Everyone always wants to know our Top 10/Top 5… And trust me – that list is coming soon enough!  But in the meantime, we compiled the Top 10 and Top 5 states who had the most ‘hits’ or pageviews on our blog – and now’s the time to share THAT list with you!

However, before we ‘announce the final results’ we thought we’d take a few moments to answer some additional questions that have come up… Always love going to the Junkies Mailbox… 🙂  Here goes!

So, Junkies went 45/51 and missed 6 states this year… Which states did you miss?
– We missed Vermont, New Hampshire, Nebraska, Pennsylvania, Arizona and West Virginia (BOO!).  It’s our 2nd time in a row missing New Hampshire (Ugh!) – all other states were correctly predicted last year – and you can bet, these states are on our radar for next year!

Just curious – Did you have a “perfect state” that you picked this year?
– Junkies did pick the perfect state in Nevada!  We listed 5 names and all 5 girls were in the Top 5! Honorable Mention goes to Idaho and Washington where we listed 9 names and 8 of those 9 girls made the Top 10.  We were 7 of 8 in New Mexico… and perhaps some other states had strong finishes too… Unfortunately, we didn’t keep all of the “Top 10” info from each pageant (lesson learned…)

Just curious – How many total contestants were there this year?
– 1408 contestants.  That’s right – 1408.  Because 51 of the 53 pageants were held in 8 consecutive weeks… that means, on average, we were researching 176 girls every week for 8 solid weeks!!!  Most people only care about 1 or 2 state pageants – but our job is to research 176 girls every week.  This alone is one of the biggest reasons why we continue to say, “we’re not perfect”… that’s a whole lot of research in a short amount of time and we fall short every once in a while.

I don’t understand – I thought Miss America had 53 contestants?  Didn’t you do 53 state blogs?
– Yes… We did write 53 state blogs, but because Maine and Virgin Islands had a super small number of contestants (5 in Maine, 4 in VI) – we simply listed everyone’s name and didn’t “choose” a winner/runner up.  Not cool to include them in our total when we listed everyone participating 🙂

I don’t understand – How did you get 189 out of 253 when it comes to predicting the Top 5?
– In the state of Wyoming, they offered awards for the 2nd runner up, 1st runner up and winner… Hence, “3” in the state of WY and Top 5 everywhere else.  And once again, I didn’t count Maine or Virgin Islands because we listed everyone instead of choosing only 1 or 2 names.

Honestly, I don’t care about all that stuff… Just tell me… WHICH STATE RECEIVED THE MOST PAGEVIEWS on your BLOG???
– LOL!  Ok – Ok – Without Further Adeiu… It’s time for the ‘big announcement’… 🙂

This year, our Top 10 most viewed state blogs include:

Florida – Georgia – Oklahoma – Pennsylvania – Arkansas – Rhode Island – South Carolina – Alabama – California and Tennessee!!!

And now –

The 4th Runner Up – MISS OKLAHOMA – Alex Eppler!

The 3rd Runner Up – MISS TENNESSEE – Haley Lewis!

The 2nd Runner Up – MISS SOUTH CAROLINA – Lanie Hudson!

The 1st Runner Up – MISS CALIFORNIA – Marina Inserra!!!

And The State with the Most Pageviews on the Miss America Junkies blog for 2014 is….

MISS PENNSYLVANIA – AMANDA SMITH!!!

CONGRATULATIONS LADIES!!!  These 5 states accounted for more than 9000 pageviews and obviously have INCREDIBLE FANS!!!  Thanks so much for making this year’s “Junkie Prediction Blogs” so much fun!!!

And GOOD LUCK LADIES!  May your Top 5 finish within MAJ be an indication of great things still to come!!! 🙂

MAJ

WHOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOOOO!!!  WE MADE IT!!!

Junkies are always super relieved when the final state blog is posted and the final state is predicted – and we haven’t lost our sanity in the process (because, although some may question our sanity, I’m happy to say, it is still intact).

It’s our first year to write these “MAJ Update Posts”… (Our first one is here… in case you missed it).

The whole point behind our “Update Posts” is to keep ourselves honest. 🙂  After all, we’re the ones who call ourselves “Junkies” and it might be a bit embarrassing to discover that people who claim to be “Junkies” aren’t any good at what they do!  Further – in addition to keeping track of state winners, we “upped the ante” this year and also started keeping track of how many women finished in the Top 5.  Today’s post is a wrap-up of not just the most recent state predictions, but the whole Kitten-Caboodle as well (Junkie Kitty likes it when we use the phrase “Kitten-Caboodle”) 🙂

So – Let’s start with some results from the past few weeks!

Miss Massachusetts – 4 for 5, listed the Winner
Miss Texas – 4 for 5, listed the Winner
Miss Washington – 5 for 5, listed the Winner

And now – the results from this most previous weekend…

Miss Mississippi – 4 for 5, listed the Winner
Miss Kentucky – 5 for 5, listed the Winner
Miss Idaho – 5 for 5, listed the Winner

Not a bad way to end the state pageant season!  Junkies go 6 for 6 when correctly listing the winner and 27 for 30 when correctly listing ladies who finished in the top 5. WHOOOOO HOOOOOO!!!

