Miss Virginia 2013, Desiree Williams has a bit of an unusual beginning to her pageant career… After doing some research on her pageant background, we had to laugh… and share what we discovered!

When Desiree toured Hampton University as a high school senior, she happened to see the Miss Hampton pageant.  At that point, she told her mother and her grandmother that if she were to attend Hampton, one day she would be Miss Hampton University.  Four years later, she gave it a shot…. and won!  That night, she said she called her mom and told her, “I WON!”  Her mom’s reply was… “Won what?” LOL!

Miss Hampton wasn’t the only thing Desiree won… She was named the first runner up to Miss Virginia in 2012 and then traveled to fabulous Hoopeston, Illinois for the National Sweetheart Pageant (If you haven’t heard of Miss Sweetheart – check it out at this link here – Junkies LOVE Sweetheart!)… That’s when Desi “won” again and was named Miss National Sweetheart 2012!  She then won another local, went back to Miss Virginia and won the title of Miss VA 2013.

***Junkie Trivia Time!  Who was the last Miss Sweetheart winner to go back and win her own state title?  Erica Gelhaus – Ohio, way back in ’07! 🙂

And even though Desiree didn’t win the title of Miss America, she ABSOLUTELY won the MAJ award for BEST LEGS during the Show Us Your Shoes Parade in Atlantic City!  OH BABY – Check out those LEGS!!!  NO CONTEST!!!  WHOOOOOOO HOOOOOOO!!!! 🙂

All the best to Desi as she finishes grad school debt free, thanks to her time in the Miss America program. 🙂

Miss Virginia 2014 is shaping up to be quite an interesting contest!  Most people think it’s going to come down to the top 2 girls on our list… but don’t be surprised if another name or 2 sneak in there!  This is one contest we’re going to be watching closely – Anything can happen!

Oh – and if you love photos of pageant week, BOY ARE YOU IN LUCK!!!  Virginia has one of the best volunteers/supporters of Miss America in Julius Tolentino – and his photos are fabulous!  There’s already several albums available including photos of the ladies in their evening gowns and their swimsuits!  You can see them at this link here!

Now – here we go! 🙂

Junkies Say Here’s Who to Watch:

Victoria Maiden – 3rd RU ’13, Prelim SS, 2nd RU ’12, 4th RU at Miss Sweetheart
Courtney Garrett – 2nd RU ’13, Prelim Talent, 1st RU ’11, VA OT ’09, Top 10 at Nationals
Addison Walker – DYW of VA ’11
Savannah Lane – 4th RU ’13, 1st RU VA OT ’12
Delesia Watson – Miss VA NAM ’09, Top 12 VA USA ’11, NY contestant ’13
Sara Grace Fitzsimmons – Top 10 ’13
Haylee Hunt – radiates ‘spunk’ in her photos
Elizabeth Martin – great presence

JUNKIES LOVE VIRGINIA!!!  WHOOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!  GOOD LUCK LADIES!!!

MAJ

Miss Maryland 2013, Christina Denny reminds everyone of something very important…

From an article in the Baltimore Sun…

        After returning to Maryland early Monday morning, Denny said she wants to get some much-needed sleep.
        “It’s nice to be home,” Denny said. “I’m going to relax, catch up on some sleep, and then I will be back to being Miss Maryland.”
        Denny plans to spend the rest of the year serving her term as Miss Maryland. She’ll also work part-time as a tutor, and apply to grad schools for speech pathology.
        “I know my students miss me, and I miss them,” she said. “I’m going to get started on my grad school applications and send those out. That will be the next thing that I do. That will be the next chapter of my life.”

Please forgive me in advance for jumping on the Junkie Soapbox…  But, if being “Miss State” is going to be the most important thing you accomplish throughout the course of your lifetime then (*ahem)… May we kindly suggest you stop competing? 🙂  Here’s why…

Pageants should ALWAYS serve as a ‘stepping stone’ to the next chapter of your life.  They should be a vehicle to get you where you want to go – not the final destination.  Certainly a ‘fun’ vehicle – with the chance to meet incredible people and wear fabulous shoes along the way… 🙂 But a vehicle nonetheless.  There should be many, many, MANY more chapters ahead of you… regardless of the outcome of your state pageant. 🙂

Ok – Thanks for the rabbit trail… Back to Miss MD… Besides being extremely level-headed, we’re pretty sure Christina Denny also put the song “For Good” from the musical “Wicked” on the map for future Miss America contestants.  No, she wasn’t the first ever to sing it – but she sang it WELL – and we’ve noticed many different girls across the country are now singing it this year for their Talent.

