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You are here: Home / Archives for Miss America Predicitions

September 11, 2017 by Junkies Leave a Comment

CARA MUND is MISS AMERICA 2018

HOLY COW JUNKIES –
The only word I can come up with is SHELL-SHOCKED!!!!

CONGRATULATIONS TO MISS AMERICA 2018 –
CARA MUND!!!

(MICHAEL LOCCISANO/GETTY IMAGES FOR DICK CLARK PRODUCTIONS)

Now, when I use the word Shell-shocked, I’m talking about WAY more than the runners up or the winner – I’m talking about the WHOLE FREAKING PAGEANT!!!

You guys – I actually ENJOYED watching the pageant this year! I LOVED the intros – I LOVED the ladies talking about their scholastic experience – I LOVED (most of) the camera angles – I LOVED seeing Savvy walk the entire runway during her farewell – I LOVED Sage and Chris as co-hosts – I even LOVED the EXTRA QUESTION round this year!!! Overall, I’m giving a BIG thumbs up to the production – I was on the edge of my seat ALL NIGHT LONG!!!

(MICHAEL LOCCISANO/GETTY IMAGES FOR DICK CLARK PRODUCTIONS)

Now – This pageant certainly didn’t disappoint when it came to surprising contestants either!

 – Miss New Mexico makes the cut for only the 2nd time since 1986
– Miss Alaska makes the Top 15 for the first time since 1998
– Miss North Dakota makes the cut for the first time since 1997 (minus a judges’ choice award for Jacky Arness 3 years ago) – And goes on to be named the first Miss America from North Dakota in history!!!

(AP Photo/ Noah K. Murray)

Now – You might think my use of the term “Shell-Shocked” is negative – BUT NOTHING COULD BE FARTHER FROM THE TRUTH!!! In fact, somewhere out there in the digital universe, there’s a slightly unflattering video of me, JUMPING UP AND DOWN with massive amounts of excitement mixed with equal parts of disbelief, that CARA just won the title!!! I KNOW WHAT THIS MEANS TO SMALL STATES/NON-SASH STATES – And I simply couldn’t contain my joy (it’s actually quite embarrassing, but it happened!)!!! I couldn’t be more THRILLED regarding the final outcome of the whole gosh darn thing – But I’m also the first to admit, I DIDN’T SEE IT COMING!!!

Cara is spectacular – But just like WAY too many of us – I got caught up in the “normal way” pageants typically work out… Miss America typically crowns a certain type of young woman – and let’s be honest, she doesn’t always come from states like North Dakota, Alaska or New Mexico.

But yesterday, she did!

AND I COULD NOT BE HAPPIER FOR HER!!!

And now – Besides the fact that “small states CAN perform well at Miss America” – What else did we learn last night??? Here’s a few thoughts…

Outstanding Teen Still Matters
Your Top 15 included 7 ladies who had earned their state’s Outstanding Teen title – VA, PA, TX, AL, AK, ND, NJ. If you want to gain valuable experience to prepare you for your state title and eventual trip to Miss America, start competing in the MAOTeen system stat! Three of the Top 5 were former OT state winners (NJ, ND, TX) and this is the second year in a row that Miss America has crowned a former Outstanding Teen state titleholder (Savvy and Cara).

Interview Matters
I saw a post inside a Facebook Forum that stated an idea which I think has a pretty decent amount of merit to it… The idea was, while each contestant is being announced into the Top 15, the audience should see some sort of “Interview Score” flashed on the screen – That way, we’d have some sort of idea how well they fared in that portion of the competition. It doesn’t strike me as an awful idea – especially since the VAST MAJORITY of Miss America’s year is spent speaking to the public.

If that’s not possible, then by all means, PLEASE continue with the “extra question” round of competition!!! It was a WONDERFUL way to showcase each contestant’s personality and give us a little bit of insight into her ability to win over the judges during her 10 minute interview… And next time, I’ll pay more attention to how articulate each contestant is during her 15 seconds!

