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 America 2016

The 95th Miss America pageant is this Sunday and the winner will be crowned by Miss America 2015, Kira Kazantsev during the live ABC broadcast from Atlantic City, 9-11pm.  

Chris Harrison and Brooke Burke-Charvet will be the hosts for the evening.

 But the big news is...

Vanessa Williams will return to the Miss America stage as a Head Judge!  Remember her Miss America reign?  In 1983 she became the first African-American woman crowned Miss America.  Seven weeks before the end of her reign, a scandal arose when Penthouse magazine bought and published unauthorized photos of Miss Williams.  She relinquished her title and was succeeded by the first runner-up, Suzette Charles.  

Vanessa Williams then launched a career as an entertainer, earning multiple Grammy, Emmy, and Tony Award nominations.  There just might be drama y'all, so you don't want to miss it!

Vanessa was beautiful in 1983 and is just as beautiful 32 years later.

So, who will win the coveted crown this year?

Here are my picks for the top five...in no particular order:

Miss South Carolina, Daja Dial

Miss Georgia, Betty Cantrell

Miss Florida, Mary Katherine Fechtel

Miss Louisiana, April Nelson

Miss Tennessee, Hannah Robison

It's a weekend full of football games and my favorite pageant ever.  Good luck to all the contestants!

Miss Florida 2015

While watching the Miss Georgia pageant this past weekend, I was also following the Miss Florida pageant via social media.  Congratulations to Mary Catherine Fechtel who won the title and will compete for the crown of Miss America in Atlantic City this September.  Miss Fechtel was also Miss Florida's Outstanding Teen in 2010.  Y'all might remember her sister Elizabeth Fechtel, former Miss America's Outstanding Teen 2012, who was crowned Miss Florida 2014, but had to turn over the crown one week later to Victoria Cowen, due to an "error in the tabulation process."

The Fechtel ladies are talented and beautiful and I look forward to watching Mary Catherine compete for the Miss America crown.

Congratulations also to Betty Cantrell, of Warner Robins, Georgia who won the title of Miss Georgia 2015.

Coming up this Saturday evening, is the Miss South Carolina 2015 pageant.  Yay, pageant season continues!

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!

Miss America...The Gown, The Swimsuit, The Talent

Yes, I'm super excited to the see the girls competing for the Miss America crown on Sunday evening!  Nina Davuluri, Miss America 2014 is a tough act to follow!  Her gown, her swimsuit, her talent...all so very unique and beautiful.

Last September Nina rocked this canary yellow chiffon gown with the capped sleeves and plunging neckline (with a modesty net).  I call them "evening gowns," but the Miss America Organization now calls it "evening wear."  And yes, there is a difference between an "evening gown walk" and a "swimsuit walk."

Anyhow, the evening gown counts for 20% of the scoring.

Tony Bowls is the official Miss America evening gown designer.  Each contestant was gifted a Tony Bowls gown which they will wear on Sunday evening during the evening gown competition.

Who can forget how fabulous she looked in the zebra print bikini?  Lord have mercy, she looked gorgeous!  Starting in 1977, the Miss America Organization broke from the tradition of one-piece bathing suits and allowed the girls to wear two piece suits.  The bottoms could not be more than one inch below the navel and had to be "full/moderate" bottoms and the tops "full coverage" with straps at least 1/2" wide.  I'm sure her bikini bottom is more than one inch lower than her navel.

The swimsuit competition counts for 20% of the scoring.

Catalina is the official sponsor of Miss America swimsuits this year.  You can find the Miss America swimsuits at Walmart!

What a talent!  Talk about standing out. Nina did an outstanding Bollywood dance routine...and looked cute doing it!

Talent counts for 30% of the scoring.

I'm looking forward to Sunday night y'all!

Miss America Trivia

The preliminary competitions have begun in Atlantic City on the final road to crowning a new Miss America.  The Miss America pageant is a tradition I look forward to each year.  Some people have "watch parties" but I prefer to watch the pageant alone...'cause I'm commentating more than the hosts...

The Miss America pageant started in 1921, a talent competition was added in 1935, and scholarship money given in 1945.  Vocal talent has proven to be the number one talent to win the crown...can't wait to see the talent the girls bring this year.

