HELLO JUNKIE NATION!!!

WHEW!  Ten state pageants in one night – and while you’d think I’d be pooped – I’m PUMPED instead!

First of all – I need to say what an amazing night I had Miss Kansas… Actually – let me re-phrase that… It’s been a pretty amazing weekend at Miss Kansas!!! It had been 19 years since I saw the Miss Kansas pageant, and it was pretty incredible to see so many formers come back to Pratt, Kansas…

Only about 1/3 of them are pictured above… Caressa Kelley, Lesley Moss, Alyssa George, Amy Keller, Amy Shaw and Jennifer Vanetta! Ladies – You ALL look stunning!!! 🙂

Also – Please me to be a Junkie for just a moment…

I also had the chance to chat with Robin Wasson (Miss Kansas 1991) who was kind enough to tell me how much SHE LOVES the Junkies!!! Considering I was 17 when I watched Robin make the Top 10 at Miss America – you could say I was a little overwhelmed at her kind words and overall enthusiasm for everything we do!

Seriously – Such. Encouraging. Fun! #SoHappy

In addition to seeing so many formers, it was pretty great to catch up with other long-time friends, and meet so many new friends as well!

And although her Cheeze-its box isn’t pictured here – I still love me some Hannah Marie Wagner any time I can get it…

Honestly – I couldn’t have asked for more!  Thank You Kansas for your hospitality and for being soooooooooo incredibly welcoming! I am absolutely blown away by how fabulous my weekend truly was!

Whew!  Now – Let’s talk State Pageant Results!!!

TEN state titles were awarded last night – and let me tell you – it was fast and furious on social media! In case you missed our posts (or just wanna re-live the fun and fanaticism) – Here’s a full list of your finalists/winners:

Miss Nebraska is ALEAH PETERS!

1st RU – Savannah Rave
2nd RU – Lianna Prill
3rd RU – Jenni Wahonick
4th RU – Allison Baird

 

MISS NORTH DAKOTA – MACY CHRISTIANSON

1st RU – Cara Mund
2nd RU – Reyna Bergstrom
3rd RU – Kylie Helm
4th RU – Lizzie Jensen

 

MISS MONTANA LAUREN SCOFIELD

1st RU – Alysse Charlesworth
2nd RU – Savannah Leidholt
3rd RU – Julie Thies
4th RU – Abigail Helland

 

MISS IOWA KELLY KOCH

1st RU – Johanna Vittetoe
2nd RU – Jessica Baker
3rd RU – Meredith Olson
4th RU – Molly Schnick

 

MISS DELAWARE – AMANDA DEBUS

1st RU – Katelyn Mayers
2nd RU – Kendra Braithwaite
3rd RU – Emily Beale
4th RU – Mikayla Ryan

 

MISS ALABAMA – HAYLEY BARBER

1st RU – Callie Walker
2nd RU – Cassidy Jacks
3rd RU – Brianna Kinsey
4th RU – Jessica Proctor

 

MISS COLORADO – SHANNON PATILLA

1st RU – Meredith Winnefeld
2nd RU – Janelle Osborn
3rd RU – Kristen Schubert
4th RU – Bella Vitale

 

MISS OKLAHOMA – SARAH KLEIN

1st RU – Ashten Vincent
2nd RU – Ali Brooks
3rd RU – Julianne Thomison
4th RU – Sarah Harris

 

MISS HAWAII – ALLISON CHU

1st RU – Chelsea Clement
2nd RU – Tesia Melani
3rd RU – Halia Parish
4th RU – Tiffany Johnson

 

MISS KANSAS – KENDALL SCHOENEKASE

1st RU – Cassie Lohmeyer
2nd RU – Krystian Fish
3rd RU – Cari Anne Cashon
4th RU – Jennifer Salva

 

WOWZERS!  That’s a lot of FABULOUSNESS!

Big Junkie Congrats to all our winners and those who placed last night… If your pageant was anything like what I saw at the Miss Kansas pageant, I’m sure you enjoyed quite an amazing show with extremely talented, articulate and beautiful young women!

Now – It’s great to see young women achieve their dreams – But it’s time to hold the Junkies accountable for their picks!  Therefore – let’s check it out! How did we do???