Photo from Miss America Facebook page (Bruce Vartan Boyajian)

Prelim Winners Don’t Matter
Look – Even I was shocked to only see TWO out of FIVE prelim winners make it into the top 15 (TX an LA). And even with that – the highest finish of any prelim winner was that of 4th runner up!

Here’s the lesson to be learned – JUST BECAUSE I CAN PICK A PRELIM WINNER – It doesn’t make her the next Miss America!!! OBVIOUSLY – LOL!!! Not to over-use a word, but I was SHELL-SHOCKED to see two prelim talent winners and 1 prelim swimsuit winner on the sidelines after all was said and done. And for everyone entering a pageant this year, just remember – YOU DON’T HAVE TO WIN A PRELIM TO WIN THE WHOLE THING! It’s just not necessary – and the Top 5 proved it tonight!

Finally, here’s a couple of points of “minor interest” that are still rumbling through my head as I write this at 1:00am…

Anyone else wondering what Missouri was saying to North Dakota right before they announced the winner…? I’ve got lots of Junkies in Missouri – Totally curious – That’s all…

Did anyone else catch the “Pre-Show” on Facebook live before the pageant started??? What a Freaking Fabulous idea! I LOVED seeing the judges, some former Miss America’s and others give a whole “red carpet runway” feel to the event! If you haven’t seen it yet – check it out on the Miss America Facebook page – EXCELLENT CHOICE!!!

OK – This may sound crazy, but I actually LIKED seeing the reactions from the judges this time around… I don’t know what was different (because in previous years, I haven’t been a fan), but this year, I though it totally kept the show interesting. Maybe judges need to be told to offer a little more reaction/personality… Because personally, seeing a judges’ face after a question, or during their talent, actually made the whole show more interesting!

Photo from Miss America’s Facebook page

How much money did “It’s a 10” Haircare have to spend to get THAT MUCH time on the air during a live telecast??? Goodness Gracious… I’m hoping pageant girls around the nation are flocking to their products because whew – That’s gotta be a lot of de-tangler to see an ROI…

Finally – Junkies did not have our best night with overall predictions this year… We ended up 8 for 15, 5 for 10, and 1 for 5. However – our tiny consolation came from our ability to predict Iowa, Minnesota, Colorado all non-finalist talent wins – and we flip-flopped Utah and New Mexico (predicting UT to be in top 15, but NM to win a non-finalist talent award – when it was the other way around!).

From the Miss America Facebook page

So – Once again – Even though it’s one o’clock in the morning as I finish typing this blog, I am still SHELL-SHOCKED in the BEST WAY POSSIBLE that tonight turned out the way it did! Seriously! Ladies – DO NOT COUNT YOURSELVES OUT of the game – just because you think you weren’t born in the “right state” – or don’t have a sponsor to help you with the “right clothes” – or you don’t think the “powers that be” will ever pay attention to you because of some other silly reason…

The truth is, Miss America SHINES from within.

It’s not about the name on her sash. It’s not about what she wears or even whether or not she takes home a prelim award. When you come in contact with Miss America, all those things go out the window.

It’s about a young woman’s ability to SHINE from within!

And I for one, look forward to seeing Cara shine all year long!!!

#BigJunkieLove

Carrie Lakey

Photo by Jenn Cady Photography

Carrie Lakey is kind of obsessed with Miss America…
So are 22,000 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.

Miss America Predictions!
Thousands of us are #HopelesslyAddicted to pageantry.
100% Privacy. No Spamming.

Filed Under: 2018, Miss America Predicitions, Thursday Post, Uncategorized

September 5, 2017 by Junkies Leave a Comment

How Predictions Work

Howdy Junkies!

First of all, can I get a big ‘ole WHOOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOOOO for MISS AMERICA WEEK!!! It’s Finally Here!!! WE MADE IT!!!

