Junkies simply LOVE Miss Sweetheart…

If you’re one of the long time devoted followers of Pageant Junkies/Miss America Junkies, then I’m sure you’re familiar with one of the smartest ideas in the history of pageantry, called Miss Sweetheart.  But because we continue to gain more and more followers through all kinds of social media outlets, we don’t want to assume everyone knows everything there is to know about Miss Sweetheart!  So – if you’ve read one of our other posts on this specific pageant from years gone by, that’s fine and dandy… You’re about to get more of what you already love! 🙂  But, if you’re new to the whole “Junkies” thing and thereby aren’t exactly sure why Junkies seem to always be fawning all over Miss Sweetheart – then you’re in luck!  Because we’re about to give you our most compelling argument yet! 🙂

First – a little about Miss Sweetheart…

Miss Sweetheart is an ‘invitation only’ pageant… Held during the National Sweetcorn Festival… in the middle of the sprawling metropolis of Hoopeston, Illinois (population 5300).  Presented by the Hoopeston Jaycees, the festival itself is part county-fair, part end-of-summer ritual, that draws over 200,000 people each year.  Trust us – This place is Americana at its finest. 🙂

The 1st runner up from each state is officially invited to compete, but sometimes the 2nd, 3rd or 4th runner up attends instead (if the 1st runner up chooses not to attend, then the 2nd runner up is given the chance and so-on down the line).  Like Miss America, the rule is, you can only attend Miss Sweetheart one time (it wasn’t always this way – but it was recently changed) – and each area of competition is judged in the same way as it is for Miss America.

At this point you may be saying… “OK – now I understand what Sweetheart is… But I don’t get it… Why is Sweetheart so special?” 

Here Why… 

Because Miss Sweetheart is for every girl whose name was not called.

Think about it.  You’re standing on stage at your state pageant, holding hands with another girl, knowing it could be you and your whole life is about to change… only to realize… it’s not you… they chose someone else.  And regardless of how proud you are of your accomplishment, it most cases, you really, really wish it could’ve been you. 

And when you get together with 40+ other women from across the country who have experienced that exact same feeling, you’re a little encouraged.  And when you see the level of talent, poise, fitness and intelligence these 40+ other ladies bring to the stage, you’re humbled.  And when you suddenly realize that any of these ladies could’ve won their state and been an amazing representative at Miss America – that’s when it dawns on you – that you’re one of them!  You — the girl whose name was not called — YOU are part of ‘The Group’ of girls who almost made it.  And each of these ladies, know exactly how you feel.

Miss Sweetheart is a chance to meet women who were half-a-heartbeat away from winning their state and learn how MAO has changed their life too.  So many contestants say their experience at Sweetheart is what gave them a new perspective on their journey towards Miss America.  For some contestants, they participate in Sweetheart and get a better understanding of what it takes to compete at the highest level.  Then, they go back to their home state, win their state, and then finally get the chance to walk the stage in Atlantic City!  However for other ladies, once again, their name won’t be called.  That means, Miss Sweetheart was the closest they will ever come to competing at Miss America… And that’s what makes Miss Sweetheart so special. 🙂

So there you have it!  Miss Sweetheart truly is a “Mini Miss America” in the middle of a corn-field (LOL!  Not quite – but almost!).  This year – there are four state winners who were once Miss Sweetheart contestants… Colorado, Rhode Island, Wisconsin and Indiana (which proves not everyone who attends Sweetheart makes it to Miss America!)

We won’t be offering prelim predictions for Miss Sweetheart – but we’ll make sure we pass along all the prelim winners, etc. as the event takes place August 29th through August 31st.  The judges were just announced last week (photo below courtesy of the National Sweetheart Pageant Facebook Page) and with FORTY-FIVE contestants (one of the larger groups!) – it looks like it’s bound to be an amazing event!  Can’t wait to see who walks away with the crown this year – and which girls go on to become future Miss America contestants!!!

The full run-down of names and competition dates is below – collage courtesy of Miss A Unlimited – GOOD LUCK LADIES!!!  WISHING EVERYONE AT MISS SWEETHEART an AMAZING WEEK!!! 🙂

Until Next Time –
Founding Junkie

*Update – We just learned this morning that West Virginia’s Sweetheart Olivia Staubs had to withdraw from the competition.  All other info is accurate at the time of this posting.

