It’s no secret – there are plenty of Miss America fans who were not fanatical about Miss America 2015, Kira Kazantsev’s talent. The reasons why range from her red cup, to her seated position, to her bare feet (and that’s just getting started)!
In one of our more recent and more popular posts, we mentioned that “Entertainment Trumps Talent” now at Miss America. Since that post, we’ve had several of you request that we expand that thought, if you will… Asking us, “Is Talent no longer relevant at Miss America?”
According to many of you, the validity of the Talent competition – the single most important category, which used to be a defining factor in separating the Miss America pageant from other pageants – is now in question. Therefore, is it fair to ask… Have we lost the battle for Talent at Miss America?
Let’s see…
Once upon a time, Miss America contestants with outstanding technical talent and a darn good interview would walk away with the crown. In addition, when a newly crowned Miss America had what might be considered a ‘non-traditional talent’ or a ‘less than stellar’ talent, she usually had an outstanding drive, a compelling personality, and a warmth about her that caused even the staunchest Talent-lover to melt. Take Miss America 1988, Kaye Lani Rae Rafko.
Junkies remember sitting in our living room, glued to the television, anxiously waiting for Gary Collins to call out the winner’s name (especially after seeing some of our favorites be named in the runner up positions). When the emcee finally announced the new Miss America 1988 was, “MISS MICHIGAN” — I looked around the room, and with a bit of incredulity exclaimed,
“WHAT? The Tahitian Dancer???”
Years later, it’s obvious how and why Kaye Lani won the crown. Frankly, it was obvious within a few days! Kaye Lani declared she would dedicate her reign to promoting the benefits of hospice programs – and essentially launched the opportunity for Miss America to share her ‘platform’ with a greater audience. This simple idea changed everything – Miss America was no longer just a ribbon cutter who would smile and wave to the crowd. Suddenly, Miss America had a purpose for others.
So, while Kaye Lani’s Talent was considered ‘non-traditional’ – it’s obvious she was the right choice for the crown. Nobody even questions it.
Fast forward to today… Whenever a non-traditional talent is crowned, I try to give Miss America the benefit of the doubt. I realize how “right” it was to crown Kaye Lani – despite the fact that I thought it was utterly “wrong” at the time. So, considering Miss America has now crowned a few non-traditional talents in a row now (a tap dancer, a Bollywood dancer and a cup-playing singer), we need to take a peek at how we arrived to this point.
Here’s the deal. Miss America is now fully embracing the idea of “Entertaining Talent” – instead of good old fashioned “Impressive Talent”. And in our opinion, this ‘new wave’ of Entertaining Talents in the modern era, was instigated by none other than Sierra Minott, Miss Florida 2008 and 4th runner up to Miss America 2009 (and Florida’s Outstanding Teen in ’05).
If you haven’t seen Sierra’s Talent routine, I WISH I could post it for you… I’ve been raving about this routine because of it’s pure entertainment value ever since I saw her perform on TV! Seriously – I might be willing to pay someone to post the darn thing so you could see what I mean! In our opinion, it was Sierra’s choreography that set the tone for “Entertaining Talent” in the Miss America modern era. We’re not saying Sierra wasn’t talented and we’re not saying “entertaining talents” never made the top 5 before she did… We’re simply saying her extremely entertaining talent routine ushered in a new way of thinking about on-stage talent today.
We were so taken with her entertainment factor, that during our blog re-cap of Katie Stam’s crowning, we listed the following statement…
“…and spunky little Miss Florida just paved the way for a non-ballet dancer to be named Miss America within the next 2 years… Mark My Words!”
Turns out, 2 years was a little optimistic (lol!). However, within 5 years, Mallory Hagan won as a tap dancer and Nina Davuluri won as a Bollywood fusion dancer. Up until that time, it had been DECADES since a non-ballet dancer had won Miss America… then we crowned 2 in a row… Coincidence???
