – it always makes me smile when I meet fellow Junkies… I’ve even had people who listen to the podcast stop me because they recognize my voice!  LOL!  That works too! 🙂

Honestly, if you’re in Atlantic City, I’d love to meet you…  I’ll be at the Parade, on the Boardwalk, at the finals, and at the after-party… It’s a quick whirlwind trip (considering most of you have been there the whole week), but it’ll be even more rewarding if I get the chance to meet you in person!

OK then – IT’S A DATE!  Find me so I can hug you and say “Thank You” for being a part of the Junkie Nation… It would be my honor 🙂

SEE YOU IN ATLANTIC CITY!!!!
#JunkiesLoveMissAmerica

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 13th, 2015

AHHHHHHHHH!!!!  HERE WE ARE!!!  IT’S FINALLY MISS AMERICA DAY!!!

I can’t believe it’s finally here – and frankly – I CAN’T BELIEVE WHAT A MEDIA SENSATION Miss America has become this year!!!

MAO’s new partnership with dick clark productions has turned this year’s pageant into the “Big Finale” you’re used to seeing with The Voice, American Idol and other Talent-focused reality shows!  You may not think that’s a big deal – but trust me, it is!

I anticipate this year’s competition will bring in big ratings tonight on ABC…  And while I certainly know Miss America shouldn’t be about the ratings, the truth is, strong ratings bring in sponsors. New sponsors then bring in legitimacy – as well as additional promotional dollars.  And when you have additional promotional dollars, ALL KINDS OF GOOD THINGS HAPPEN that can grow the program in positive ways!

In summary, I’d say it certainly looks like Miss America is on its way to becoming a respected household name once again!  AND THAT’S SOMETHING ALL JUNKIES SHOULD BE EXCITED ABOUT!!!

But enough about that!  You came here to see some picks!  Let’s do that!!! 🙂

Here’s how this works…

I’m going to pick a Top 15, a Top 10 and a Top 5, along with some other special awards.  But before I do, please remember the following…

1.  THIS IS SUPPOSED TO BE FUN!!!  Making picks is how The Junkies began over 10 years ago – And I whole-heartedly believe you can BE EXCITED for your favorite contestant without tearing another contestant down.  Think NCAA brackets in your office pool… The fun factor gets lost when “that one guy” in the office takes it too seriously.  Please don’t lose the “fun factor” in this email 🙂

2. I’M NOT PERFECT!!!  Please don’t be offended if your daughter/granddaughter/niece/cousin/sister/roommate/BFF/BAE isn’t on the list.  It doesn’t mean she’s not smart enough.  It doesn’t mean she’s not pretty enough.  It doesn’t mean she’s not talented enough.  It only means I’m not perfect!  Take it for what it’s worth!

3.  ALL ONLINE THIS YEAR!!!  Up until now, every year that I’ve been to Miss America, I’ve seen AT LEAST one preliminary competition.  Not this year!  I’m a little nervous that I could be WAY OFF in my predictions because of that (lol!)… I guess we’ll have to wait and see…

So – without further adieu, here we go…  IN RANDOM ORDER… It’s time for our picks for MISS AMERICA 2016!!!

TOP 15
Iowa
Florida
Idaho
South Carolina
New York
North Carolina
Indiana
Alabama
West Virginia
Colorado
Oklahoma
Utah
Mississippi
Louisiana
Georgia

Top 15 Bubbles (meaning, I think these girls are “on the bubble” and could make it into the Top 15)
Tennessee
California
Texas

Top 10
Louisiana
Alabama
New York
Florida
Iowa
South Carolina
Colorado
Georgia
West Virginia
Mississippi

Top 5
New York
Iowa
Louisiana
South Carolina
Alabama

America’s Choice
Oregon

Non-Finalist Talent Awards
Virginia
Arkansas
North Dakota
South Dakota

Non-Finalist Interview Award
Washington

DON’T FORGET!!!
If I said your name, I hope you prove me right, and if I didn’t say your name, I HOPE YOU PROVE ME WRONG!!!

