34 replies to this topic

[superpole2000]

The contestants' bad dancing during the introductions might be the funniest thing I've seen this month. Thanks Miss America Pageant!

[awaken]

The dancing was so stilted! Embarrassing!

The Amway changing tent! Love it!

On the 20/20 special beforehand, I found it interesting that they can do as much plastic surgery as they want, but can't ever have been pregnant!

[jonaswan2]

The contestants' bad dancing during the introductions might be the funniest thing I've seen this month. Thanks Miss America Pageant!

The sad thing is that most all of them are dancers. I'll give them a pass, because they don't get a lot of time to learn that stuff.

[Tahitian Moon]

I got sucked in by the 20/20 special. I do watch Toddlers and Tiaras,so it's amazing to see what little Miss Nacho Supreme can grow up to be. I can't believe the disparity between the states-did you see that sweet apartment that S. Carolina gets? That's pretty plush. It makes me feel bad for the girls who have to pay their own way. My favorites are NY, Wyoming, and Mariah Carey. However, I really am rooting for anyone but S. Carolina (so she'll probably win now).

Edited by Tahitian Moon, Jan 12, 2013 @ 10:07 PM.

[RL1]

No, that is not dancing. They should have took dancing lessons from Johnny Arcade....his dancing is awesomely weird. The choreography should have been something like this at 2:04-2:10. Now that's dancing...hahahahahahahaha....none of that posing dancing crap. They should have this guy as their choreographer.

But back on topic......I right away knew that Miss Montana(the autistic one?) would not win. Since she was picked first, I knew right away she would not have made it at all. I even told my dad, she is not going to get picked. She is lucky she was called first.

Edited by RL1, Jan 12, 2013 @ 10:48 PM.

[ByaNose]

Big shocker! Two blondes in the final 2.

[jonaswan2]

Miss New York's answer to her final question was great. She deserves that tiara, as tacky as it is.

[RL1]

I knew it would have been two blondes. Why call it Miss America?

[jonaswan2]

Big shocker! Two blondes in the final 2.

Beauty (swimsuit and evening wear) is only around a third of their cumulative score. "Blondes" do win more often. There seems to be a disproportionate amount of blondes to other hair colors that compete, if any of that makes sense.

I was personally rooting for Miss Oklahoma and Miss Iowa, but they both kind of boffed their final question in different ways. So, eh, I'm not going to pull the "their afraid of diversity!" card.

Edited by jonaswan2, Jan 12, 2013 @ 11:19 PM.

[RL1]

Well, that was unexciting.

[awaken]

So generic. Didn't they used to show the scores for each round? The talent portion was hilarious! We used to hear about what college they went to, their age, volunteer work, etc. we learned almost nothing about these women and I couldn't tell them apart. Then the generic Muzak as the winner walked the aisle and no "here she comes" song. . It just used to feel more meaningful.

Edited by awaken, Jan 12, 2013 @ 11:19 PM.

[marie caroline]

Oh my, that gown worn by Miss America 2012 was hideous! It resembled some of the nightmarish choices of former Oscar presenters in the 70s, such as Cher and Barbra Streisand.

And Ms. Mariah Cary got the marijuana question and said she approved of it for recreational use and for health care. I know she was nervous and misspoke, but I thought, well, Mariah won't be winning! Think of the headlines tomorrow!

Very happy with Miss New York winning. My home state being one factor, but I think she deserved it. I also liked Miss Oklahoma.

The music - all of it - stunk. I miss the recording of Bert Parks singing the Miss America song at the end. And the talent, such as it was - unfortunate for the most part.

Except for a few of the contestants, not my favorite year. Although I do love this cheesy show and have been watching it every year since the 60s. Sad I know, but it was a mom-daughter tradition, and I carry it on.

[Sugarwater]

I was cracking up at Miss Iowa's slip up. "Marijuana should only be used for recreational purposes."

Edited by Sugarwater, Jan 12, 2013 @ 11:23 PM.

[jonaswan2]

The talent portion was hilarious!

I think I was genuinely impressed with Miss Oklahoma's(?) tap routine, someone's original composition, and what did anyone else do? All of the singers were hilarious as usual (Sorry, Miss Tennessee. Still love ya.), and the twirling was something else.