So – now that we’ve established how we arrived at this point – How do The Junkies feel about Talent verses Entertainment? Glad You Asked! Ready, Set, Here we Go!!! 🙂
THERE’S A DIFFERENCE!
First of all, understand that there’s a difference between something that’s “Entertaining” and and something that’s “Impressive”. In years past, “Impressive” talents would get you noticed strictly on your technical ability to master your art. How well you breathed, how many notes you could seamlessly deliver, how quickly your fingers moved along the instrument, how high your leaps and kicks were… In the past, these were all key factors in how well you scored in Talent. Now, your technical ability simply isn’t enough. You MUST be entertaining to boot!
THE NUMBERS DON’T LIE…
During the “New York Years” – aka, Since Mallory Hagan was crowned Miss America 2013 – we’ve seen a total of 15 girls finish in the Top 5. Of those 15 ladies, we’ve had a grand total of FOUR talents that we consider truly “classical talents” – and 2 of them came this year! Those 4 are: Courtney Garrett, vocal, VA ’15 – Lauren Kuhn, piano, MA ’15 – Rebecca Yeh, violin, MN ’14 – Crystal Lee ,ballet, CA ’14). That’s not a very strong track record. Especially when you compare it to the fact that 11 out of 15 contestants had Talents which were much more “Entertaining” than “Classical”. Doesn’t mean you can’t win with a classical talent… its just means the majority of ladies who finish in the Top 5 have “Entertaining” talents. The numbers prove it.
CALM DOWN – STOP FREAKING OUT!
When it comes to your Talent presentation, nobody said you have to choose between “Entertaining” and “Classical”. As a matter of fact, the ladies who are able to make their “classical” talents cross over into “entertaining” are actually at a distinct advantage over those who have pure entertainment value alone! Unfortunately, far too often we see too many talents that are “classical” without being “entertaining”. Miss America used to crown those kinds of girls. But unless we see a judges panel that’s stacked with those kinds of personalities – I don’t see it happening in the future. You can be Entertaining and not Classical… You can be Entertaining AND Classical… But you can’t be Classical without being Entertaining. That’s simply not gonna get the job done anymore.
BUT THIS SUCKS! PURE TALENT SHOULD BE REWARDED!
LOL! Yes – we hear you loud and clear! But the truth is, we’re not here to debate whether this is the way it SHOULD BE at Miss America or not… We’re simply telling you, this is how we currently see it NOW at Miss America. And if you wanna win, you gotta know what kind of talent Miss America is interested in crowning. You can’t walk into a Pie Tasting Contest with your uber-delicious Cheesecake and be mad because you lost. You have to know what you’re getting into – and ‘play by the rules’ as best as you can. Even if it sucks.
OK – I GET IT… BUT HOW WILL THIS PLAY OUT?
Well – honestly… We wouldn’t be surprised if a couple of things happened within the next 5 years… It’s not at all outside the realm of possibility to see Miss America crown a baton twirler, a flute player, or a speed painter – so long as their presentation was entertaining! We also wouldn’t be surprised if we learned that Miss America is re-naming this portion of the competition. After all – it’s no longer the “Swimsuit Competition”, it’s the “Lifestyle and Fitness in Swimsuit Competition”. And, it’s no longer “Evening Gown” – it’s officially “Evening Wear” (because you could wear pants if you really wanted to do so). That’s why it wouldn’t shock this Junkie at all to learn that the “Talent Competition” is now the “Talent and Entertainment Competition” or something similar. That’s how ingrained I think this new direction truly is.
SO, WHAT THE HECK DO I DO NOW?
First of all, if you’re classically trained and that’s really what you do best, DON’T CHANGE your talent! Nobody’s saying you can’t win – we’re simply saying you can no longer rely on your technical ability alone. “Impressing” your audience isn’t the goal… “Connecting” with them, is. On the other hand, if you’re not classically trained and have always wondered if your talent could make it to the Miss America stage, NOW IS THE TIME to think outside the box and increase your entertainment value! Find the “fun person” in your drama department, music department, dance department, etc – and work with them on ways to make your talent presentation more entertaining. Or, try something new! Once upon a time, nobody thought a Tahitian Dancer, or a Marimba player, or a Hula dancer or a girl who played the cups would ever win Miss America… They were wrong! This could be the year you put your talent on the map because of its incredible entertainment value. Figure out what the audience likes and lean into it!