Oh – If you’re here and you see me, PLEASE SAY HELLO!!!  I met a TON of new Junkies yesterday and I would love to meet even more Junkies today/tonight!!!

SEE YOU IN BOARDWALK HALL!!!
#JunkiesLoveMissAmerica

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 14th, 2015

OHHHHHH MYYYYYYY GAWDDD!!!! 🙂

Drama… Susprise… Suspense… Hot Judges… (*cough* Brett Eldridge)… THIS is why we’re all Hopeless Addicted to the Miss America Pageant!

What an AMAZING night in Atlantic City last night… Junkies are THRILLED we made the last-minute decision to attend all the festivities and couldn’t be happier with the results!!!

MISS AMERICA 2016 is MISS GEORGIA –  BETTY CANTRELL!!!

Betty was absolutely stunning on stage last night… And her listening to her talent was a memorable moment as well!  Seeing how happy she was to make each cut (Top 15, Top 12, Top 10, Top 7) leads me to believe she was doing her best to soak in every moment and appreciate the opportunity she’d been given.  As Miss America, Betty will get the chance to promote her platform, “Healthy Children, Strong America” through the Children’s Miracle Network and with MAO’s new partnership with FLOTUS.  She’ll also be a fabulous entertainer – and let’s face it – she’s gonna look gorgeous on the red carpet (thanks to dick clark productions).  Junkies Can’t Wait!!!

Fair Warning… This post is about to get really long… We thought we’d take a few minutes to answer some of the questions many of you have been asking via email and social media messages… If you don’t want to read the whole thing, that’s totally fine.  We’re going to do a podcast wrap-up that will release tomorrow as well (if that’s more your style).

So!  Let’s evaluate our picks from last night!  How did Junkies do???

Well, we went 10/15 with the first cut… AND – of the states we missed, we listed TN and TX as “bubbles” – Plus, we listed VA and AR as “non-finalist talent winners”… Leaving NE as the lone lady we missed (and she made it through the Top 12! Great job Alyssa!).

Through the next couple of rounds, we then finished… 7 out of 10 for the Top 10… And correctly identified 2 out of the Top 5.  NOT TOO SHABBY considering we didn’t see a single prelim all week!

Now – it’s time for a couple of overall thoughts as I prepare to board my flight home…

1.  VANESSA WILLIAMS!!!  So… I was all of nine years old when Vanessa was crowned – but I still remember it like it was yesterday!  To see her back on the Miss America stage… To be there in person when MAO publicly apologized to her… and to hear her sing, “Oh, How the Years Go By” is something I will never forget.  She exuded an incredible amount of poise and grace – and personally, I’m thrilled she came back to judge this year!  Vanessa even attended the Miss America “after party” and really seemed to be enjoying herself into the wee hours of the night (as I stood 10 feet away from her! LOL!).  In short – It. Was. Awesome. 🙂

2.  IOWA – Ok… I figure lots of people are going to ask me about this, so I thought I’d go ahead and bring it up.  For a double prelim winner to make the Top 15 but not the Top 10, is pretty unheard of.  All I have to say is, “different judges, different winner”.  Had we stayed with a one-panel system, I can’t declare that Iowa would’ve won, but I think it’s pretty safe to say Taylor would’ve gone farther (performing her Talent and perhaps answering an on-stage question).  It’s possible she was #11 and just missed the Top 10… The scoring up to that point had been based on swimsuit, evening gown and the contestant’s “composite score” (which is a 1-10 score given to each contestant by the first panel based on their overall impression of each individual contestant).  I’ve got to believe Iowa had a pretty decent composite score (as anyone who’d won both prelim talent and swimsuit would likely have) – So, for whatever reason, the second panel did not feel as strongly about Taylor’s swimsuit and gown presentation as the first panel did.  Different Judges, Different Winner.  Doesn’t take away from how awesome she is as an individual. 🙂