ETA: And I agree that the pageant used to feel more meaningful.

Edited by jonaswan2, Jan 12, 2013 @ 11:33 PM.

[absolutqt]

And Ms. Mariah Cary got the marijuana question and said she approved of it for recreational use and for health care.

I just want to slap her parents. If your last name is "Cary," you decide to name your child, Mariah? Ugh. Talk about doing your kid no favors.

[ByaNose]

And, ABC on the piano. I must say I would never have thought of just playing it. I thought she was going to sing too. At least, she could have done was do it karaoke style. LOL!

[PShau]

absolutqt wrote: "I just want to slap her parents. If your last name is "Cary," you decide to name your child, Mariah? Ugh. Talk about doing your kid no favors."

I thought the same thing at first, but let's not be too quick there...
Miss Iowa is 20, and the other Mariah was only starting out about 20 years ago. (first chart hits were in 1990/91)
Too borderline to say -- She could be named after her, or it could also be a freak coincidence.


BTW --
Did anyone else feel the show was a bit anticlimactic somehow?
If you did, it may be because the new Miss America waved to the crowd with only some generic background music behind her.
The traditional pageant song "There She Is" was missing for (almost) the first time in nearly 60 years.
Since 1955, it's either been performed live (by hosts like Bert Parks, Gary Collins, Regis Philbin and others),
or they've used a recording of Parks' version up until last year. It was abandoned for 3 years in the 1980's, then brought back, according to some online articles.
Whatever this music was this time, it was so low it could barely be heard.
I'm wondering if the show's given it up completely, they've lost the rights to it, or somebody at ABC forgot to cue it up.... any thoughts???

Edited by PShau, Jan 13, 2013 @ 12:37 AM.

[RL1]

The marijuana answer was hilarious. I almost spit out my milk at that comment.

[Cuppiediva]

When she answered the marijuana question, I went :Wait. What? I had to back it up three times to make sure that's what she said! I thought I misheard her cause I was stoned...

[JudyObscure]

Donald Trump has ruined this thing. His flashy, "sexy," style is right for Miss USA/Universe but he doesn't "get," Miss America. Like others, I've been watching this since I was a little girl and I watch now for the nostalgia factor.

I used to like the girls coming out in their state costumes, the corny back stories, the brave attempts at classic talent and the questions were designed to allow the girl to say something about her ideals and goals, not settle questions that divide the left and right.

Now, we get a lot of loud music overplaying the girls voices while they dance nervously in a generic non-style that tells us nothing. The swimsuit bit was ridiculous -- we saw the coy twisted back pose for too long, then the camera moved front and was too far away to really see, finally it zoomed in for a very fast moving shot--and bam it's over and all we know is that they used lots of spray tan. If there's going to be a swimsuit competition then we at least need time to a bit of comparison. I had no idea that the baton twiller was stick skinny until her talent spot.

The evening gown part was at least paced a little slower but why have them talking about choosing the gown when they could talk about their education or platform or something that would tell us about them?

The question part was the worst. Some of those questions were extremely controversial, designed to make half the country angry. Do I really care about Miss America's opinion on whether or not some child needs medication? Isn't that up to the parents and doctors? Why would she assume they hadn't tried other means before they "medicated their kids?"

The doughnut bit? Stupid and condescending. Of course they don't want to eat on stage while wearing full make-up and feeling sick with disappointment.

From beginning to end Trump allowed them no dignity at all, in a contest that, at one time, at least tried to pretend these were intelligent young college girls striving for excellence.

[discoparkinglot]

Donald Trump isn't involved with Miss America -

[violet1473]

As soon as Miss Illinois (where I'm from) did her "dance" routine my daughter and I knew she was going to be cut. I mean, come on, the song, Faithfully, is so outdated and all she was doing was twirling around. My daughter stood up and did a better routine in the living room (definelty got off the ground on her jumps) than Miss Illinois.

Did she just take a couple dance lessons before the pagent? It was sad.

We loved the baton twirling and Miss SC playing the piano.

[ByaNose]

Thanks, discon. I too didn't think Donald Trump owned Miss America as well. I just think Miss America said if you can't beat them....join them!! It was just a sign of the times, Trump sexing up USA & Universe and all of the reality shows. If Miss America was going to stay on the air it needed to make changes with the sex part and a switch to January. I remember it being a big thing after Lbor Day in Atlantic City for Miss America. Now, it's done in Vegas in January. I think the last time it was sort of relevant and/or popular was in the 80's.