Alright then… Always good to celebrate the arrival of Miss America week! Now – Even though many of you out there are indeed Junkies for life, we usually pick up a couple thousand more fans during pageant week – which means, it’s good to give everyone a reminder of how our predictions work!

Let’s start with the lineup…

Here’s how it works:

Each night, you’ll see your favorite contestant perform at least one area of competition on-stage – And each night, Miss America awards a Preliminary Talent Award and a Preliminary Swimsuit Award to the highest point earners who were on stage during their respective competition nights. That means, after Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, we’ll have 3 Preliminary Talent winners and 3 Preliminary Swimsuit winners.

Now, here at Pageant Junkies, this is where the fun begins! We’re going to do our best to pick a Prelim Talent winner and a Prelim Swimsuit winner on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday night. And – just to clarify – sometimes people think because we travel to numerous state pageants, we’ve probably seen like, half of these ladies compete before…  Well, that’s NOT TRUE! In fact, I’ve only seen 2 of these ladies actually compete in a pageant. That’s right – TWO! In addition, during the times when we were in Atlantic City during Miss America week, Junkies don’t make predictions after attending open rehearsals…

So… Wanna know how we make our predictions?

Well – If you haven’t seen the video, here’s the long story regarding “how” we come up with our prediction lists… But if you’d prefer the cliff-notes version, here it is.

We research online.
We consider the opinions of others who offer it to us.
And that’s pretty much it.

However, there’s something else you need to know…

We may have our eyes on a few ladies who’ve piqued our interest, but overall, we don’t have a dog in this fight. I’m not here to promote any certain state above another – and I’m not related to anybody competing in Atlantic City. And guess what that means…?

It means – if I don’t choose your daughter/sister/niece/best-friend’s hair-dresser’s, favorite barista’s granddaughter, it doesn’t mean she wasn’t pretty enough… It doesn’t mean she’s not smart enough or she’s not talented enough…. it only means, I’m not perfect (and trust me – because we didn’t make any state predictions this year, I’m pretty sure perfection ain’t gonna happen (lol!).  Therefore, PLEASE don’t take it personally if we don’t list your favorite contestant.  She’s still got as good a chance as anyone to bring home the title – and our predictions have NOTHING to do with the outcome of the competition! ?

Finally, we always do our best to remind Junkies that “predictions” should be – Wait for it… Wait for it…

FUN!!!

If it’s not FUN – then it shouldn’t be DONE! There’s no need to take this whole thing too seriously – Mainly because Miss America is a total crap-shoot (and I mean that term in the kindest way possible). Therefore, we developed our personal phrase that everyone can easily repeat to themselves as they scroll through our pageant predictions…

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!

And we mean it!

I’d much prefer each woman to perform at her highest potential than for me to have a perfect pageant prediction track record. Prove me wrong – all day long – and I’ll be high-fiving you and your entourage while singing a song! lol! My goal isn’t to be correct – My goal is to celebrate the incredible achievements of the women in this program – And that’s the truth!

Sooooooooooooooooo – With all that being said, our first predictions will be released the afternoon of September 6th! If you wanna know who we’re picking, then you need to join the Junkie Newsletter by signing up below…

Miss America Predictions!
Thousands of us are #HopelesslyAddicted to pageantry.
100% Privacy. No Spamming.

 

Once you sign up, you should receive an email in your inbox asking you to CONFIRM that you want to receive such emails from us. PLEASE make sure you confirm (check your spam or other filters) – We don’t want any Junkies to miss out!

And there you have it! In the meantime, we’ll be posting pictures and other goodies to our social media outlets (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram) – So make sure you’re following @PageantJunkies in all locations!

THE COUNTDOWN IS ON!!!!! MISS AMERICA 2018 – HERE WE COME!!!

#BigJunkieLove

Carrie Lakey

Photo by Jenn Cady Photography

Carrie Lakey is kind of obsessed with Miss America…
So are 22,000 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.