GROUP A

#1 MISSISSIPPI – LAURA LEE LEWIS
#2 IOWA – SERICA ROWLEY
#3 TEXAS – MADISON ADAMS
#4 NORTH DAKOTA – FAYE STROMBERG
#5 TENNESSEE – JACLYN TORRENTO
#6 WEST VIRGINIA – OLIVIA STAUBS
#7 ALABAMA – ELISABETH CHRAMER
#8 UTAH – ABBEY EYRE
#9 ALASKA – ZOEY GRENIER
#10 NEW HAMPSHIRE – HOLLY BLANCHARD
#11 PUERTO RICO – STEPHANIE RAMOS

GROUP B

#12 GEORGIA – TAYLOR VOYLES
#13 CONNECTICUT – ALEXANDRIA PUGLISI
#14 DIST OF COLUMBIA – AMELIA WOLF
#15 HAWAII – JEANNE KAPELA
#16 IDAHO – KALIE WRIGHT
#17 ILLINOIS AMANDA GOERLITZ
#18 KENTUCKY – CLAIRE BUTLER
#19 DELAWARE – BROOKE MITCHELL
#20 COLORADO – CHELSI ROSE
#21 VERMONT – ALAYNA WESTCOM
#22 MINNESOTA – RACHEL LATUFF

GROUP C

#23 NEW MEXICO – MARISSA LIVINGSTON
#24 NEVADA – BAILEY GUMM
#25 OKALHOMA – GEORGIA FRAZIER
#26 WYOMING – JULIA KENDRIX
#27 LOUISIANA – KELLY BERNARD
#28 ARIZONA – HANNAH MORGAN
#29 OREGON – AUDRI ROUSSEAU
#30 MAINE – KATHERINE RUSHLAU
#31 KANSAS – JENNIFER SALVA
#32 FLORIDA – CHLOE LUPO
#33 CALIFORNIA – ASHLEY OTT

GROUP D

#34 RHODE ISLAND – ALEXANDRA CURTIS
#35 INDIANA – MORGAN JACKSON
#36 VIRGINIA – ELIZABETH MARTIN
#37 ARKANSAS – BAILEY MOSES
#38 NEW YORK – JAMIE LYNN MACCHIA
#39 WASHINGTON – MEGAN LEIBOLD
#40 NEBRASKA – RACHEL FOEHLINGER
#41 MASSACHUSETTS – CHARLENA KENNEDY
#42 WISCONSIN – CHELSEY WASIELEWSKI
#43 SOUTH DAKOTA – JADE POSSAIL
#44 MARYLAND – EBONY SHERRILL
#45 NEW JERSEY – DEVON VANDERSLICE

Friday – Groups A and B compete in Lifestyle & Fitness and Evening Wear while Groups C and D perform Talent

Saturday – Groups A and B perform Talent while Groups C and D compete in Lifestyle & Fitness and Evening Wear

Sunday – Finals

Junkies are always waiting on pins and needles during the time between “state pageant finals” and “Miss America Week”.  One of the things that keeps us going is the unveiling of each contestant’s People’s Choice Video!!!  As you’ve undoubtedly read before – JUNKIES LOVE VIDEOS and can’t get enough of the opportunity to gain a bit more insight into each contestant!

This year – something new is being introduced… it appears that Miss America has asked each girl to give us a “Selfie Video”… rather than a regularly produced package.  Here are some of the latest photos we found confirming such!

From top to bottom, Miss New Hampshire Megan Cooley, Miss Mississippi Jasmine Murray, and Miss Connecticut Acacia Courtney all posted these photos to their individual Facebook pages – giving us a glimpse into their forthcoming videos!!!  JUNKIES ARE SO EXCITED!!!

But more than excited – Junkies are predicting a new opportunity for State Pageants to jump on this bandwagon as well!  Everyone has a cell phone and everyone knows how to use the video feature – so we’re guessing we’ll see more states asking their finalists to conduct ‘selfie videos’ in 2015!  After all – what a great way to get to know the contestants and perhaps open a brand new opportunity to gage a People’s Choice Winner (and/or bring in more scholarship money!).