The crown, sash, and the sceptor (a miniature of the crown) are all keys to unlocking doors for the future. Miss Americas use their scholarship money to earn law degrees, etc. and the Miss America Organization is the largest provider of scholarships for women in the world!

The winner also receives this fabulous brooch!  Wouldn't you love to wear this Miss America pin (brooch)?  (shown here worn by Miss America 2012, Laura Kaeppeler).

Lee Meriweather was the first Miss America to be crowned on television in 1955 and this year she will be one the distinguished judges.  I have always loved Lee Meriweather, especially on Barnaby Jones!

So I'm watching the preliminaries to see the standout girls and choosing my favorites, meanwhile...these are some of the contestants in the news...

~Caitlin Brunell, Miss Alabama, is the daughter of former NFL quarterback Mark Brunell and she was Miss America's Outstanding Teen 2008.  She is one of the contestants favored to take home the crown.

~Teresa Davis, Miss District of Columbia, was born in South Korea.

~Victoria Cowen, Miss Florida, was 1st runner up in the Miss Florida pageant and assumed the title one week later due to a miscount.  She won the swimsuit preliminary last night...wearing a hot pink bikini and looking fabulous!

~Sierra Sandison, Miss Idaho, is a Type 1 diabetic and made news when she wore an insulin pump attached to her bikini bottom during the swimsuit competition of the Miss Idaho pageant.

~Ramsey Carpenter, Miss Kentucky, was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2012.

~KT Maviglia, Miss Michigan, was diagnosed with sensorineural hearing loss at age 9.

While Southern girls historically do well in pageants, California, Ohio, Oklahoma, and Michigan have won the Miss America title 6 times!

Which states have never taken home the crown?  New Mexico, Alaska, West Virginia, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Wyoming, Louisiana, Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands, Maryland, Maine, and Montana.

I'll be back tomorrow to talk about "The Gown, The Swimsuit, and the Talent."

Miss America's Outstanding Teen

Olivia McMillan, Miss Georgia Outstanding Teen 2014

Olivia McMillan is a 17 year-old student at Northside High School in Warner Robins, Georgia.  She is a classically trained vocalist and delivered a beautiful rendition of "Nessun Dorma" and won Miss Georgia Outstanding Teen 2014 back in June.  Now she's competing for the title of Miss America's Outstanding Teen!

Along with the volunteering for the Miss America partnership program of the Children's Network, Olivia's platform is the Sibling Support Project, for siblings of medically fragile and special needs children.  Her brother Max has autism and bipolar disorder.

This young lady is beautiful and talented and she's my pick to take the crown!

*EDITED*
Congratulations to Olivia.  She is the new Miss America's Outstanding Teen!!!

Nina Davuluri, Miss America 2014

Congratulations to Nina Davuluri, Miss America 2014.  The 24 year-old Miss New York beat out 52 other contestants to win the coveted crown and at least $50,000 in scholarship cash.  She is a graduate of the University of Michigan and hopes to become a physician like her father.

Nina looking stunning in the "Shoe parade."  That dress...love love love!

Her canary-yellow evening gown was perfection.

Nina rocked her zebra-print bikini in the bathing suit completion.  She said that she has battled bulimia in the past and lost approximately 60 pounds before winning the title of Miss New York.

I absolutely loved her talent--a classical Bollywood fusion dance.  Nina traveled to LA to train with Nakul Der Mahajan, a choreographer for the "So You Think You Can Dance" television show.

Unfortunately, as soon as the tiara was placed onto her beautifully coiffed hair, social media was abuzz with racist attacks in the fact that she was the first woman of Indian descent to ever win Miss America...calling her names such as  "Miss 7-11."  This is so ridiculous.  

Responding to the remarks, she said, "I have to rise above that.  I have always viewed myself as first and foremost American."

I'll admit that going into the competition, I was hoping Miss Georgia would take home the crown.  Although Miss Georgia is incredibly beautiful, her talent was lacking.  In my opinion, Nina scored 10's at every stage of the competition.  She deserves the win and I look forward to following her reign!