O – M – FREAKING – G!!! Junkies have a ZILLION things going through our minds right now… it’s been all of 45 minutes since Miss America 2015 was crowned and I have much to say! You might want to make sure you have enough time to read this before you get started!!!
FIRST – Junkies wanna offer a HUGE CONGRATULATIONS to Kira… As we all know, earning the title of Miss America isn’t easy – and it’s a total crap-shoot (again – we use that term affectionately). You’ve got to get 7 different people (the judges) to love you all at the same time – and Kira did just that!
We realize many of you have questions regarding how/why she won… So – Just for fun, we thought we’d go back and give you a condensed version of the blog we wrote when the judges were originally announced! These 5 points were the factors we told you would play a significant role in who would become the next Miss America – according to the type of people we thought the judges were…
1. Marketing/Social Media Gurus – Do you know who started the whole “take a selfie while sleeping with your crown on” trend this year? Miss New York. Do you know who has 10,000 Instagram followers? Miss New York. Do you know who has 53,500 Twitter Followers? Miss New York. The girl knows how to get people’s attention via social media – no question about it.
2. Substance Over Style – Lots of people think Kira didn’t answer her final question… But here’s how I interpreted the question… Paraphrasing… “What issue should the 20 women in the Senate take the lead on?” Kira said, again – I’m paraphrasing – “I think the issue they should take up is combating sexual assault in the military. Women deserve to feel safe.” That’s such an open-ended question that many girls would’ve stumbled. You could’ve gone in a million different directions – but Kira (smartly) chose to relate her answer back to her platform and her passion.
3. Street Smart/Multi-Faceted – Kira is multi-faceted to the core. Her family immigrated from Russia, she was in an abusive relationship, her mother has sewn a large portion of her Miss America clothing/appearance wardrobe (including her on-stage question dress), she was a triple major at Hofstra University (political science, global studies and geography), she speaks Spanish and Russian fluently, she’s a former Nike sponsored golfer, a food blogger and she’s already been accepted to Law School at Notre Dame. NOT A ONE-TRICK PONY!!! I expect we’ll hear her speak on a variety of topics throughout her year – she won’t be repeating the same talking points in every interview. 🙂
4. Fitness – To me, the girl looks like like the most fit Miss America we’ve had in SEVERAL YEARS!!! Can’t argue with her figure!
5. Entertainment Trumps Talent – Ok… Obviously, this point has ruffled a few feathers… So, let’s start by being honest. The girl sang a Top 40 song while sitting on the ground, criss-cross applesauce, and played ‘the cup’.
You may think it’s hokey – and you may think it’s not a ‘trained talent’ – but you need to know that Anna Kendrick’s ‘cup song’ has 155 MILLION views on Vevo!!! Little girls across America think the cup song is fun and adorable! That makes Kira extremely relateable to them – rather than Miss America’s previous reputation of being stuffy and aloof.
In addition – WE TOLD YOU that the best talent was not going to win this year… Instead – these judges favored Entertaining Talents. And if you’re a classically trained vocalist, you probably weren’t super entertained by Miss New York, but you know what… a lot of people were. Especially, a lot of young people. And if you want Miss America to become a national brand, she needs to be appealing to young girls. And for the record, I was entertained. 🙂 She made me smile… and I was happy at the end of her performance. 🙂
Moving beyond those 5 points… We also need to explain how the judging works…
Here’s the deal… Once you have a Top 15, you use the girls’ composite score from the Prelims (worth 30%) plus the next phase of competition. So – even if you have the best swimsuit of the night, if your composite score barely got you into the Top 15, you don’t necessarily advance. That’s how it works all night – UNTIL you get to the Top 5.
After all the ladies in the Top 5 have answered their final question, the scores are thrown out. They don’t matter at all. Instead – each of the judges is given a “final ballot”. On that final ballot, each judge ranks who he/she would like to see as the Winner, 1st runner up, 2nd runner up, etc. The girl who was in 5th place (but made it into the Top 5) can be named the winner if enough judges list her as the winner on the final ballot.
So here’s what that means… Once you’re in the Top 5, the judges no longer care about your talent. They no longer care about your size 2 or your size 8 figure. They no longer care about your Tony Bowls evening gown. The only thing they care about is – who is the most articulate contestant under pressure? Who’s the girl they fell in love with during the interview? That’s who usually wins the pageant.