So – in light of this new potential development, Junkies would like to offer a few things to consider when it comes to creating your People’s Choice video… Chances are, most state winners have already completed their video – so this post is really for everyone else potentially competing in 2015.

Here We Go!!! 🙂

JUNKIES DO’s and DON’T’s of PAGEANT VIDEOS!!!

1. Do Be Real.  Much like your headshot – if your video doesn’t correctly capture who you are, you’re setting yourself up for failure.  You need to look like the same person the judges are going to see on stage and in your personal interview.

2. Do Be Happy.  There’s plenty of time for you to convey your “serious side” or your “smoldering beauty” – but your People’s Choice video isn’t the best medium to do that.  Videos are supposed to be warm, engaging and happy!  You can’t convey that if you’re busy being serious.  If your life was shaped by something serious, then allude to the amazing progress you’ve made and how happy you are to get through the challenge.  If your platform isn’t “warm and fuzzy” – then share how incredibly touched you are to see the results of lives changed through your efforts.  Your audience should smile when you’re done – and think to themselves, “I like her.” 🙂

3. Do Be Authentic.  If your video is really, really REALLY great – you might actually be setting yourself up for failure.  If the “real-life you” can’t live up to the “you” in your video, you’re in trouble.  Junkies have seen this happen with Miss America contestants again and again.  Many of the girls we loved in the videos were super-fantastic versions of themselves – but when they arrived at Miss America, these ladies weren’t able to live up to the standard they set in their video.  If anything, it’s better to error on the side of caution here… It’s better if your video isn’t super strong and YOU are crazy-awesome, than to have a crazy-awesome video and your personal presence be lacking.  If you consider both Mallory Hagan and Nina Davuluri’s People’s Choice videos, you’ll see what I mean.  Their videos were lovely – but both ladies are BETTER in real life than what you see in the video.

4. Do Be Conversational.  Obviously, you can write out a script and then memorize it for your video – but when you write it down, you need to use the ‘regular jargon’ of how you would normally speak.  This isn’t an essay contest – it’s a video.  You can apologize to your English professor later – this is about being conversational, not being ‘proper.’  You need to talk exactly like you would in real life – otherwise, you’ll come across as robotic and stiff.  Use phrases like “I’m so excited!” rather than “I am very excited” and talk to the camera just like it’s your best friend.

5. Don’t put it all out there.  Your video should make people want to know your more – so leave something to the imagination!  Give them an overall glimpse into you – but keep it at “a glimpse”.  If you try to tell them everything you’ve ever done, you’ll overwhelm the audience and come off as disingenuous.  People watching your video (including judges) need to know there’s more to you than this video… So don’t let all your secrets out of the bag at once!

6. Don’t make people feel sorry for you.  America doesn’t elect people they feel sorry for in politics or as their People’s Choice winner… America wants to choose people who have purpose and vision.  If I feel sorry for you after seeing your video, then deep down, I know you’re not ready for the job.  Essentially, you’re telling me you’re still in the middle of your mess and you still have a few things to sort out.  Instead, give people your purpose and vision for who you are and why you compete – and let me see you as an over-comer!

7. Don’t do too much.  Specifically trying to come up with something that makes you “funny” or “cute” or even “memorable” is a recipe for disaster.  We need to remember you for the right reasons – not the wrong ones…  If you’re naturally funny, it should come out in the video – but don’t force it.  If you’re silly or eclectic or curious, you can find ways to show me such – you shouldn’t need a costume or a gimmick to help me remember you.  Doing too much or trying too hard is a recipe for disaster – and will make me wonder why you didn’t just make a video with ‘the real you’ in it.

8. Don’t “Wing It” on your own.  You may be the kind of person who’s better “off the cuff” – but it doesn’t mean you can go into your video unprepared.  Even “impromptu geniunses” need to practice their video and the best way to say whatever they want to say.  Also – you need to make sure you’re getting feedback from people you trust… If you try to do your People’s Choice video alone, you’re not going to have the level of ‘polish’ it needs.  You don’t need 78 different opinions, but you do need someone to come alongside you and be honest about what they see – good and bad.

