Congratulations Betty Cantrell, Miss America 2016

Being a huge pageant fan, I'm still on a high from the Miss America Pageant last Sunday night. Congratulations to Betty Cantrell on winning the crown!  The $50,000 scholarship prize will go a long way in helping Betty to finish her college education and go on to pursue her dream of performing on Broadway!


I saw Betty compete at the Miss Warner Robins pageant last year and knew that she was destined to win at the National level.  She is a beautiful girl and her talent is beyond fabulous.

My town of Warner Robins, Georgia is so proud of Betty and rightfully so.  I mean, what are the odds of having a Miss America from your town?  My husband estimates that the odds to be 1 in approximately 18,000!  Not since 1958 has a Miss Georgia won the crown, back when Neva Jane Langley--from the next county over (Bibb) brought home the title.  So yes, Houston County is excited and you can tell from the newspaper covers and signs all over town.

I was happy to see four of my Top Five picks make it to the finals (GA, LA, SC, TN), along with AL, CO, and MS.


"Healthy Children, Strong America" is Betty's platform and you can tell that she has been eating right and working out...she looked fabulous in her bathing suit.  Lord have mercy, I have no idea how those girls prance around on the stage wearing those shoes!

Can we talk about Betty's talent gown?  Take her stunning red gown, add a gorgeous necklace and perfect hairdo, then pair that with her voice...a goose bump inducing opera performance of Tu Tu Piccolo Iddio, from Made Butterfly.  It was hands down THE best performance of the evening.

Betty, I'm in love with this song and your performance!

Now there has been a lot of controversy about Betty's crop-top evening gown.  I have to say that when contestants began wearing these several years ago, I was not a fan.  But they are popular and I have grown to love them. 

 Betty was not the first Miss America to wear a two piece evening gown.  Deidre Downs, Miss America 2005 wore a crop top and looked stunning also!

I think Betty rocked her gown.  With a figure like hers, she can wear anything and look great!

Betty looking very happy the morning after the pageant at the annual toe dip in the Atlantic Ocean...surely she was on a natural high!

Congratulations and good luck during your reign Miss America!

Miss USA 2015

Congratulations to Olivia Jordan, the new Miss USA 2015.  She nailed the On Stage Question:

Judge Brook Lee, a former Miss USA/Miss Universe, asked Jordan what she thought the next hot-button issue was in the US that needed to be tackled on a national level.

"I think we still need to talk about race relations in this country," Jordan said. "We have not solved this issue. We are still having problems. We keep hearing about new issues coming up. We really need to work on being an accepting society and being a society where every single person, no matter your race, no matter your gender, is given the same rights and privileges and opportunities."

She definitely rocked the swimsuit competition.


And she took home the crown wearing a beautiful hot pink Sherri Hill gown!

Can't wait to see her compete at Miss Universe!

Miss USA 2015 Faves

The Miss USA 2015 will be televised on the Reelz network, Sunday, July 12th at 8pm EST.  Unfortunately my cable provider, Cox Communications doesn't have Reelz!  I have to settle for watching the live feed from the Miss USA site.  Last night I watched the live stream of the preliminaries for bathing suit and evening gown.  After my first look, these are my favorites for top ten:




Maureen Montagne, Miss Arizona USA


Natasha Martinez, Miss California USA


Ashleigh Lollie, Miss Florida USA


Brooke Fletcher, Miss Georgia USA

Emma Wo, Miss Hawaii USA


Candice Bennatt, Miss Louisiana USA


Heather Elwell, Miss Maine USA


Mame Adjei, Miss Maryland USA

Rashontae Wawrzyniak, Miss Michigan USA


Ylianna Guerra, Miss Texas USA

If you are interested in following updates of the pageant, be sure to follow me on Twitter.  You can also follow these accounts which are a few of my favorites:

PageantPlanet
PageantUpdate
PageantNews
RoadToMissUSA
PageantryByChris
Pageantology101

Miss USA 2015

Miss USA drama...

As of this morning, the Miss USA site still shows that NBC will be airing the Miss USA pageant on July 12th at 7pm Central, live from the Baton Rouge River Center.

Unfortunately, that is not going to happen!  I'm not going to get into a political debate here, but NBC and Univision have both decided not to air the pageant, due to statements made by Presidential candidate and Miss USA owner, Donald Trump.

The hosts Thomas Roberts and Cheryl Burke have both backed out.

Both Univision pageant hosts, Cristian de la Fuente and Roselyn Sanchez have also backed out.

Columbia reggaeton performer J. Balvin has also backed out.

But...the show will go on without all of them.  After all, it is about the contestants!  I'm hoping it will be live streamed or that another network will pick it up.  I am just beginning to put together a list of my favorites and have been following some of the ladies since they were crowned at their state pageants.  Stay tuned y'all!