Filed Under: Miss America 2017, Miss America Predicitions, Thursday Post

August 24, 2017 by Junkies Leave a Comment

Predictions are Coming!!!

Photo Sy Bean / Seattle Refined

LOL!!! OH – MY – GAWD – What a crazy-freaking-long time it’s been since I’ve even uttered the words, “Miss America Predictions”… Let alone committed to doing them!

For those of you who’re new here, Pageant Junkies was born out of predictions. Here’s the short version of how everything started..

Once upon a time, I decided to wrangle my friends into following the Miss America preliminary competition by trying to predict the winners via email (read the whole story here)… Mind you – These friends WERE NOT pageant people (to put it mildly). These were folks who clearly loved me, because they were graciously tolerating my semi-obsessive attitude towards the upcoming Miss America competition. However, before you knew it, I was calling them my “Miss America Junkies” and the name stuck. We then expanded into all the crazy things you see here… blogs, podcasts, newsletters, and even state predictions.

Except for this year.

Photo by The News Star

Things changed a bit for me personally this year… After taking some time off from my corporate ladder climbing, I decided to get my real estate license, start a new career, and for the first time in 5 years, I did not make any public predictions regarding individual state winners (catch some of our previous predictions here). I also chose not to predict MAOTeen back in July… which left a few people wondering if I was going to turn my back on predicting Miss America this year as well…

Earlier this week, I made the announcement to my most ardent Junkie supporters, that despite the fact that this will be my LEAST researched class in my 12 year history of publicly predicting winners, I WILL be offering a predictions list for Miss America Prelim Winners, Top 15, Top 10 and Top 5.

Call me crazy – But I just can’t stay away.

Photo by Caroline Bray – WYFF.com

And here’s the deal – Look, I get it… I’m certainly not the only person who’s ever made MAO predictions in her life (far from it)! Pageant fans have being doing predictions for DECADES! All I am, is someone who had a grand fascination and appreciation of the Miss America program and wanted to see if I could connect with other people who felt the same way. So, I put my predictions online for the whole world to see.

And boy howdy – Did that ever change things!

Photo by Bruce Guthrie

Now, Pageant Junkies has swelled to over 22,000 fans – which is absolutely mind-blowing to me! I mean – You have to understand… Before the explosion of social media, there was a time when I wondered if I could find even 100 people out there like me! And now, I’m absolutely tickled by the fact that so many of you are “Hopelessly Addicted” to the Miss America program – and are Junkies for life!

Without getting too cheesy (ok, maybe a little cheesy)… I have met some of the most amazing people who have dedicated a good portion of their own lives, to investing in the improvement of young women across this country through the Miss America program. It’s that dedication – and the ability to look a young woman in the eye and challenge her to be more than she is right now – that keeps me coming back for more.

Photo from LacrosseTribune.com

So – Miss America will host their preliminary competition starting the evening of September 6th… And while I won’t be in Atlantic City this year, I will be making my predictions (and offering some mindless chatter and commentary) through our email newsletter. If you’re not on the list yet – just sign up below and we’ll make sure you’re included!

THE ONLY WAY YOU’LL BE ABLE TO READ OUR PREDICTIONS IS BY JOINING THE EMAIL LIST BELOW- WE WON’T BE POSTING THEM ON THIS BLOG!

Miss America Predictions!
Thousands of us are #HopelesslyAddicted to pageantry.
100% Privacy. No Spamming.

 

And there you have it! I’ll offer a few more posts leading up to the preliminary competition to give you some insights as to why I choose who I choose when it comes time… But between now and then – get ready for the quickest 2.5 weeks of your life! We’ll be crowning a brand new Miss America is just 18 days!!!

And when they put that iconic crown on her head, let’s hope she gives us a great big “you-gotta-be-kidding-me-I-can’t-keep-my-mouth-closed” moment we’ll never, ever forget!!!