3.  TALENTS – From what I can tell, many Junkies weren’t necessarily all that impressed with the talents displayed by the Top 10 contestants… But from where I sat in Boardwalk Hall, I thought it was one of the better Talent nights in recent history!  GA, LA and MS all sounded incredible “in the house” – FL and AL danced beautifully, and CO stunned the world!  Apparently, based on some of the comments you’re leaving on Facebook, many of you don’t agree.  Perhaps there needs to be some improvement in how the audio gets fed to the television audience in the future – Because when you were there live and in person, nobody’s talent sounded abysmal.  I’ve certainly heard much worse (HA!).

4.  ON-STAGE QUESTION – Another new part of the judging process this year was the way the on-stage question affected the final outcome.  In years past, the Top 5 ladies were announced, their scores were wiped completely clean, and after they answered their final question, the judges would “rank” each contestant from top to bottom (1, 2, 3, 4, 5).  This year, the contestants kept their scores, and the final question counted for 20% of their overall total.  That means, even though Georgia thought she blew her final question, obviously she did not (or it would’ve been mathematically difficult to still be named the winner).  Add in Mississippi’s strength of conviction and Colorado’s ‘memorable answer,’ and I can easily see why these 3 ladies finished in the Top 3 positions.

5.  ADDITIONAL AWARD WINNERS – Although I wish I had a full run-down of the additional awards given away at Miss America (non-finalist talent, congeniality, etc), I’m afraid I haven’t seen a list yet!  Promise to update you as soon as I do!

6.  PODCAST WRAP UP – This Newsletter is just a taste of what I’ll be talking about during tomorrow’s Pageant Junkies Podcast… I’ll be offering my thoughts and opinions about everything above and more (this post is already too long!)!  Plus, I can’t wait to share some of the awesome stories about people we met in Atlantic City!  Who knows – you may just hear your own name on tomorrow’s Pageant Junkies Podcast – DON’T MISS IT!!!

AND THERE YOU HAVE IT!!!  Hope you enjoyed this brief wrap-up and that you also enjoyed playing the “prediction game” this year!  Don’t forget to watch all your favorite ABC daytime programs Tuesday morning for Betty Cantrell’s media tour in NYC!  Plus, I have a feeling Miss Colorado may end up on “Ellen” in the near future too (LOL!)!

I can’t wait to see Betty begin her year and watch MAO’s partnership with dick clark productions unfold… I have a feeling there are some really incredible things on the horizon for die-hard Miss America fans like us!!!

Until next time… You’re always welcome to email me your questions, thoughts, theories, ideas, or even your favorite Miss America moments…  We’re all Junkies and we’re all in this together!  I look forward to continuing to offer positive pageant commentary about the Miss America Organization and doing my very best to continue to enable everyone who’s Hopelessly Addicted to the Miss America Program! 🙂

#BIGJUNKIELOVE
Carrie Lakey

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16th, 2015

Final Miss America award winners announced!!!

On the left… Non-Finalist Talent Award Winners:
DELAWARE (Tap and Twirl)
VERMONT (Science Experiment)
IDAHO (Vocal and Guitar)
MARYLAND (Vocal and Guitar)

On the right… Non-Finalist Interview Award:
NEW MEXICO

Louanne Gamba Top Instrumental Award
MISSISSIPPI (Classical Violin)

Miss Congeniality
HAWAII

Congratulations Ladies!!!
#JunkiesLoveMissAmerica

PS – If you enjoyed this round of predictions, be sure to check out our state predictions at this link…

Or – You can check out our predictions for MAOTeen at this link…

Or – If you want to know more about how we choose the ladies who make our predictions lists, you can check that out at this link…

HELLO JUNKIE NATION!!!

After my whirlwind weekend in Atlantic City (and very little sleep), the only thing I wanted to do today was go to the grocery store, then change back into my jammies, and lay around all afternoon eating bon-bons.