And there you have it!  CAN’T WAIT TO SEE EVERYONE’S SELFIE VIDEOS – and Junkies hope to see more videos in 2015!!!

All the Best!!!

PJ
(Pageant Junkies)  

We always love discovering ‘fun facts’ about girls when we prepare each state blog… Here’s something we never knew about Crystal Lee, Miss Hawaii…

The girl can do handsprings in her high heels! LOL!  Although we searched and searched for videos or photos – i’m afraid we came up short.  A bummer to us all.  But – while learning a bit more about Crystal, we also learned about her aptitude for advertising.  In the “Midweek” cover story titled a “Tomboy in a Tiara”, Crystal said the following:

“I took on the Miss Hawaii role knowing that I have a brand and I can advertise myself. I’m proud to say I started a Miss Hawaii Instagram and got 700 followers in two months. People always want to know, what does Miss Hawaii do? Follow me on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, and you can see what Miss Hawaii does, how hard we work. It’s a job, but it’s a rewarding job.”

Let it be known – there’s ALWAYS a mark that can be made when you win your state title.  As long as you’re willing to stay engaged throughout your entire year, you can be known as someone who makes a difference.

PS – Founding Junkie considered shooting video of her attempts at handsprings in high heels, but after further consideration, she decided to lie down until the feeling went away.  It was all of 4 minutes. LOL!

And now – who will get the chance to ‘make a difference’ at Miss Hawaii 2014?

Junkies Say Here’s Who to Watch:

Lei U’i Kaholokula – 2nd runner up ’13, Top 10 ’12
Ka’lulani Carr – 3rd runner up HI USA ’14
Topaz Fernandez – Miss Hawaii Filipina ’11, HI Teen USA contestant
Brittany Atiburcio – Top 10 HI Teen USA ’09
Jeanne Kapela – won talent, ss and congeniality at her local
Kelly Simek – Featured twirler at U of Hawaii, 3 time National Champion
Chelsea Clement – Miss HI Teen America ’10, 4th runner up at Nationals
Stephanie Steuri – Mom is former Miss Maui, played roller hockey on a boys team 🙂

GOOD LUCK HAWAIIAN BEAUTIES!!!  JUNKIES LOVE YA!!! 🙂

MAJ

LOL!  Good Question!  One I’ve been asked many times over the past several months… And I’m not sure I’ve had a good answer for you until now.  For those of you who thought we disappeared off the planet – My apologies.  Truth is, we’ve had to do some searching to uncover answers for our absence the past many months… In the end, here are three thoughts that are therapeutic to my soul and offer a few explanations…

1. Burn Out.  Within 9 months (Jan 2013 – Sept 2013), we crowned 2 Miss Americas, Junkies posted predictions on all 53 state pageants, maintained a Blog, Facebook page and Twitter feed, PLUS we traveled to both Vegas AND Atlantic City to see Mallory and Nina be crowned live.  Truth is, if this were my full time job, I could understand seasons where everything seems overwhelming… But unfortunately, I don’t get paid for this gig (at least not yet!).  This is my hobby.  And I gave a lot of time, effort and energy to my hobby in a short period of time.

2.  New Job in Real Life.  After spending 15 years building my career in the same industry, I took a new position that stretched me professionally.  Doing so has meant I haven’t had as much time for my hobby – and much of my energies have gone into my new position rather than into eating, sleeping and drinking Miss America Junkies all day, every day. 🙂

3.  Goal Achieved.  You may be asking yourself, “Goal Achieved?  What does that even mean?”  Well – if you go back through the archives of this blog, you’ll find something I write over and over again.  One of the reasons I started Miss America Junkies is because I wanted to help ‘change the tone’ I was hearing from online pageant people.  Years ago (before social media went crazy), information regarding Miss America contestants was super difficult to find.  Even less than 5 years ago, I remember staying up into the wee hours of the night, just to find out who were the winners at our own Miss America preliminary!   There were only 2 or 3 independent websites dedicated to pageants, and very few states had their own Facebook pages – let alone updated websites with contestant information.  Conversely, young women were online in droves – which made the information gap larger than ever!  So what happened?  Well, that void of information was filled with online message boards.  A fine idea initially, until it brought out the worst in pageant followers.  Soon, all I began to see was negativity and bad-mouthing from a bunch of anonymous posters.  That’s why it became my goal to bring faster, more positive attention to titleholders WITHOUT the ugly judgement that often came alongside pageant commentary.  I just thought you could still have fun, provide information quickly, and still ‘be bold’ in predictions without being nasty.

