So when it comes to "watching", Jennifer knows EXACTLY what she's talking about. Have fun reading her recap of Miss USA 2013! I did!!
Watching the 2013 Miss USA pageant in a room full of seasoned pageant
friends is sort of like watching the Superbowl with ex-football players. While our food and drink choices
were more in line with a trendy cocktail party than the traditional beer and
wings, the rest of the night was just as rowdie as any major televised sporting
event. We had score sheets, we
knew our stats and had experts from every pageant system imaginable - and we
had our hometown favorites.
The
evening was kicked off by each contestant modeling an outfit of their choice,
rather than a procession with each contestant in a costume representing their state. While I can see the merits of trying to
steer clear of the stereotypes that are often conveyed with the state costumes,
this year's opening number felt awkward, rather than fashion forward. It did however give the viewers a first
look at each contestant's style, ability
to walk, and capture our attention. Fifteen women would advance to the swimsuit
round where they danced on stage while being serenaded by the Jonas
Brothers. We thought that was just
wrong and waited for a wardrobe malfunction that thankfully never
happened. I am sorry, but no
matter how fit you are, dancing in a bikini and heels is just asking too
much. And these girls are fit,
some more so than others. This
viewer was not a fan of the string bikini that was chosen, nor the use of the
sarong. Give me a well fitting
competition suit on a contestant any day, they do so much more for the
body! At this point Miss Utah was
announced as Miss Photogenic and the competition was narrowed further to a Top
10 for evening gown - my personal favorite.
Giuliana Rancic told the viewers it's not about the design or the price tag, rather how the contestant presents herself. I couldn't agree more. I have always said you can put an expensive gown on a so-so contestant and it won't help, but you can put an outstanding contestant in any gown and she can make it work. The gowns this year were above average with Miss Alabama's black mermaid gown paired with emerald earrings being my personal favorite and Miss North Carolina's white gown that had a skirt over a bodysuit being my least favorite. I also have to say I was not a fan of the nude platform pump many of the contestants chose to wear under the gown. Looking at the stats I did notice that none of the girls in the Top 10 were over 5' 8" and I suppose this shoe choice was to give the appearance of a longer leg. Our big surprise this year was the ability to Tweet a contestant in to the final round. We were shown a screen with #TheNextMissUSA hashtag followed by a two letter abbreviation for each state to Tweet during the evening gown competition. Great marketing tool, but next time an advance warning so more viewers can sign up for Twitter might be nice. Anyhow this lead to a Top 6 where five of the contestants were chosen by the judges and one more was chosen via the most Tweets.
During the final look we were finally at the "getting to know you" phase of the night where we get to hear how well the contestants communicate. The first round was just chit chat about things from their bio, it did not get interesting until the dreaded "on stage question". Much has been said already about Miss Utah's blunder, and in my opinion she had the pageant in the bag up until this point. Unfortunately, she made the mistake of speaking before gathering her thoughts. Pageant girls are often criticized as being airheads and I can tell you this is far from the truth. Most pageant girls are bright, intelligent women, but you put anyone on the spot, on national television and ask them to answer a loaded question the result is not going to be pretty. There were no powder puff questions about "world peace", they were all well thought out questions, relevant to current events. In the end Miss Alabama and Miss Connecticut stood out and Miss Connecticut was crowned. If you had asked me earlier in the evening if I thought either would have made it that far and my answer would have been no. But then several of us at the party remembered the "Kyle Haggerty Rule" - if there is a contestant who is not a front runner who continually makes the cut, that contestant is winning over the judges and will win. So, while Miss Connecticut was never my first choice to win, she did win over the judges.
Giuliana Rancic told the viewers it's not about the design or the price tag, rather how the contestant presents herself. I couldn't agree more. I have always said you can put an expensive gown on a so-so contestant and it won't help, but you can put an outstanding contestant in any gown and she can make it work. The gowns this year were above average with Miss Alabama's black mermaid gown paired with emerald earrings being my personal favorite and Miss North Carolina's white gown that had a skirt over a bodysuit being my least favorite. I also have to say I was not a fan of the nude platform pump many of the contestants chose to wear under the gown. Looking at the stats I did notice that none of the girls in the Top 10 were over 5' 8" and I suppose this shoe choice was to give the appearance of a longer leg. Our big surprise this year was the ability to Tweet a contestant in to the final round. We were shown a screen with #TheNextMissUSA hashtag followed by a two letter abbreviation for each state to Tweet during the evening gown competition. Great marketing tool, but next time an advance warning so more viewers can sign up for Twitter might be nice. Anyhow this lead to a Top 6 where five of the contestants were chosen by the judges and one more was chosen via the most Tweets.
During the final look we were finally at the "getting to know you" phase of the night where we get to hear how well the contestants communicate. The first round was just chit chat about things from their bio, it did not get interesting until the dreaded "on stage question". Much has been said already about Miss Utah's blunder, and in my opinion she had the pageant in the bag up until this point. Unfortunately, she made the mistake of speaking before gathering her thoughts. Pageant girls are often criticized as being airheads and I can tell you this is far from the truth. Most pageant girls are bright, intelligent women, but you put anyone on the spot, on national television and ask them to answer a loaded question the result is not going to be pretty. There were no powder puff questions about "world peace", they were all well thought out questions, relevant to current events. In the end Miss Alabama and Miss Connecticut stood out and Miss Connecticut was crowned. If you had asked me earlier in the evening if I thought either would have made it that far and my answer would have been no. But then several of us at the party remembered the "Kyle Haggerty Rule" - if there is a contestant who is not a front runner who continually makes the cut, that contestant is winning over the judges and will win. So, while Miss Connecticut was never my first choice to win, she did win over the judges.
All in all, it was a fun night. Spending time with pageant friends, arguing the merits of gowns, hair and all the other pageant stuff was truly the epitome of a great evening. It was our Superbowl - only the uniforms were cuter, the bodies more buff and instead of a football and yardage - everyone was vying for a sparkly, new crown.
Thanks again Jennifer!!! I can't wait to read your next review! Feel free to e-mail her, by clicking on her name!