#BigJunkieLove

Carrie Lakey

Photo by Jenn Cady Photography

Carrie Lakey is kind of obsessed with Miss America…
So are 22,000 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.

Filed Under: Miss America Predicitions, Thursday Post

September 5, 2016 by Junkies 1 Comment

Miss America Prelim Predictions

scaled.PrelimNight1coMAO_t655

I still remember like it was yesterday.

I was sitting in my high story office, happy that our sales team had just finished a great fiscal year, when I had this crazy, dim-witted, slightly hair-brained idea…

“I think I’ll send an email to some of my friends I haven’t seen in a while, and tell them the Miss America pageant is about to take place… “

The reason this idea was so crazy, dim-witted and slightly hair-brained, is because I was about to email a bunch of friends who never competed in pageantry. These were ladies who supported me – but honestly – they you couldn’t have paid them to compete. Not in a million years.

mao_2010

In truth, I knew it was a bit of a risk to send such an email out of the blue. Which is why I decided I needed a hook… Something to keep them from politely rolling their eyes and asking if I was “still into all that stuff”. So, in order to keep things interesting, I decided to up the ante by telling them I was going to predict who would win each of the preliminary competitions. I’d pick a few states, then I’d tell my friends why I thought “so and so state” could win the given prelim each night.

That’s when I realized I needed to put these friends on their very own email list. I thought for a moment and wondered what I should name the list… And then it hit me.

Miss America Junkies.

PrelimNight3

Ever since that day, I’ve been posting picks – and each year more and more Junkies join me in my pursuit of the perfect preliminary prediction.

In case you’ve never seen this before, here’s how it goes…

CnvMcrfUIAICbAT.jpg-large

1. Two awards are given on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday night… one for Swimsuit and one for Talent (no on-stage awards for Evening Gown or On-Stage Question). Three nights of prelims times 2 awards each night means 6 awards total. 🙂

2. I’ll select 4 states out of the 17-18 girls who could possibly win.

3. To provide complete disclosure… I’ve only seen 2 of this year’s Miss America contestants compete on stage before. I don’t attend Miss America rehearsals. The way I make my predictions is through online research. If I can find it online, it’s fair game for my predictions.

4. The Prelim list is in the chart above… for Tuesday, we’re working with Alpha in Talent and Sigma in Swimsuit…

tumblr_nuhqq9eVxf1tcbwt8o1_1280

Now – before predictions kick off tomorrow, I always like to post a few points to remember for anyone who’s not been a part of Pageant Junkies predictions before…

1. Every one of the predictions I post are my opinions and my opinions only. Sometimes I get it right – and sometimes I’m dead wrong. Of all the years I’ve been making predictions based on online research only, the best I’ve ever done is 4/6… Which pretty much goes to prove, I’m not perfect. ?

2. If your daughter/grand-daughter/sister/best friend’s-baby-sitter’s-car-salesman’s niece isn’t on our short-list as a prelim pick, it doesn’t mean she isn’t talented. It doesn’t mean she isn’t ‘pretty enough’. It doesn’t mean she doesn’t have what it takes… It only means, I’m not perfect (please re-read point #1 above). 🙂

3. Just because we accurately predict a prelim winner – it doesn’t mean she is the next Miss America. PLENTY of ladies have walked away with the Miss America title after never winning a single prelim (and it could very well happen this year as well!). Your favorite contestant can too.

Miss Louisiana April Nelson, left, won the talent portion and Miss Florida Mary Katherine Fechtel, right, won the swimsuit competition in the second night of preliminary competition in the 2016 Miss America pageant on Wednesday Sept. 9, 2015. The winners spoke at a press conference in Atlantic City N.J. after the competition. (AP Photo/Wayne Parry)
Miss Louisiana April Nelson, left, won the talent portion and Miss Florida Mary Katherine Fechtel, right, won the swimsuit competition in the second night of preliminary competition in the 2016 Miss America pageant on Wednesday Sept. 9, 2015. The winners spoke at a press conference in Atlantic City N.J. after the competition. (AP Photo/Wayne Parry)

4. This is supposed to be… (wait for it… wait for it…) FUN!!! ? Since predictions are the origin of Pageant Junkies, we have a blast seeing if we can accurately predict a winner simply through online research and Junkie intuition. Please don’t take it personally if the lady you adore is not listed in our posts… It’s truly nothing personal – We’re just trying to have a good time!

