Well, so much for that. For the third consecutive year, a Miss New York won the Miss America pageant. And, for the third consecutive year, she was not among my finalists. (She was among my “party crashers,” and that’s exactly what she did.)
But predictions aside, I am very disappointed with the result. To see my beloved Miss Arkansas and Miss Virginia (a girl I picked to place 4th) up there with Miss New York as the last three girls standing, and then have New York walk away with the crown for the third consecutive year, was soul-crushing. The most painful part is that it was very obvious to mr that both Virginia and Arkansas had outperformed New York in all phases of the competition. But apparently the judges didn’t see it that way.
I am very proud of my Miss Arkansas. She held her own in swimsuit and evening gown, then hit home runs in talent and onstage question. And most importantly, she would have made an incredible Miss America. I’m glad that we get to keep her all to ourselves because the rest of the country clearly doesn’t deserve her!
In the end, I guess I got exactly what I wanted. By all accounts our new Miss America, Kira Kazantsev, is a very intelligent and well spoken young lady. If the only consideration was who would be the best ambassador for our country, she probably would have made my Top 5. But that’s not the only consideration, and it never has been. Miss America is not a title that is given. It must be earned. And she did not do that, in my humble opinion.
Like last year’s Miss New York, there was never a time when I thought she would win. Not even for a second. Her talent was an embarrassment. Not only because it required no, ummm, talent, but also because she didn’t do it well. SHe looked uncomfortable, couldn’t keep eye contact with the judges, and lost her rhythm at times. It was embarrassing. I felt bad for her. And then there were four or five tremendous talents – Arkansas, Virginia, Ohio, Mississippi, and Massachusetts. I was honestly in shock when they called her name for the Top 5. And when she beat out Miss Arkansas? One of the most gut-wrenching feelings of my life.
And on top of all that, Miss New York had already won it two years in a row. Talk about bad press. How fair does it look when Miss New York wins a Pageant held 100 miles away from New York City three times in a row? How is the rest of the country supposed to swallow that? In my mind, the only way New York could possibly win for a third time is if she was clearly the most deserving contestant. She wasn’t even close.
But like I said, I got what I wanted. I picked Miss Kansas to win it all because of her people skills, not what she had done on stage up to that point. A lot of people were upset when Nina Davuluri won last year. If she turns another Nina Davuluri, forget I ever wrote this post. Talk about some big slippers to fill. Anyway, I fully expect her to do a great job. I just can’t shake the feeling that the competition portion of the Pageant really meant nothing.
It reminds me of Miss America 1998, when I was just a boy watching the Pageant. From the beginning, I wanted anyone, anyone to win except Miss Illinois. And guess who won? You got it.
As for the rest of my predictions, I did well. Of course, my #1 pick Miss Kansas missed the finals. But six of my top seven made the Top 10. And 8 of my Top 10 made the Top 12. It’s really amazing that none of them pulled it out. Most everyone else made my preview in some way or another. Only Miss Idaho (America’s Choice), Miss Massachusetts, and Miss North Dakota (Miss Congeniality / Judges’ Save) came out of the blue. All and all, this was a very competitive pageant that was a lot of fun to handicap.
One of these days all will be right with the world, and everything will make sense. Until then, goodnight.
The Downtown Life 