However, my mind just won’t stop thinking about Miss America!  Plus, I keep getting questions about Betty, about Vanessa, about how a double prelim winner ends up missing the Top 10… So, instead of enjoying my bon bons, I decided to get dressed, brush out my day-old pageant hair, and answer them with this post.  🙂

LET’S START WITH BETTY…

First – Junkies wanna offer a HUGE CONGRATULATIONS to BETTY CANTRELL, MISS AMERICA 2016!!!  We all know winning Miss America is a total crap-shoot (and PLEASE KNOW – I always use that term affectionately).  As a Miss America contestant, your job is to stand out from a field of 50+ women who are at the top of their game.  But I’m afraid that’s not enough – You also need to get 7 total strangers (the judges) to fall in love with you!  This year, because we had a preliminary panel of judges and a completely different final night panel of judges, the odds stacked up even further against each contestant!  Why?  Because now, as a Miss America contestant, you need to get 14 people to fall in love with you!  Not an easy feat at all!

Many Junkies also know that we didn’t have Betty in our Top 5 – But after learning a few things about her over the last couple of days, we’re kicking ourselves for not doing enough research!  There are some crazy similarities between Betty and “Founding Junkie” (that’s me) that I just never knew before!

So – in the effort to “Get to know Betty a Bit Better” – Here’s our list of “Everything I wish I would’ve known about Betty Cantrell” before the Miss America competition began…

The Girl Grew Up on a Farm.

Look – I’m from Kansas.  And yes, I grew up on a farm.  Betty can drive a tractor and so can I!  Betty didn’t have cable and neither did I!  She loved watching Andy Griffith and I thought everyone watched Happy Days and Laverne & Shirley as often as they could.  I had no idea we had so much in common (lol!)

Betty is Greek!

Betty’s original name is Baciliky, after her Greek grandmother (btw – Baciliky means “Royalty”).  You’re going to think I’m joking, but I have a Greek grandmother too (although my sister is named after her, not me).  When I learned Betty was Greek, I began to wonder if perhaps we were switched at birth (and someone added 20 years between us).  It’s possible.

She Thinks Tom Brady Cheated.

Again, crazy too, because I also think Tom Brady cheated!  Another uncanny similarity.  Where will it end???

She’s a Phenomenal Opera Singer.  Well – this is where our similarities come to a screeching halt, because Betty could pretty much sing circles around me in her sleep!  During her Miss America press conference, the judges said Betty’s Talent performance gave them “goosebumps and chills” which is pretty unheard of, coming from a group of celebrity judges who make their living entertaining others.  #Amazing

So – now you know everything I wish I would’ve known about Betty Cantrell…  I take full responsibility for not doing adequate amounts of research on Betty prior to the competition.  We picked Betty to win prelim talent on her talent night because I KNEW she could sing, but I had no clue about all these other fun things we had in common!  My bad for not digging deeper and discovering the potential Miss America inside. 🙂  CONGRATS again to Betty and Team Georgia for their big win!!!

Oh – and if you’re looking for our full list of predictions, we’ll be posting them later this week 🙂

MISS IOWA LEFT OUT OF THE TOP 10

Now – Another question I keep getting has to do with Miss Iowa, Taylor Weibers, not making the Top 10.  For those of you who don’t know, Taylor was a double preliminary winner at Miss America this year (which is pretty darn rare)… So I completely understand why many of you have lingering questions. I have a couple of thoughts on this one… Here they are…

Obviously, the first place I look is the fact that this year, Miss America used a two-panel system.  There are several reasons why Miss America uses the 2 panel system this year… Here’s just a couple of them…

• The first panel needs to give up their whole week to serve as a judge, the second panel only needs to be there a couple of days.
• The first panel can have judges who are more “specialized” in their field of expertise, the second panel can have judges who are more “well-known” across the country for their individual fame and/or success.
• But the most important selling point of having a two panel system, is the fact that we now have 14 people’s opinions instead of just 7.