Edited by ByaNose, Jan 13, 2013 @ 10:41 AM.

[JudyObscure]

Donald Trump isn't involved with Miss America -

Sorry. I thought he bought both pageants in the mid 1990's and that it was his idea to change the timing to January. Maybe he sold it later or maybe I dreamed the whole thing.

[RL1]

But I'll never forget the marijuana answer. I am sorry....they are very pretty, but sometimes I always smelled a spoof in the making. These lovely bleached blonde bimbos could answer the most inane questions to make the audience go what? I am sorry, but that just made my day. Probably SNL will get their hands on that one. I remember In Living Color made fun of Miss America with the spoof Miss Black America...or something along that line. I mean, great for Ms. Montana(she's autistic), but deep down I knew she would not have made it all. I am the only one that felt that she wouldn't have made it at all. She was glad that they called her first at the beginning.

Edited by RL1, Jan 13, 2013 @ 2:10 PM.

[Sister Havana]

My favorite talents were the piano players and the twirler. The singers were underwhelming. In their defense, though, I really didn't like how the contestants were all sitting there, not knowing if they made it through, and then once their names were announced they had to perform right then. Why couldn't the pageant have done it like they did swimsuit or evening gown, where they read the names and then they had some time to change/get ready for talent? I think we would have seen much better performances.

Some of the non-finalists' talents sounded more interesting than the ones we did get to see. I'd have loved to see Miss California (classical harp), Miss DC (artistic roller skating), Miss Montana (comedic monologue), Miss Puerto Rico (flamenco dancing) and Miss South Dakota (tumbling).

[RCTina]

There used to be a Miss Black America pageant, but I don't know if it's still going on.

[Hoosier80]

I don't understand why they just don't have all 12 do the talent. Talent is supposed to count for more or at least as much as swimwear and evening gown, correct?

I would have loved to see Miss Indiana perform as she is a fantastic twirler, the curent Golden Girl for the Purdue All American Marching Band. She's done stuff I've not seen with other twirlers (and I am an Indiana alum, so not a huge Purdue fan).

Sad to see they're losing the There She Is.... song. If someone was chosen who wasn't our favorite, by the time she had the crown and sash on (typically crying) then was out on the runway with Bert Parks singing, my mom would say oh she's pretty, glad for her. Something about that song made it official.

[justcarol]

The intro was just enough cheese for me, and some of the introductory comments were funny -- e.g., South Dakota, where the seasons are "Winter, Winter, Still Winter and Road Construction." Did the contestant from Michigan really say she hailed from the same state as the first-runner-up, Mitt Romney?! LMAO, was she trying to be funny, or was she serious? That was pathetic and deluded.

I had to mute all the singers, they were so bad. Until that part, I had really liked Miss Maryland. With the sound off, her singing face was all contorted with anguish -- not a good look for a pageant contestant. I also muted the music for the dancers. Without the music, you can really see who the inept graceless klutzes are (looking at you, Miss Illinois).

The two white gowns were the finalists.

Edited by justcarol, Jan 13, 2013 @ 5:04 PM.

[jonaswan2]

As soon as Miss Illinois (where I'm from) did her "dance" routine my daughter and I knew she was going to be cut. I mean, come on, the song, Faithfully, is so outdated and all she was doing was twirling around. My daughter stood up and did a better routine in the living room (definelty got off the ground on her jumps) than Miss Illinois.

Did she just take a couple dance lessons before the pagent? It was sad.

Oh, that was another one. I had actually blocked it out of my memory the night of the pageant, but Adam Shankman commented on it through Twitter. He said something like, "Miss Illinois dancing to Faithfully... Oh, dear," and the memories started to flood back!

That moment, along with Miss Iowa's stumble, was one of my, "Whelp! Can't win them all," moments.

I don't understand why they just don't have all 12 do the talent. Talent is supposed to count for more or at least as much as swimwear and evening gown, correct?

Yes, talent makes up 35% of a contestants cumulative score. Swimwear & evening gown make up 35%, and interview & final question make up 30%.