Since The Junkies’ inception, some wonderful things have happened… First, more and more ‘positive’ blog and facebook groups have come into play and are gaining steam!  Miss America Class Updates and Miss America Unlimited have wonderful Facebook pages to keep fans informed (check ’em out!).  I’m floored at how many people ‘live tweet’ now from various state competitions – let alone Miss America!  It’s a HUGE change from 5 short years ago and it’s made a big difference!  In addition, because of our travels to numerous state pageants, Vegas and AC, The Junkies have personally met countless contestants and volunteers who have been quick to offer support of our philosophy and encouraged us with their positive feedback.  It seems YOU CAN have fun, make predictions and enjoy competition without being ugly.

Here’s the deal… My goal was to change the tone of the internet regarding Miss America contestants.  I think that’s happened.  It’s not over – and we certainly aren’t claiming we did it all by ourselves – but overall, I believe our involvement has helped facilitate some good things in pageant-land.  And that – is extremely rewarding. 🙂

So – where does that leave us now?  Well… here’s what I know…

1.  We WILL be posting our beloved “Here’s Who to Watch” blogs on each and every state – starting THIS WEEKEND with Miss Vermont! 🙂  It’s a crazy under-taking, but we’re committed to getting it done 🙂

2.  We’re still considering state pageants to attend this summer… As you can imagine, traveling to these events is another large under-taking, and requires a lot of coordination from the ‘real-job’ and the home front.  We promise to keep each of you informed as we work towards our summer schedule.

3.  Set new goals.  I’m not quite sure exactly what this looks like just yet – but I’m excited about what the future holds!  As we grow, we’ll be sure to include you on all the latest information in the land of MAJ… Again, we’re so appreciative of those who have been a part of our journey thus far and we look forward to where we go from here!

In the meantime, WE STILL LOVE HEARING FROM YOU!  Whether it’s interacting via Facebook, Twitter or this blog, The Junkies have developed some incredible real-life friendships and wonderful on-line relationships with people we would’ve never met otherwise – and we’re super grateful for it!  THANK YOU for the things you do to promote The Junkies to your family, friends or people who are new to the world of pageantry.  That’s how we continue to ‘spread the word’ of positive pageant commentary and continue to accomplish our original goal.

STAY TUNED for the MISS VERMONT blog coming up this week – and the MISS NEW HAMPSHIRE blog coming up next week!  It’s about to get CRAZY!!!

THANKS JUNKIES!!! 🙂

MAJ

First of all… let me say how sorry I am that this post was not completed sooner! 🙁  My apologies to those of you who have been waiting patiently for me to post my over-all thoughts… Let’s just say, I’m getting too old to be witty and creative when I’ve only had 3 hours of sleep!

That being said – Your new Miss America is Miss New York, NINA DAVURULI!!!!

Nina seemed to have everything going for her on finals night… She was polished, yet spunky.  She was approachable, yet beautiful.  Her talent was complex, yet entertaining.  As our first Indian-American to be named Miss America, you may have caught her on one of her TV appearances stating: “The everyday girl-next-door in America doesn’t look like she did 10 years ago – and 10 years from now, she won’t look the same as she does today either.”  Additionally, she is excited about the opportunity to be a role model for little girls who look like she does.

I’ll be honest…  I don’t care what color she is… Instead, here’s what I care about.  Nina is confident, striking to look at, a strong communicator and appears to be extremely genuine.  She could be purple for all I care – as long as she still possessed these qualities which I consider to be necessary for someone to make an impact on others.

So all the best to Nina!  May she become one of our most impacting Miss America’s in history!