Everyone knows, the larger your sample size, the more accurate the final assessment will be.  In this case, fourteen people made their selection based on their collective opinions, which allows for a greater consensus of opinion.  But let me give you a thought as to what may have happened to Miss Iowa when you employ 2 panels of judges.

So, the first panel gives Taylor the prelim win for both Talent and Swimsuit on her night.  There are 7 judges on the prelim panel – so for the sake of argument – let’s say all 7 loved Taylor.  If that was the case, Taylor would’ve received 9’s or 10’s from each judge when she received her “composite score”.  That composite score is what carries over from the prelims and is the only score a contestant has before her performance begins Sunday night.

Because Taylor only made it through the swimsuit and gown rounds of competition (not into the Talent round), I’m led to believe that all 7 prelim judges didn’t love her.  Quick side note here – it’s crazy to think you can ever get ALL of the judges to agree on one contestant… especially at Miss America!!!  We all have our own “personal opinions” – So to have all 7 judges agree on one contestant is kinda crazy.  It RARELY ever happens!

Personally, and this is total speculation on my part, I believe 4 out of 7 judges loved Taylor.  That majority (4 out of 7) gave her the prelim swimsuit and talent wins.  This means Miss Iowa had a “majority” but not necessarily a “consensus” – those are two different things.

When you bring on a brand new set of judges… It’s likely that Taylor Wiebers simply didn’t have a “majority” or a “consensus” with the new judges.  Maybe it’s because they weren’t in the room with her during her private interview.  Maybe it’s because Taylor didn’t have the same energy on the final night that she had during the week.  Maybe it’s because we’re all human and we all have different qualities that attract each of us to one another.  And maybe, just maybe, out of 14 judges, Taylor still had 4 or 5 that really adored her – but it just wasn’t enough to get her into the Talent competition.

Again – I have no clue if that’s what happened or not… it’s purely speculation on my part.  But it does give an explanation for how a prelim swimsuit and prelim talent winner – something that hadn’t been accomplished in 15 years at Miss America – could be left out of the Top 10.

As I said in my Newsletter yesterday, whatever the reason, it doesn’t diminish Taylor’s incredible personality, talent and grace to handle the whole situation.  It takes nothing away from her ability to be an outstanding Miss Iowa!  She has the opportunity to define herself and her year as she sees fit – not as how 14 people saw her.  CONGRATS TAYLOR WIEBERS for being YOU!  Can’t wait to watch you finish your year as Miss Iowa 2015!!!

VANESSA WILLIAMS and the MAO APOLOGY…

And finally, the other comment/question I keep getting from Junkies is in regard to Vanessa Williams…  A few Junkies out there believe it wasn’t a good thing to bring Vanessa back to Miss America… Let alone have so many people celebrating her return!  Further, many people feel it was unnecessary for MAO to apologize to Vanessa because she’s the one who violated her contract.

Time for a quick Miss America history lesson – Years before she was named Miss America, Vanessa Williams had nude photos taken of her which violated the morals clause in the contract… In addition, Vanessa later admitted to having an abortion in high school, which was also against contract rules at the time that she won.

Here’s my two cents…

Sam Haskell didn’t apologize for taking away Vanessa’s crown in 1984.  Instead, he was apologizing for the way Vanessa was treated by the Miss America Organization 32 years ago.

I was only nine at the time the whole thing went down with Vanessa… But even I knew it was a “scandal” (and that was before the word scandal started being used for every “gotcha moment” in recent history).

After someone discovered dirty photos of her (taken before she was crowned), and Penthouse Magazine threatened to publish them, Miss America feared the pageant would be forever tainted by allowing Vanessa Williams to keep her crown.  Sponsors threatened to pull out completely and leave Miss America high and dry a mere seven weeks before the new pageant was going to take place.  People couldn’t believe the “American Ideal” would have such a dark secret in her closet and for most people, this was extremely risque for 1984.