NEBRASKA – 2/5
picked Lianna Prill and Aleah Peters

NORTH DAKOTA – 3/5
picked Cara Mund, Kylie Helm, Reyna Bergstrom

IOWA – 4/5 
picked Meredith Olson, Jessica Baker, Johanna Vittetoe and Kelly Koch

MONTANA – 2/5
picked Alysse Charlesworth and Loren Scofield

DELAWARE- 4/5
picked Mikayla Ryan, Emily Beale, Katelyn Mayers and Amanda Debus

ALABAMA – 4/5
picked Jessica Proctor, Brianna Kinsey, Callie Walker and Hayley Barber

COLORADO – 4/5
picked Kristin Schubert, Janelle Orsborn, Meredith Winnefeld and Shannon Patilla

OKLAHOMA – 3/5
picked Ali Brooks, Ashten Vincent and Sarah Klein

HAWAII – 3/5 
picked Tiffany Johnson, Halia Parish, Chelsea Clement

KANSAS 4/5
picked Jennifer Salva, Cari Ann Cashon, Krystian Fish and Kendall Schoenekase

That means, we finished 33/50 and only missed only 2 state winners (North Dakota and Hawaii) making us 8/10 this weekend!

When you add these numbers to our grand total thus far for Miss America 2017, here’s where we land…

14/17 = 82%
(identifying the winner)

51/82 = 62%
(identifying Top 5 finishers)

While I would consider that a PRETTY DARN GOOD WEEKEND – I also have to caution everyone… Because there are FIFTEEN state pageants next week!

Yes – It’s another HUGE weekend of state pageants coming up – And honestly, we still have A LOT of states that need another round of research before we post any predictions!

By the way – In case you missed any of our predictions this week, you can still receive them for next weekend by signing up here…

Who will be the next set of ladies to attend Miss America 2017???

Guess we’ll have to wait and see…

 In the meantime – Again Kansas – Thank You for a Fabulous weekend! Just goes to prove incredible people come from the Land of Oz…

Until Next Week!

#BigJunkieLove

CarrieLakey

Welcome Back Junkies!

Today’s Weekend Wrap-Up is being posted on Saturday (rather than Sunday or Monday), because of our Miss USA predictions which will be posted on Sunday (and I’m guessing that means we’ll post a USA wrap-up on Monday)…

We’ve got ourselves another lovely young lady who’s headed to Miss America –

Kendall Bautista is the new Miss Alaska!

Kendall just shined in this beautiful “antique pink” lace evening gown – And as a former Miss Alaska USA, we’re guessing Kendall knew exactly how to bring her ‘presence’ to the stage last night! Kendall just graduated from the University of Alaska at Anchorage in journalism/communications – and played the piano for her talent.

Here’s the full breakdown from last night’s competition…

MISS ALASKA
Winner = Kendall Bautista
1st RU = Marlise Williams
2nd RU = Angelina Klapperich
3rd RU = Ellie Gottstein
4th RU = Harper King

Turns out, the Miss Anchorage Org had a pretty great night last night! Both Kendall and the new Miss Alaska’s Outstanding Teen (Danielle Stam) are from the Miss Anchorage Organization – AS WELL AS – 1st Runner up, Marlise Gibson! DANG! I’d call that a clean sweep! Congrats Ladies!!!

Junkies are SUPER GRATEFUL for the tweets and live periscope updates from Miss Anchorage (@MissAnchorage) – Without that lifeline into Miss Alaska, the evening wouldn’t have been nearly as much fun to follow! #BigJunkieThanks

When it comes to our predictions for Miss Alaska, Junkies were 3 for 5, accurately identifying Kendall Bautista, Angelina Klapperich and Ellie Gottstein 🙂 That means, we’re not 6/7 so far when it comes to picking state winners and 18/32 when picking ladies who finish in the top 5.

But the crazy has not yet begun.

NEXT WEEK – 10 state pageants will take place on Saturday, June 11h… That’s right, TEN!

Which is really just a warm-up for the FIFTEEN state pageants that will take place between June 18th and 19th! You heard me – FIFTEEN!!!

Therefore, if you’ve yet to join the Pageant Junkies Prediction Party, just click here to learn about Pageant Junkies Premium, and we’ll send you our Top 5 list for the remaining 46 state competitions (posted during the week that each state pageant takes place).

Our first predictions for next week’s state titles will be released on Monday, May 6th! Don’t miss out!

And once again ladies – Please Don’t Forget – Predictions are simply for fun! They have no reflection on your actual ability to do the job at hand! We want EVERYONE to perform at their very best level and achieve whatever is in your heart to achieve!

That’s why we always say…

If we say your name, we hope you prove us right!
And if we don’t say your name, we hope you prove us wrong!

 

#BigJunkieLove

Carrie Lakey

 

To see more “Weekend Wrap-Up” posts on previously named state titleholders (and who we predicted might win), just click here…

Carrie Lakey is kind of obsessed with Miss America…
So are 16,000 of her closest friends.

As an avid fan of the Miss America Organization, Carrie began
publicly predicting pageant winners over 10 years ago.
Now, she’s galvanizing an online movement of fans
known as “Pageant Junkies”.
Learn more about the Junkie Nation
by clicking here.