In summary – that’s how Miss New York won (again) 🙂 Plus, I gotta be honest… I feel like Kira isn’t anything like Nina or Mallory… and if she was from a different state, she might be getting a bit more support! She is sophisticated and approachable. She is warm and natural. She was probably completely relaxed, having the time of her life this week, because never in a million years did she think they’d give it to NY 3 times in a row!!! Although Junkies loved Arkansas and Virginia – I really think the judges got this one right.
AND NOW – on to some other awards given away last night!
Miss Congeniality and the Judges’ Save – NORTH DAKOTA
STEM Scholarships (worth $5000 each!) – NEW MEXICO, VERMONT, OHIO, MASSACHUSETTS and GEORGIA
Non-Finalist Interview – LOUISIANA
Non-Finalist Talent – PENNSYLVANIA, NORTH CAROLINA, INDIANA, WEST VIRGINIA and NEVADA
Junkies go 12 for 16 to start… And we actually had 6 of the Top 10 picked, but only picked 1 of the final 5. Again, considering all of our research was done online this year, we’re pretty darn happy with everything except our Final 5 picks. Something to work on for next year… 🙂
PS – THANKS FOR SWARMING THE NEW WEBSITE! It actually froze because so many people were trying to access it at the same time!!! YAY!!! 🙂
Finally – There’s hardly ever a year when EVERYONE thinks the right girl won Miss America. There’s always going to be some detractors – I get that. But you gotta remember… Junkies started this whole movement because we were frustrated by all the negativity that existed in the online pageant world – and wanted to bring a “more positive tone” to online pageant commentary. Everyone’s welcome to have an opinion, but message boards and other online outlets are already full of rude and disparaging comments against contestants – Sometimes it’s downright hateful! At the end of the day, if you’re a Junkie and you feel the need to make ugly comments about any winner (your state or Miss America), then I have not done my job. I will keep going and do my best to remind everyone what the Junkies stand for. You don’t have to agree – but we’re not here to contribute to the problem! We’re here to make an impact in a positive direction.
And there you have it! Don’t write off Kira just yet! I have a feeling she’s going to surprise a lot of people during her reign and be a wonderful ambassador for the Miss America program! In the meantime, set your DVR’s to all the morning talk shows and take another look! I for one, look forward to watching Kira Kazantsev over the next 12 months… She’s poised to be one of my favorite New Yorker’s to date! 🙂
#JunkieLove –
Cheryl says
September 15, 2014 at 5:13 pmI really don’t care how approachable she is. What I care about are the thousands of young women who aspire to be a Miss America and believe if they work hard they might just have a chance. From the sorry antics last night – working hard means little. Beating a red cup is preferable to singing, dancing, classical piano, opera. The judges have disgraced themselves and sunk to a new low. The pageant which has been in danger of folding has surely placed a dagger in the hands of detractors. This so called choice must be explained. Freedom of Information act needs to be filed to view the judges score cheats – I mean – score sheets.
Sarah-K says
September 21, 2014 at 6:18 pmI think you’ve misunderstood the meaning of what the Miss America Scholarship Program is. As much as you’d like it to be a competition based off of who is the most talented, it is not. Miss America is teaching both young girls and women to aspire to be everything they can be, by giving them opportunities to serve their community and country and to be a part of a change for the better, and to help give them the best education possible.
Kira will be going to hospitals during her year of reign. Most of the children in those hospitals are unable to get out of bed to dance, or have oxygen masks on and can’t sing. But they can move their hands and play with a cup to make rhythm. It might not seem like much, but any child who is ill would so much rather participate, than to watch someone else.
She’s not just there to please the generation that has already tried raising the country. She’s there to uplift the younger generation into believing in themselves, and to believing in their country, and to make their lives a little brighter.
You can’t expect Kira to change your heart, if you’ve already hardened your heart to even being warmed by hers.
Feel free to respond, I don’t mind discussions.
Sarah-Krystyne says
September 21, 2014 at 6:33 pmI think you’ve misunderstood the meaning of what the Miss America Scholarship Program is. As much as you’d like it to be a competition based off of who is the most talented, it is not. Miss America is teaching both young girls and women to aspire to be everything they can be, by giving them opportunities to serve their community and country and to be a part of a change for the better, and to help give them the best education possible.