Tragically, once Vanessa resigned her title, she also faced a great deal of ridicule from the African-American community.  Although she had been a hero for being crowned the first African-American Miss America, many in the black community began to call her “Nasty Nessa” and “Vanessa the Undressa”.  Here she was, one of the most celebrated Miss America winners to date – and now, she was nothing but trash.

And while I know you can’t control what other people think about you, you need to know, the Miss America Organization did nothing to help.  They tried to distance themselves as far away from Vanessa as possible.  They did her no favors in the PR department.  They ostracized her and they shunned her.   They walked away and the press hung her out to dry.  Through MAO’s inaction, they essentially allowed her to be publicly humiliated.

In case you can’t quite get your arms around this yet… Take Vanessa’s situation from 1984 and place it in 2015.  When I do that, here’s what I get…

It’s as if her entire private photo session was videoed without her permission, and then it was uploaded to YouTube.  It was then promoted, “shared, liked and commented” on by millions of people who passed judgement on her without ever speaking to her – or hearing her full side of the story.  Then, she suffered the all-encompassing act of “twitter shame” which ultimately caused her to resign her title.  And nobody from the Miss America Organization did anything about it.

I don’t care what kind of “wrong” or “sin” or “whatever you want to call it” – has been committed…  People don’t deserve to be treated that way.

I’m certain we’ll never know everything Vanessa and her family went through during those years, but I do know, public humiliation is never a good thing.  I also know the Miss America Organization could’ve done a heck of a lot more to spare Vanessa from that kind of humiliation, but they were too worried about keeping the upstanding image of their pageant from being tarnished.

Whenever you seek the protection of an institution – at the expense of the individual – you’re making the wrong choice.  I’m not saying Vanessa should’ve kept her title.  I’m saying the whole thing could’ve been handled a bazillion times better than it was.  You can cut ties with people and still do it in an appropriate way.  Nobody deserves to be crucified in the public square the way Vanessa was.

And for that – Miss America needed to apologize.

I for one, am so glad they did.  Everyone I’ve ever spoken to about the competition that year, says that Vanessa was CLEARLY the winner.  She was beautiful, she was well-spoken, and she was insanely talented.  Her efforts were rewarded by winning both the Talent and Swimsuit preliminary competitions her year.  To say that she shouldn’t have been named Miss America 1984 is just silly!  Her long list of accomplishments as a vocalist, and as an actress on the big screen, television and Broadway, speaks for itself.  She was the correct choice.  She simply made a mistake earlier in her life and unfortunately, she suffered severely for it.

Again, I’m not saying Vanessa should’ve been allowed to keep her title.  But I am saying, Miss America needed to apologize.  Not for Vanessa’s sake… Obviously, she’s moved on and doesn’t appear to be holding any grudges.  No, Miss America needed to apologize for our sake.  The fans need to know that whatever our personal disagreements with contestants, volunteers, directors or anyone else involved with the Miss America Organization – We need to hold fast to the individual more than the institution.  Treating others with respect and loyalty is the best way to advance the cause of any organization.  And as long as Miss America remembers that, we’ll never need to offer a public apology to any of our titleholders, ever again.

And there you have it!  Those are my long-winded thoughts on all the controversial topics of the week! Again, I’ll be posting a full run-down of my picks, that were originally released in the Newsletter, a little later this week!  Also – I’ve recently posted a podcast talking about our time in Atlantic City – we do an awful lot of name dropping in it because we met a TON of Junkies during Miss America!  Feel free to listen to this link here if you think your name might be mentioned!

Otherwise, be sure to check back in to see our post about our predictions!  And as always, I’m happy to hear your thoughts/comments below!

Thanks for being a part of the Junkie-Nation!  Now, where are those bon-bons…? 🙂

#BigJunkieLove

Carrie Lakey