PS – TALENT IS STILL WORTH 35%
That means, your talent, whether extremely entertaining or not, is not the ‘end all be all’ of the competition. If you spend all your time perfecting your talent to epic levels of entertainment, but you have no substance in your interview and you’re out of shape, I’m sorry, but you lose. You still need to be well-rounded in all areas of competition… Not just talent! Don’t forget that!
So there you have it! Have we lost the battle for Talent at Miss America?
Nope. It’s just being defined differently now.
It’s Talent PLUS Entertainment that wins today. And fair warning – Better get some now – or be left behind.
PJ
I remember watching Sierra’s talent when I was younger and thinking “WOW!” I LOVED every single second of it. She was darling and the talent was so entertaining.
Here’s my two cents.. Why can’t we have both? If the judges on the state level are charged to pick a smart AND talented girl , then we could have entertainment AND talent at Miss America. My daughter didn’t win the state title.. No sour grapes here, either… But, I also know my daughter’s talent was heads above a lot of the girls on the Miss America stage… But that because she’s a professional. There were a lot of girls who’s talents were heads above what we saw in Atlantic City… If they were smart, they would choose the best girls in talent so that they could be showcased on television. I understand it’s not a talent competition, however, it should be based on more than just interview.
I don’t agree. Why do Miss America? Girls could do Miss USA. There was always a class about Miss America. Sadly that is going away.
I AGREE, MISS AMERICA IS LOSING GROUND. — MISS AMERICA NEEDS TO GO BACK TO THE WONDERFUL PRODUCTION NUMBERS,LET YOUNG WOMEN ENTER UNTIL THEY ARE 26 YRARS OF AGE,SIMPLY BECAUSE THERE ARE MANY YOUNG WOMEN STILL ATTENDING COLLEGE AT 26. WHY CAN’T TALENT BE TWO OR THREE MINUTES ANY LONGER — LETS GO BACK TO THE OLD MISS AMERICA PAGEANT. I REMEMBER PEOPLE STAYED HOME TO WATCH THE PAGEANT!!
Does Miss America HAVE to be the most talented? No. There has been a push since I became I local director (in 2009) to make sure the judges consider entertainment value more than perfect technique. On that note, I thought that Miss NY’s talent was, essentially, a gimmick. So many of the young women competing that night have spent years of lessons and expense to develop their talent, and they were entertaining AS WELL AS masters of technique.
And my final recommendation for MAO – if interview is where is the pageant is won, SHOW US! When I was kid I saw a clip of Heather French’s interview during the finals, and I thought, “Wow, it’s a LOT more than swimsuits and pretty dresses.” I think MAO would see a lot of gain with the public by showing us a peek inside the interview room! Let us – the viewing public – get a quick glimpse inside the judge’s heads. Show us all how the decisions are made, what the official scoring criteria are, etc…I think a little transparency would go a LONG way.
Love, love, LOVE your insight, Founding Junkie! I hope the MAO does change the name from “Talent” to “Talent and Entertainment” and that they do it soon. For the past few years, I have struggled with wrapping my head around for what they were looking as far as talent. A simple change, like you suggest, would remove all the uncertainty very quickly!
Now with that being said, I’m not 100% thrilled with the new direction. I get it, but honestly, not thrilled. I have always greatly appreciated the portions of competition that set MA apart from other national pageants, those being talent and interview. (before anyone says other pageants have interviews… yes, I know they do. However, having personally competed in MA prelims and “other” pageants, the intensity of the MA interview is unparalleled, in my opinion). As this is a scholarship program, I prefer the recognition and rewarding of technical skill mastery along with intelligence and inner and outer beauty. I fear that the encroachment of the “entertainment value” moves MA more towards its competitors’ superficiality.