Miss America 2015 - The Contestants

Miss America 2015 will be crowned this Sunday evening in a televised event on ABC, live from Atlantic City.  The hosts are Chris Harrison, host of The Bachelor and The Bachelorette and Lara Spencer, co-anchor for Good Morning America.

Here are the contestants vying for the coveted crown:

Who is my favorite to take the crown?  She's Maggie Bridges, Miss Georgia!  This girl is stunning and talented.  The 21-year old is majoring in Business Administration at Georgia Tech, has plans to go to pharmacy school, and one day hopes to open her own pharmacy.

Miss Georgia has not won the title of Miss America since 1953...I think Maggie has a fabulous chance of bringing the crown back to Georgia!

Maggie is featured on the cover of South magazine's August/September issue...truly a cover girl!

The Miss America parade, now called the "Show Us Your Shoes' Parade" will take place on Saturday in Atlantic City and is a traditional favorite for spectators.  Maggie got a bit of help from her fellow students at Georgia Tech with the design of her shoes...they will be the world's first partially printed 3D shoes ever worn by a contestant in the parade.  The shoes are based on the Georgia Tech mascot, 'Rambling Wreck'.

All my other favorites are Southern girls!  

Miss Alabama, Caitlin Brunell



Miss Arkansas, Ashton Jo Campbell

Miss Kentucky, Ramsey Carpenter



Miss Mississippi, Jasmine Murray



Miss Tennessee, Hayley Lewis


I love this Miss America Scoring Sheet and will be using it on Sunday!

I cannot wait to sit down with my popcorn and watch the pageant.  Good luck to all the girls competing!

Game of Crowns

Meet the cast of the new Bravo TV show "Game of Crowns."  I'm not sure if this show is Toddlers and Tiaras for the married woman--but whatever.  The reality show follows six pageant wives competing on the "Mrs." pageant circuit.  From trophy wives to pageant moms, these ladies will stop at nothing to win pageants.

I never watch any of the Real Housewives' shows, but you can bet I'm going to be watching Game of Crowns!

Pageants solely for married women...I love it!

Here's a peek at the ladies you'll see on the show:

Shelley Carbonne, 41 year-old mother of 4 and former Mrs. Connecticut America and Mrs. America 2011.  She's writing a book "Please stop calling me ma'am."  Lord have mercy, why?  Beautiful lady!

Lynn Diamante, a 40-something year-old pageant lifer...Mrs. Rhode Island after being Miss Rhode Island 20 years ago.  Lynn loves Louis Vuitton and she's a classical pianist.  Okay, I like that.  What do y'all think of the hair?

Leha Guilmette, 34 year-old Mrs. Rhode Island 2013, loves horses and is obsessed with Disney.  Very pretty.

Susanna Paliotta, 40 year-old pageant mom, 2 daughters, pilot, and animal lover.  She was Mrs. Rhode Island United States 2013.  I like her.

Lori-Ann Marchese, Mrs. Connecticut 2013 is the youngest and a fitness consultant and trainer.  She works out a LOT.

Vanessa Sebastian, a breast cancer survivor, was Mrs. Connecticut 2012.  She is a Nurse Anesthetist and is married to the part-owner of Foxwoods Casino.  So we know he can afford all her expensive evening gowns!

Tune in tonight at 9:00 p.m. on the Bravo Channel.  There will be pageant drama for sure!

Miss South Carolina 2014 Pageant

It's pageant season and I've been been having so much fun watching one pageant after another.  This week I've been watching the preliminaries of the Miss South Carolina 2014 pageant--via the live feed.

There are so many beautiful young ladies competing for this scholarship pageant and a chance to represent the state of South Carolina at the Miss America pageant in September.

The finals will be held tonight for Miss South Carolina Outstanding Teen and the finals will be held Saturday night for Miss South Carolina.

These are the ladies competing for Miss South Carolina.  Of course, I have chosen my favorites and they are {in no particular order}:

Miss Hilton Head
Miss Chesnee
Miss Fountain Inn
Miss Orangeburg County
Miss Greater Hartsville
Miss Greater Greer
Miss Spartanburg
Miss Greenville Scottish Games
Miss River City
Miss SC Sweet Potato Festival

These young ladies are competing for the title of Miss South Carolina Outstanding Teen and here are my favorites {in no particular order}:

Miss Boiling Springs
Miss SC Sweet Potato Festival Queen
Miss Greater Easley
Miss Laurens County
Miss Landrum
Miss Fountain Inn
Miss Simpsonville
Miss Columbia
Miss Duncan
Miss Mount Pleasant

Good luck to all the ladies who are competing.  They are all beautiful, talented, and incredibly fit!!!

Edited:
Congratulations to Miss Anderson, Lanie Hudson, the new Miss South Carolina!
Congratulations to Miss Greater Easley, Hope Harvard, the new Miss South Carolina Outstanding Teen!