Now, before we move on, we want to make sure we address something else that’s come up… A few folks have been asking if we updated our results since the ‘recent changes’ in Florida and Delaware… So – just to keep everyone honest, here’s what’s cooking there…

Florida – We listed both Elizabeth Fechtel and Victoria Cowen in our prediction list – so no adjustments or changes are necessary.  When it comes to Delaware – The new Top 5 was just announced last week!  Everyone moved up a slot and a new 4th runner up was named… So now… here’s where we stand…

Florida – 4 for 5, listed the winner (no changes)
Delaware – 3 for 5 instead of 4 for 5, listed the winner

(Junkies adjusted MAJ Update #2 accordingly, and then factored said numbers into MAJ Update #3 – just in case you were playing this game at home 🙂

THEREFORE – When you add in the 6 states listed above AND the updates from FL and DE – the big, whoppin’, grand-stinkin’ cumulative total for 2014 is…..

PREDICTIONS for STATE WINNERS – 45 for 51 (88%)
and
PREDICTIONS for TOP 5 FINISHERS – 189 for 253 (75%)

AND THERE YOU HAVE IT!!!  WHEW!!!  Hoping these numbers allow us to keep calling ourselves “Junkies” for at least another year – and of course, in true pageant-girl fashion, we hope we can improve on this year’s performance to finish even higher next year!

DON’T WORRY – the Blog will remain active between now and September – Trust me, there’s A LOT going on in the next nine weeks before we crown A NEW MISS AMERICA!!!  That’s Right – it’s only NINE WEEKS AWAY!!! 🙂

And you can bet – we’re spending a great deal of our time between now and then – trying to figure out, who’s gonna win the whole Kitten Caboodle! 🙂

Stick Around Junkies…  The Fun has just Begun!!! 🙂

MAJ

Just like they always say – You gotta save the BEST for last… 🙂

Sarah Downs, Miss Idaho 2013 is a lover of the Miss America system through and through…  In her very first appearance as Miss ID 2013, Sarah explained that she believed in the program so much, that she planned to ‘just keep competing’ until she was no longer able to do so.  During her first 3 trips to Miss ID, Sarah never even made the Top 10… But that didn’t stop her!  All you need is one year when it all comes together at the right time, for the right reasons 🙂

For Sarah, one of those reasons was her dedication to her platform – “Taking Back our Health – Promoting Nutrition”.  Sarah says she gained a significant amount of weight when she was a freshman in college However, once she changed her eating habits and began exercising, she lost 40 pounds and was more than willing to change her platform to better represent her personal experiences.

Sarah’s hard work and dedication was rewarded not just with the title of Miss Idaho – but also with the Miss America “Four Points Award”.  This special scholarship is given to the contestant whose platform best represents all 4 points of the crown – Service, Scholarship, Style and Success.  And speaking of Success – those Idaho ladies certainly have a winning streak going when it comes to the Four Points award!  This award has been given away for 3 years – and guess who’s won the award each year?  MISS IDAHO!!!

CONGRATS to Sarah Downs for continuing the tradition of excellence in your state – and for representing everything the Miss America program stands for… You strike us as the kind of person who truly wants to improve yourself and grow into a talented, self-confident, well-spoken, mature, young woman.  And for that, Big Junkie Kudos come your way! 🙂

And speaking of Junkie Kudos – O.M.G. – Do we ever have a bunch of Crazy Junkies in the state of Idaho!!!  You ladies are off the hook!  LOL!  Idaho definitely has the most “interaction” with the Junkies – whether through social media posts, retweets or personal messages – and we LOVE every minute of it!  Looks like The Junkies may have to make a trip to Nampa, ID in the future… 🙂

And for the record – because you’re all so accomplished and bring so many incredible things to the table, we REALLY want to put each of your names on the list!  But unfortunately, that’s not how the blog works (sniff sniff)…

So – here’s the deal… If we list your name, we hope you prove us right! 🙂  And if we don’t, WE HOPE YOU PROVE US WRONG!!!  GOOD LUCK LADIES!!!  #DoYourBest #BeProud #JunkiesLoveID

Junkies Say Here’s Who to Watch:

Kaitlin Anderson – 1st RU ’13, 4th RU ’12
Kali Wright – Top 11 ’13 – fabulous headshot, lovely voice
Dani Beckstorm – Top 11 ’13, ID OT ’08, currently anchor/reporter for KVPI TV
Sierra Sandison – Rookie Interview “Powerlifting challenge” winner and record setter
Kristen Tatilian – Prelim SS ’10
Katelyn Stroble – Speech and Debate Team President at BYU
Brittany Lock – 2nd RU ID Teen USA ’11, ID OT contestant
Megan Wilson – Miracle Maker award ’13
Carolyn Pace – Yoga Talent, articulate, Sustainable Consumerism platform

GO GET ‘EM LADIES!!!  JUNKIES LOVE IDAHO!!! 🙂

MAJ