Lastly, while this is fairly off topic, I’d like to comment on “performing” talent vs “non-on-stage-performing” talent (yes, I just made that term up! LOL). When I was competing in a local prelim, I felt so bad for a young lady who had entered the pageant not knowing the talent completion must be her talent performed on stage. How she didn’t know that, I don’t know, but she didn’t. She showed up for the pageant with some garments she had designed and sewn. They were exquisite. Clearly, she was “talented”, but not in the “right” way, according to MA. I was an Apparel, Textiles and Design major so it was easy for me to recognize her talent. Her skill was impressive. The pageant director helped her come up with a comedic dialogue for her to recite. Sadly, with such little time to prepare, it was frankly, a disaster. I always think of her any time I see pageant with a talent competition. I don’t know how a non-on-stage-performing-talent could ever work in a pageant competition system, but I wish there was. I feel like there are many girls who the MAO is missing out on.
#junkiesunite
Great comment. There IS a pageant system where all talent — including media arts, and fine arts– AND they take women over 24! It is Ms. United States America (Woman of Achievement). Winner last year? Faith Bates Pallone – 1st runner up to Miss Texas America.
Thanks, Marlena! I am not familiar with that system. I am going to check it out and see how they make it work.
Hello-
I see the so-called trend of which you speak a disturbing one. Talent- exceptional talent- is a primary factor that has always set the Miss America organization apart from other pageant systems. Our current Miss America and her predecessor of two years earlier are not exceptionally talented. The ideal that had been held up before in Miss America was to have someone of substance who displayed being exceptional in every category of competition. While these two women, and several other state title holders I’ve seen over the years, are accomplished young women, I believe their talent has been overrated.
As a former title holder, singer, musician and dancer, I believe they fell short of the bar in talent AND entertainment. Furthermore, it’s difficult to be entertained when someone at the national level is mediocre. I studied tap, ballet, baton and danced in several musical productions in the past, so I am all for someone outside the box to achieve the Miss America crown. Unfortunately, I see all too often contestants who present something that’s simply acceptable rather than giving a performance that’s phenomenal. Worse yet is when they win. It’s as if the standards that were once held up have been gradually dumbed down, and that’s a mistake.
I also think it’s a mistake to hold up Kaye Lani Rae Rafko as an example to make your point. First, while her talent was unusual and entertaining, what she presented was difficult and well executed. The same goes for Nina Davuluri. The hand gestures in Bollywood mixed with its high-energy makes it a challenge to be done properly AND well. On the other hand, Mallory Hagen’s and Kira Kazantsev’s performances were each something that could be seen at our local middle and high school auditoriums. To hold these two up as an equal example with Ms. Rafko and Ms. Davuluri is not a compliment. And yes, the younger kids are that good. Furthermore, they get better with age. Let’s look for that in our next Miss America.
So how do I know this? The breadth of my experience in the past has kept me involved over the years in the performing arts and the pageant. It’s been exciting to see how young people keep raising the bar in their art regardless of what it may be. Sadly, it seems that the Miss America organization at the national and state levels have lowered their bar in this category for the sake of ratings. I would love to see talent go back to being 50 percent of the contestants’ score. Even 40 percent would be good, with interview getting 30 percent and splitting the rest of the points between evening gown and swimsuit. I also believe the on-stage question should be part of the evening gown category and not a deciding factor for a title.
Finally, I understand the social media perspective that has become a huge part of the new look for the organization. I used to be in local media myself, so I get that it is a continually evolving tool that can be used to ones benefit, including that of the MAO. Nevertheless, the way it’s been utilized in the telecast on finals night is not upscale, and that’s what the pageant needs to address. Don’t use it and on-screen pop-ups to diminish the contestants with inane, mindless trivia and on-camera hijinks. If this is an effort to make these remarkable young women and the pageant more approachable, then they’re going about it the wrong way.