In the same article above, Christina mentions that as soon as she performed her talent as a member of the Top 10, she ran back to the dressing room and yelled, “I just got to sing on National TV”!!!  What a moment, indeed! 🙂

Enjoy Grad School Christina!  Congrats on your well-deserved Top 10 placement!  And go get that next chapter of your life! 🙂

When it comes to Miss Maryland 2014 – we’ve got ourselves another strong competition ahead!

Junkies Say Here’s Who to Watch:

Stephanie Meadowcraft – 3rd runner up ’13, Top 10 ’12, MD OT in ’09
Sara Zeng – 2nd runner up ’13, overall Talent ’13
Morgan Lash – Miss Teen MD US ’13
Ebony Sherrill – NAM MD Jr. Teen ’07, MD Teen USA SS award ’10, Prelim SS ’13
Jade Kenny – Miss AL International ’12, 2nd runner up at Nationals, Top 10 in ’13 and ’11, Prelim SS ’13
Kendall Smith – Top 10 in ’12 and ’13
Emily Logan – Jr. Junkie Reporter in Training – All Grown Up!!! 🙂
Samantha Hawkins – 1st runner up ’13, Prelim SS – has pulled out of the competition to take a fellowship at Harvard – she will not compete

ALL THE BEST LADIES!!!  GOOD LUCK!!! 🙂

MAJ

If you follow Miss Oregon 2013 Allison Cook on social media, you know she’s incredibly active!  She’s always making appearances, speaking at schools, and is happy to be a part of whatever activity she’s been invited to attend.  So, when we read the following article in TheWorldLink.com, we were shocked to learn what she deals with on a day to day basis… We snagged part of the article here and posted it below for you to enjoy…

          Seems like obvious advice on its surface, but for Miss Oregon Allison Cook, it’s a message that she’s turned into her own personal platform.  After five concussions in her own life, the junior volleyball player at Oregon Institute of Technology delivered a warning of what concussions can result in to the 16 teams ready to compete in the Class 3A state basketball tournament this week.
          “It’s not just getting your bell rung anymore. Your brain controls every center of your body, It controls all of your functions,” said Cook…”
          Cook, 20, didn’t hold back details of each of her concussions. Her first came in sixth grade when she was playing basketball, then she got two more playing basketball in the span on four months during her sophomore year of high school. The second one (third overall) she lost her vision for 15 minutes, and Cook has had headaches every single day since.
          She got her fourth getting hit by a volleyball while playing at Oregon Tech and then —  just a two-and-a-half weeks ago — she took an airbag to the face in a car accident for concussion No. 5.
Because of the constant concussions, Cook has had the headaches, her body has lost its ability to tell her that’s she’s hungry, she now an insomniac, and she was honest enough to say she had acne like she’s “12 years old.”
          “Concussions are so much more than hitting your brain and having to sit out of a game,” Cook said. “Concussions control your life.”

Allison’s presence all over the state as Miss Oregon – just became all the more impressive to us… Thanks for sharing your message Allison… Junkies know you’ve made a difference during your reign. 🙂

And now – when we were researching Miss Oregon 2014, we discovered a significant amount of experience returning this year!  Here’s where we landed – Good Luck Ladies!!! 🙂

Junkies Say Here’s Who to Watch:

Rebecca Anderson – 3rd RU ’13, Top 10 ’11 and ’12
Kayla Gordon – 1st runner up ’13
Audri Rousseau – DYW OR ’11
Elizabeth Denny – 2nd RU ’11,
Alexis Mather – Top 10 ’13, Prelim Talent
JoAnna Adkisson – OR OT ’08
Quinlyn Demig – 4th RU ’13
Alexi Provost-Shean – OR OT ’12
Gabrielle Nielan – OR USA ’13, Miss Congeniality, OR US ’12, Top 16 at Nationals
Twila Tschan – Top 10 ’12, strong interview

WHOOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOOO FOR OREGON!!!  JUNKIES LOVE YA!!! 🙂

MAJ

California knows what they’re doing when it comes to Miss America.

Since 2003, California has had 5 women finish in the Top 5 – and 4 more ladies finish in the Top 10 or better (i.e., Top 8, etc)!  That’s an OUTSTANDING record hard to match over that same period of time. 

Miss California 2013 Crystal Lee certainly helped extend that streak – She was one of two ladies we predicted would finish in the Top 5 at Miss America (Oklahoma was the other) and she has been a shinning example of how to increase the profile of a “Miss State.”  Her presence on social media has been one of the strongest we’ve seen all year – and her passion for ‘branding’ herself and the Miss America organization has been superb.

When Michael Jeong interviewed Crystal for “Asian Week”, he asked her “What is something most people don’t realize about the Miss America pageant?”  Crystal responded, saying,

          “We are essentially athletes. It’s just as mental as it is physical. Most onlookers think it’s all about how you look- but having been on the inside, let me tell you that how you think and how you act is equally important. At the national competition, every contestant is gorgeous and at her peak physical condition. Onstage, each girl can be as beautiful as the next. Where the judges select the winner is the interview. A magnetic personality and inner beauty takes you much farther than just having the prettiest face.”