Hello Again Junkies! Hope everyone in the Junkie Nation is enjoying a wonderful Memorial Day holiday… Please be sure to take a few moments today in appreciation of those who’ve died in service to our country. Freedom is not Free. End of Rant.

Let’s Talk Pageants!!!

Big Junkie Congrats go out to the new MISS VERMONT, RYLEE FIELD and MISS NEW YORK, CAMILLE SIMS!!!

Based on the photos we’ve seen, both of these ladies were STUNNING on stage and I’m sure they’re thrilled to be heading to Miss America in a matter of months!

We’ll start with Vermont…

Here’s your final results:

4th Runner Up = Julia Crane
3rd Runner Up = Nipunika Coe
2nd Runner Up = Shaniah Bartlett
1st Runner Up = Erin Connor
Winner = Rylee Field

Rylee is a graduate of Colby-Sawyer College with her BA in Creative Writing. She performed a “spoken word” talent to “Mockingbird” by Rives – and her platform is “Find A Happy Place: Positive Mental Health & Wellness”. You can catch Rylee’s crowning video here…

She was a little excited to win the crown on Friday night…

Congrats Rylee and everyone at Miss Vermont – Junkies are super proud of the direction Vermont is going – and we know you’re going to be Fabulous at Miss America!

Moving on to New York…

Final results included:

4th Runner Up = Mackenzie Perpich
3rd Runner Up = Kristina Blackstock
2nd Runner Up = Meghan Sinisi
1st Runner Up = Baylee Simpson
Winner = Camille Sims

Camille is a former Miss Georgia’s Outstanding Teen who finished as the 2nd RU to Lacey Russ at MAOTeen. Last year, Camille was the 4th Runner Up to Betty Cantrell in Georgia, and in 2013, she was a Top 10 finalist at Miss New York. A graduate of Cornell, Camille won both Prelim Talent (Singing “Sway” in Spanish) and overall interview this year at Miss New York – And by the looks of this video, she was a pretty popular choice (at least among the contestants…)

Fun fact – the announcer’s voice you hear in this video – is none other than Miss America 2015, Kira Kazantsev, who emceed the show yesterday 🙂

Junkies wish a hearty Congratulations to Camille and everyone at Miss New York!  She’s going to be one to watch in Atlantic City come September!

HOWEVER – Before we completely wrap things up today, it’s time to see how well Junkies predicted Miss Vermont and Miss New York… Hmmm…

Vermont – Junkies picked Julia Crane, Erin Connor, Nipunika Coe and Rylee Field (4/5 including the winner)

New York – Junkies picked Mackenzie Perpich and Camille Sims (2/5 including the winner)

That makes us 5/6 thus far in picking state winners and 15/27 when picking top 5 placements overall.  For some perspective, in 2015 we finished 39/52 in picking state winners (75%) and 142/263 when picking Top 5 placements (54%).  The question is, CAN WE DO IT AGAIN???  Or will we fall short this year??? lol – Good Lord knows, anything can happen… I’m not running to Vegas just yet…

Real quick – just a reminder that we’ve got one more week of simplicity before the insanity starts… We’re crowning Miss Alaska THIS FRIDAY, June 3rd, before launching into the remains 46 state pageants in June and July!  Ummm… and in case you didn’t realize it, that’s 46 state pageants in 5 weeks. Someone bring on the Xanax.

If your favorite state pageant is coming up, we’d love to have you play along in the predictions game with us!  To see who makes our Top 5 lists each week, just sign up for Pageant Junkies Premium (right here).  Easy Peasy!  Or of course, you’re always welcome send us an email with your picks for your favorite state/states at ThePageantJunkies@gmail.com.

That’s it for our latest Weekend Wrap-Up post! Next Up – MISS ALASKA!  GOOD LUCK LADIES!!!

#BigJunkieLove

Carrie Lakey

 

Hello once again Junkie Nation! Time for another Wrap-Up of this weekend’s state pageant competitions!

But first – Big Junkie Congratulations to…

Miss Rhode Island 2016, Shruti Nagarajan!!!