All this tactic does is diminish the pageant and what the contestants have accomplished. It’s almost as if it’s meant to say, “We’re sorry these young ladies are incredibly outstanding. Here’s a little tidbit about her and some on-stage mugging to give you a chuckle and make you feel better about yourselves.” Really? It’s foolish and presumptuous. If something is going to be shared, make it info that expands upon why those young ladies are there on that stage. They worked hard to get to that point in the competition. It would be a fabulous way to drive that point home. Besides, not everyone watches the pre-pageant show that attempts to do this. Build up the image of the contestants with social media and you build up the pageant. That’s how you keep the organization exceptional and relevant. When it comes to making the pageant and its contestants approachable, leave that up to the new Miss America. She’s the face of the pageant, so don’t steal her thunder.
Thank you for the opportunity to share my thoughts. I have been quiet up until now, and yes, I have remained calm. 😉 I’m not in the least bit exercised over this whole scuttlebutt. None of it is in my control, so what’s the point? It has been in my thoughts so given the opportunity, I have chosen to share them. My remarks have not been meant to be hurtful, but l hope they will be found helpful despite being direct. The organization is finding its way in an ever-changing world, so difficulties are bound to come up. My hope is that they find the best path beyond them.
Good job covering all the events and tackling it each one with charm and grace. You are the Miss America of bloggers! Best of luck in your ventures ahead. Thanks again.
Best Regards,
Janelle Behny
Not that I agree with the way it is heading. But, it ised to be that going out to dinner was to eat. Now people go out to dinner not just to eat, but as an experience that entertains us.
What an interesting and well reasoned post, that surely has broadened my understanding of how contestant scoring works in the current paradigm of the pageant. In researching a piece I recently published, I found, that there you have a position being filled that mandates strong public speaking chops, but what the public sees on TV is SS, EG, talent, and one OSQ. If the interview matters much more than is apparent to the public, that part of the process needs to be seen/understood better. But interviews certainly do not make for compelling viewing. At least one of the questions asked by the judges pageant night, was not the most comprehensible inquiry in TV history.
http://noelbreen.blogspot.com/2014/09/fear-and-loathing-in-atlantic-city.html
I competed in my state 4 times and was top 8 one year, then top 5 my final two years (Oh those young years!). I can say three things about this. My first year, I did pick a really fun song. But, honestly? My interview was a train wreck and I can honestly say that I am now enthused with my presentation in evening or swim wear.
The next three years, I definitely picked songs to sing that had real power to me, that moved me and that I loved singing. But I also worked my butt off in interview and the other areas of competition. This was back in the early 00’s. I was proud of the girls who won because we were all well rounded, fun to watch or talk to, smart, and we all had picked talent pieces/gowns/wardrobe/platforms that absolutely highlighted our passions, what we enjoyed showcasing to people, our commitments. I can genuinely say each of us had fun on stage, off of stage, we worked together to be better, and the move towards ‘;entertainment value’ is one we all saw coming. We were all encouraged ‘blindingly smart in the interview, incredibly moving to watch on stage- be it fun, profound, etc.’
I have loved the more ‘fun talents’ because I have seen women who were whip smart that were behind it. There is a grace behind being able to know when to take yourself seriously or not, and that doesn’t make you stupid. Knowing how to ‘play the game’ no matter what arena you are in, makes you very smart indeed.
Kay Lani Rae Rafko was Miss America 1988, not 1998. She is a fellow alumni of St. Vincent School of Nursing in Toledo, Ohio. Dedicating her platform to Hospice Nursing, not only was a boost for Nursing programs all over the USA, but it also gave a much needed awareness of Hospice care in the United States. Hospice was introduced in the 1970s. Hospice allows patients with terminal diseases or illnesses, who have less than 6 months to live, to die with dignity at home or inpatient Hospice centers, all the while having their pain controlled and their spiritual, psychological, social and medical needs being addressed without worrying about the financial cost. It is covered by Medicare!