Now – it’s time to let you in on our thought process as Miss America week progressed… Here’s several thoughts… in completely random order…

1.  Even though the Junkies went 6 for 6 with prelim winners, we only went 8 for 15 in our Top 15 finalists.  Seems like we have a corner on the “Top Talents” and “Best Swimsuits” but we do not have a good grip on the most consistent ladies on the stage in all areas of competition.  This can be remedied by attending more prelim nights (Junkies only saw 1 prelim this year)… but unfortunately, it’s not always conducive to do so (see ‘real life’ job reference above).

2.  Only seeing one prelim night also kept us from seeing the ‘spark’ in Nina that the judges obviously saw.  In fact, Nina had her On-Stage Question the night we attended prelims and I’m afraid we weren’t able to really pick any of these answers out as “spectacular”… they all sounded about the same in our book.  Had we seen her presence in Swimsuit or her Talent, we might’ve been able to notice the girl that the judges fell in love with. 

3.  I think the final night panel also threw us for a loop… The fact that all of the Top 5 were brunettes tells us that we weren’t in the final night panel’s heads at all.  To only have picked 2 of the Top 5 (OK and CA) is a bummer for the Junkies… one of our poorest Top 5 finishes in recent history (boo).

4.  You’d never believe me if I told you how many times I substituted NY, MN and CA into my top 5.  Frankly, I only expected 1 of the 3 to make the Top 5 – never in a million-zillion years did I think all 3 would make it.  I was wrong.

5.  Never in a million-zillion years did I think NY and OK would be looking at Top 5 finishes THREE YEARS IN A ROW!!!  Kaitlin Monte, Mallory Hagan and Nina Davuruli vs. Betty Thompson, Alicia Clifton and Kelsey Griswold (And prior to that, Emoly West from OK was Top 5 and Claire Buffie from NY was Top 10).  To have 2 states performing that well year after year after year has got to be frustrating for 51 other contestants – but dang!  These 2 programs are proving to be the premier programs in the country!

6.  WE’VE FINALLY CROWNED OUR FIRST FORMER STATE OUTSTANDING TEEN!!!!  Nina was Michigan’s Outstanding Teen 2006 and 1st runner up at MAOT!  Watch for state pageants across the country to crown more OT state winners this year!

7.  Junkies haven’t seen the TV production yet – but to have earned the highest ratings in nine years screams “WE’RE BACK!!!”  WHOOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOOOO for finding the magic formula and producing a show worthy of American viewership.

8.  ATLANTIC CITY!!!!!!  Where do I begin???  As a Junkie who saw her first Miss America crowned in Las Vegas, but who’s completely familiar with the amazing amount of history and tradition that exists on the Jersey Shore, let me say… WOW!!!  There are most certainly differences between the 2 cities beyond geographics… but I gotta give the edge to the quaint and charming city on the sea.  Plus, getting out to the Sheraton Hotel was a huge bonus – seeing shoes, evening gowns and trophies up close and personal was great fun!  Being ‘crowned’ by Bert Parks was another big hit!  And having my photo taken next to those famous “Atlantic City” wooden boats on the beach was icing on the cake!  You just don’t get that in Vegas, Baby 🙂

9.  Even if we went 0 for 6 and 0 for 15, we still would’ve LOVED meeting fellow Junkies!!!  This year was particularly fantastic as so many of you found us and told us what our page meant to you!  We never expected to have that kind of impact on people – and we’re grateful to consider many of you ‘friends’.  PLEASE continue to stay in contact with the Junkies – and if there’s anything we can do for you – just let us know! 🙂

And that’s a Wrap!  Another Miss America crowning is in the books – another woman gets the job of a lifetime and another little girl is currently wondering if she might become the new Miss America one day.  The Junkies look forward to seeing Nina make her mark on Miss America history and will do everything we can to keep you updated along the way…

UNTIL WE MEET AGAIN – make sure you’re practicing your wave… blowing kisses in the wind… standing up tall with your shoulders back and chin up… as we all sing together… “There She Is…”

Thanks Junkies!  What a GREAT year it’s been! 🙂

MAJ