5. Finally – In order to prove that predictions ARE fun, I needed to develop a phrase that would encapsulate how I truly feel about each young woman competing. That’s when I stumbled onto this little ditty – and it’s become our signature phrase for ALL of prediction season:

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!

And I actually mean it!

Don’t believe me? Ask someone from Iowa (lol! Ok, that’s actually an inside joke for all you Taylor Wiebers fans out there – you know EXACTLY what I mean!). When I’m wrong – I own up to it! And with a smile on my face! In fact, I love celebrating young women who prove me wrong – It’s what keeps me honest and what makes leading the Junkie Nation so much fun!!!

Now – As I said above, I’m not perfect.  All I’m trying to do is interject a little bit of levity into one of the single-greatest competitions on live television today. Miss America is a total crap-shoot (and I mean that in the kindest way possible). Absolutely anything can happen – Which is what makes it so much fun to play!

Miss Ohio Mackenzie Bart Miss Florida Victoria Cowen_1410330573524_7916831_ver1.0_640_480

So – if you’re interested in “playing along” – you’re always welcome to post your predictions on our Facebook page or here in the comments section below… You’re also welcome to send me an email with your picks and we can contrast and compare!

In the meantime, there’s work to be done! We don’t just pull these picks out a hat you know… In fact, we’ve gone through a super tedious and extremely loooooooooooong process of research and evaluation just to get to this point! But – That’s precisely why they call us Junkies 🙂 Don’t take the name if you can’t take the job 🙂 LOL!

If you’d like to see our predictions for Miss America 2017, you still have time! Just join Pageant Junkies Premium, and we’ll make sure you’re on the list! Prelims start tomorrow – and we’re still frantically trying to put together final our list! Once they’re ready, we’ll send our predictions and see how things shape up on Tuesday night! –  Don’t miss it!!!

#BigJunkieLove

Carrie Lakey

To see more of our Miss America mini-series, just click here…

Photo by Jenn Cady Photography
Photo by Jenn Cady Photography

Carrie Lakey is kind of obsessed with Miss America…
So are 18,000 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.

Filed Under: MAO Mini-Series, Miss America 2017, Miss America Predicitions

September 4, 2016 by Junkies 2 Comments

Seventeen Teens in 2017

2017 OT State Winners
Former OT’s competing for Miss America 2017

Hey Junkie Nation!

It’s time to talk Teens… As in, former Outstanding Teen state winners who are now competing for the title of Miss America!!!

This year – we have a record-breaking SEVENTEEN former state teen winners who are walking on the Miss America stage! That number is WAY up from previous years – and will be hard to beat (in my opinion) in years to come!

So – Why is recognizing former Miss America’s Outstanding Teen state titleholders a big enough deal to warrant an entire blog? Well – Let’s just say, it’s all about the trend…

52-1-sierracooks

OUTSTANDING TEENS are FLOCKING to MISS AMERICA

The first former Teen titleholders to walk on the Miss America stage did so back at Miss America 2009… That year, Sierra Minot (Miss FL OT 2005 – pictured above) finished as the 4th runner up to Katie Stam and set the stage for future Teen titleholders was set…

It wasn’t until 2013 when Nina Davuluri was named Miss America 2014, that a former Outstanding Teen state titleholder took home the title of Miss America… But considering the Outstanding Teen pageant only started in 2006, I’d say that’s a pretty darn good track record!