For the 3rd year in a row, Rhode Island has crowned a student from Brown University… Shruti has her Bachelor of Arts in Public Policy and Education and graduated in 2014.   Though she’s lived in Rhode Island for the past 6 years, Shruti was born and raised on the island of Guam! She performed a Bollywood Fusion routine for her talent – and here’s a fun fact… Based on a post from her own Miss Providence County Facebook page, Shruti loves snakes…

Gotta say – I’m a little more like the girl on the left – but more power to you Shruti! 🙂

Big Junkie Congrats also go out to the remainder of the Top 5 at Miss Rhode Island including:

Shruti Nagarajan = Winner (Community Service Award)
Katrina Horan = 1st Runer Up (Talent Winner)
Raquel Perez = 2nd Runner Up
Nicolette Peloquin = 3rd Runner Up
Victoria Curatas = 4th Runner Up (Miss Congeniality Tie)

Good News for Junkies is that we had Shruti in our Top 5 list! We also picked Nicolette Peloquin – making us 2 for 5 on our Miss Rhode Island picks – (and seriously, Katrina, Victoria and Raquel, you have NO IDEA how many times we had each of you on the list! Should’ve kept you on the list! AHHH!). Thus far, we’re 3/4 when picking state winners (whoooo hoooooo!)

But the year is FAR from over – And some CRAZY state pageants are still ahead!  Including Miss Vermont and Miss New York, which both take place THIS WEEK!

Miss Vermont = Finals on Friday (no prelims)
Miss New York = Prelims Friday and Saturday – Finals on Sunday

By the way… If you’ve got some ‘inside scoop’ you’d like to pass on regarding one of YOUR favorite contestants (in any state), feel free to email me!  I always love chatting with folks inside the Junkie Nation and it would be my absolute pleasure to hear from you! You can reach me at ThePageantJunkies@gmail.com 🙂

Otherwise – it’s back to ‘cracking the whip’ on our Junkie research team to determine our Top 5 lists for New York and Vermont!

PS – Now, would be a great time to join Pageant Junkies Premium! WHY? We have 48 pageants over the next 7 weeks! Don’t wait any longer!!! Sign up here and you’ll see our predictions starting this week (cancel whenever you wish!)!

Until Next Time –

#BigJunkieLove

Carrie Lakey

 

Curious to learn how we choose our Top 5 ladies for each state?
Well… It has to do with you Pageant Brand… Check out this free training to learn more…

Carrie Lakey is kind of obsessed with Miss America…
So are 15,000 of her closest friends.

As an avid fan of the Miss America Organization, Carrie began
publicly predicting pageant winners over 10 years ago.
Now, she’s galvanizing an online movement of fans
known as “Pageant Junkies”.
Learn more about the Junkie Nation
by clicking here.

Hey Junkies – Welcome Back!!!

I’m afraid we fell off the wagon last weekend – Between Mother’s Day, a dead cell phone and a busy family schedule, I completely forgot to write a post acknowledging the winner of Miss Nevada from last weekend… My Bad… My apologies… Here’s what you missed…

CONGRATULATIONS BAILEY GUMM!!!

Bailey entered the Miss Nevada pageant in one of the most difficult positions – a two-time first runner up who was hoping to win it all this year, and she did!  Now, one of the benefits of offering today’s wrap-up post a week later, is that we found the Top 5 announcement and Bailey’s crowning moment on video!  Check it out!

 

In addition to being a two-time first runner up, Bailey also served as Miss Nevada’s Outstanding Teen 2011 – and is related to the late Judy Garland (who was born Frances Gumm).  Congrats again Bailey – Junkies look forward to watching you during your year as Miss Nevada!

Regarding our results, Junkies certainly redeemed ourselves (thank heavens!)… We were 4/5 in Nevada (whooooo hooooooo!), after only going 1/5 most recently in New Hampshire.  Junkies accurately chose Bailey Gumm, 1st RU Briana Neben, 2nd RU Shelly Salbedo and 3rd RU Paige Melanson (however, we missed 4th RU Jenna Holridge).

That means we’re now 2 for 3 in picking state winners and 7/12 in picking ladies who finish in the Top 5 (or Top 2 – as was the case for Miss Maine).

And, as you can see above, there’s another state contest happening this weekend – It’s Miss Rhode Island week – and Junkies can’t wait to see who takes the title in the Ocean State!  If you’d like to see who we think has the best chance at being named Miss Rhode Island, just click here to join Pageant Junkies Premium. 🙂

And remember – As we always say – When it comes to our top 5 lists, if we say your name, we hope you prove us right! But if we don’t say your name, WE HOPE YOU PROVE US WRONG! ? GOOD LUCK LADIES!!!

#BigJunkieLove

Carrie Lakey

 

Curious to learn how we choose our Top 5 ladies for each state? Well… It has to do with you Pageant Brand… Check out this free training to learn more…

Carrie Lakey is kind of obsessed with Miss America…
So are 15,000 of her closest friends.

As an avid fan of the Miss America Organization, Carrie began
publicly predicting pageant winners over 10 years ago.
Now, she’s galvanizing an online movement of fans
known as “Pageant Junkies”.
Learn more about the Junkie Nation
by clicking here.