Kira will be going to hospitals during her year of reign. Most of the children in those hospitals are unable to get out of bed to dance, or have oxygen masks on and can’t sing. But they can move their hands and play with a cup to make rhythm. It might not seem like much, but any child who is ill would so much rather participate, than to watch someone else.
She’s not just there to please the generation that has already tried raising the country. She’s there to uplift the younger generation into believing in themselves, and to believing in their country, and to make their lives a little brighter.
You can’t expect Kira to change your heart, if you’ve already hardened your heart to even being warmed by hers.
Kim says
September 15, 2014 at 7:29 pmThank you for so eloquently saying what needed to be said!
CaliSteve says
September 16, 2014 at 4:01 amYou are spot on!
CaliSteve says
September 20, 2014 at 8:52 pmWant to clarify that junkies commentary was spot in, not some of the replies
Michele Ivers says
September 16, 2014 at 11:08 pmList all the “stuff” you want to convince people Miss NY was the right one, didn’t work for me. Miss Ar. had her beat all the way! I’m not saying that because I live in Ar. but because I watch this show each year and Ashton just had the “right stuff” this year even if the judges by passed her.
sheri says
September 17, 2014 at 5:21 amShes beautiful
Tammy says
September 17, 2014 at 6:15 pmI agree with Cheryl. Many young girls have worked hard and aspired to be the next Miss America. If beating a cup is all that they need to do why work so hard. We saw what happen to Miss Florida last year and how dedicated she was to go on because she had worked so hard to get to that point. It’s heart breaking to see that all it takes is beating a cut to win Miss America.
Sarah-Krystyne says
September 21, 2014 at 6:31 pmTammy,
Many women work hard to do many things. And many do not get what they desire or what they have put their whole life into. You just notice it more because we are actually watching it occur. The women who were in Miss America still have opportunities to make a change, it isn’t the end, and many times they are given the highest of opportunities that many women will never experience. As I’ve mentioned to Cheryl, Kira can teach children how to make rhythms. She can TEACH them something. That might not seem like much to you, but I’d much rather her be uplifting the generation that will soon be taking care of you.
EH says
September 22, 2014 at 6:22 pmAgree & disagree … If the new platform is all for who can get the most social media & approachability well then it’s now “Miss Popular” which is what the basis of Miss America never was about! My two cents … as a whole the pageant should do better at showcasing the whole person then & not just talent & body
I’m a former pageant girl – we all know its just a gamble game once you are really on stage & perhaps that’s the most disappointing factor of all.
Kate says
September 25, 2014 at 3:41 pmSadly, I think you’ve hit a nail on the head. As Miss America becomes more attainable, the desire to win decreases. As reality shows and game shows begin to offer huge prizes, a potential $50,000 scholarship isn’t so desirable. There was a time when Miss America was considered the female counter part to the President, but I’m worried that she has lost her place in society’s expectations, and her title is now blurred next to the Kardashians (who were made famous for what, exactly), Rebecca Black (made famous for having parents pay an obscene amount of money for a terrible song), and the latest celebrity sleeze. Miss America used to be every little girl’s dream, but now they want to be actresses, models, or singers. Miss America tries to adapt, and loses it all. We can only hope for the best.
Bonita Gradman says
September 26, 2014 at 4:56 pmAgree. We are evolving into a society that does not value a work ethic. Past Miss As were role models-proof that hard work gets U places-devotion to perfecting talent & academic accomplishment & physical fitness.
In addition, what kind of attention from social media is the winner getting-is “negative attention” the desired goal?
Advertisers are aware that parents of young girls, such as myself, still want traditional goals for their daughters. We want our daughters to become successful women with resumes that demonstrate true accomplishment.
Alisha L. says
September 25, 2014 at 4:04 pmI think Junckies is making a great point but I would also like to point out that Kira did an amazing job at Miss America and as Miss New York. She is an ideal Miss America, educated, classy and also relatable. Of course she is good with Social media and getting followers. Its 2014!! I would expect anyone of those ladies with titles to have a good handle on it. It shows that not only is Miss America classic but also relevant in the now. Miss America is like your classic little black dress. Always in style but also changing with the times need be.