Jeong also asked the First Runner Up to Miss America what was going though her mind when she and Nina were standing alone, and whether or not she realized that both she and Nina were Asian.

        
          “In those final moments, I was focused on the announcement of results and didn’t think about us being Asian. I’ve always thought of myself to be just as American as I am Asian. Our country has always been composed of immigrant backgrounds – whether or not your appearance reflects it. The order in which one’s forefathers arrived doesn’t make their descendants more or less American.”

WELL SAID!  Junkies couldn’t agree more! 

Crystal’s future is bright – This 1st Runner up and STEM Scholarship Winner already has her BA in Biology and MA in Communications from Stanford.  That tells us it might be easier to predict what Crystal won’t do in life – rather than what she will do!  The sky is the limit!

So – who has the best chance of continuing the California streak at Miss America???

Junkies Say Here’s who to Watch:

Caylynn Simonsin – 1st RU ’13, Prelim SS ’13, 2nd RU ’12, Top 12 ’11
Katie Wayland – Non-finalist Talent award ’13, hilarious video!
Jordan Krinkle – CA OT ’07, 3rd RU ’13, Winner of Miss Sweetheart ’13
Gabriela Garcia –  Top 15 in ’13
Carly Valdes – Top 12 in ’12 and ’13
Marina Inserra – Top 10 ’13, 4th RU ’12, SS prelim ’10
Stephanie Patterson – Top 10 ’13
Bree Morse – Top 15 in ’13
Shelby Sinkler – CA OT ’10

Additional Ladies Who Catch Our Eye…

Izamar Olaguez
Jessica Tonti
Rita Garabet
Kelsey Schwartz

AND – The state of California is celebrating its 90th ANNIVERSARY this week – HUGE CONGRATS to everyone who’s made such a milestone possible!!!

ALL THE BEST LADIES!!! JUNKIES LOVE CALIFORNIA!!! 🙂

MAJ

Miss South Carolina 2013, Brooke Mosteller, is a mover and a shaker if we ever saw one.

Do a quick google search on Brooke and here’s what you discover…

1. She’s completed her first year as a Law Student at the University of South Carolina School of Law.
2. In 2009, she created “Go Higher” and helped institute a college application day for High School Seniors in SC which streamlines the application process.  This year, 185 high schools participated and over 40,000 students applied to college.
3. Was named 1st runner up for the Miss America Quality of Life award thanks to “Go Higher”.
3. Won Miss Congeniality at Miss South Carolina AND Miss America!
4. Raised $79,000 for the Children’s Miracle Network and won the Miss America “Miracle Maker” award for the most money raised this year (and shattered the previous record)
5. Is now lobbying for a state-wide law against texting and driving in SC
6. Won $14,000 in scholarships at Miss America!!!

Talk about making the most of your Miss America experience!  Just for some perspective – there were only 4 other girls at Miss America who won more than $14,000 — Nina Davuluri – Winner, Crystal Lee – 1st RU, Kelsey Griswold – 2nd RU and Myrrhanda Jones – 3rd RU.  It certainly goes to prove your time at Miss America can be fruitful and rewarding, far beyond whether or not you’re selected in the Top 15!  Junkies know Brooke’s impact and legacy on South Carolina will be significantly recognized for years and years to come – the girl is impressive to the core AND – she must be the nicest person you ever met in your entire life (who else wins Miss Congeniality at their home state and Miss America???).  Seriously – Brooke, we can tell you are ‘our kind’ of people here at MAJ!  ALL THE BEST!!!

And now – After 2 killer queens in a row (Ali Rogers – 1st runner up to Mallory Hagan and Brooke Mosteller), who the heck can keep this thriving program on the map?

Junkies Say Here’s Who to Watch:

Lauren Cabaniss – 3rd RU ’13, 2nd RU Sweetheart, 1st RU ’12, 3rd runner up ’11, SC DYW ’08
Mya Kayler – 1st runner up ’11, 2nd runner up NC ’12, 4th runner up NC ’11, NC OT ’08
Lanie Hudson – 4th runner up ’13, Prelim SS
Lara Scott – 4th runner up ’11, Top 10 ’13
Ellen Neely – 4th runner up ’09
Erin Frost – Top 10 ’13, Top 15 ’12
Daja Dial – Top 10 ’13
Emily Wayne – Non-Finalist SS and Talent ’13
Junkie Dark Horses – Leah Lawson and Jordyn Fox

JUNKIES LOVE SOUTH CAROLINA!!!  BIG SHOES TO FILL – GOOD LUCK!!! 🙂

MAJ