Former OT's competing for Miss America 2014
Former OT’s competing for Miss America 2014

Overall, if my calculations are correct, 64 ladies who were former state OT winners have gone on to walk on the Miss America stage over the past 11 years (including this year’s class)… Now – you may or may not realize, several states were naming “Teen Winners” before there ever was a national Outstanding Teen pageant… The number above only includes those who were officially “Outstanding Teens” and attended nationals in Orlando, Florida.

But wait – There’s more reasons why we’re focusing today’s blog in this direction…

Former OT’s competing for Miss America 2013

ADVANTAGES GALORE

Because they’ve held a state-wide title, former OT state winners have the advantage of understanding what the role of a state titleholder is.  Not only do they have the experience, they also have the contacts and the chance to get to know lots of different people in their state, as opposed to a local titleholder who only represents her local community.

In addition, if former state OT winners decide they want to try to become Miss titleholders, they have an understanding of what it’s like to do the job itself. There are plenty of former OT state titleholders who don’t go on to compete in the Miss division – Mainly because they understand what’s at stake – and for whatever reason, they’ve decided they’re not necessarily interested. Nothing wrong with knowing what’s ahead of you and then choosing to pursue what you truly want instead of what’s expected of you… Not a thing wrong with that!

Former OT's competing for Miss America 2012
Former OT’s competing for the title of Miss America 2012

OUT OF THE MOUTHS OF BABES…

Finally – I’ve interviewed countless ladies on the podcast who served as both an Outstanding Teen and a Miss State titleholder – And without a doubt – THEY ALWAYS SAY the best preparation for them, was competing in the OT program.

It’s because of the reasons above… Being an OT gives you the chance to meet tons of people, it gives your platform a state-wide voice, and it gives you a small taste of what the real job of a Miss titleholder is.

Now, am I saying this year a former OT state titleholder will go on to win Miss America??? Not necessarily… Although considering the fact that this year, with ONE THIRD of the contestants previously holding an OT state title, those aren’t bad odds!

Slide12
Former OT’s competing for Miss America 2015

Overall – The Outstanding Teen program has proven itself as an excellent organization for finding future Miss America contestants. We didn’t even talk about the number of ladies who participated in their Outstanding Teen program, but didn’t win an OT state title, who still ended up a Miss America (and trust me – there’s plenty of those ladies out there too!).

Honestly – I’m very excited about the Outstanding Teen program. It’s the exact kind of “training ground” that does nothing but help the Miss America Organization – and obviously, young women who benefit from participating in pageants get the chance to hone their skills in a supportive and familiar environment. That’s a win-win in my book!

NATIONAL WINNERS

Thus far, 12 young women have earned the title national of Miss America’s Outstanding Teen… Of those 12 ladies, 2 have made their way to the Miss America stage!  Caitlin Brunell represented Alabama and was a Top 10 finalist at Miss America 2014 – And Rachel Wyatt is the reigning Miss South Carolina. I just wanted to take a moment to commend each young woman for her journey thus far – There’s a different kind of pressure that can come with being a former National Titleholder (especially in the same system) that can make ones Miss America journey a bit more difficult. Both women were wonderful representations of MAOTeen and just like every other contestant, we wish them the best!

Alright! So – That means we’ll have one more post tomorrow and we wrap up our mini-series… Once Tuesday hits, we’ll start making our predictions! If you’d like to read more posts in our mini-series, just click here – and if you’d like to see our predictions for Miss America 2017 (starting Tuesday), just click here.

GOOD LUCK to EVERYONE competing at Miss America this year (former OT’s and otherwise!)

#BigJunkieLove

Carrie Lakey

Photo by Jenn Cady Photography
Photo by Jenn Cady Photography

Carrie Lakey is kind of obsessed with Miss America…
So are 18,000 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.

Filed Under: MAO Mini-Series, Miss America 2017, Miss America Predicitions

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This website is strictly coverage of all things from the Miss America system. We are in no way affiliated with the Miss America Organization.

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