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...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."

Who Will Win the Coveted Title of Miss America?

The 2013 Miss America Pageant will air this Saturday evening at 9:00 p.m. {ET} on ABC.  Laura Kaeppeler, Miss America 2012, will relinquish the title to one of the 53 contestants competing to win the coveted crown.

Laura Kaeppeler, Miss America 2012

Before you watch the pageant, you must see the special edition of "20/20," Pageant Confidential:  The Road to Miss America.  It airs right before the pageant on Saturday evening at 8:00 p.m. {ET} on ABC.  

The program will take a look at what it takes to become Miss America and will be anchored by Good Morning America anchor and former Miss America Judge Lara Spencer.  For 6 months, ABC's cameras captured candid moments of the journeys of several of the young women determined to don the coveted crown--as they are transformed from state beauty queens to the polished Miss America contenders seen on stage.

YOU have the opportunity to vote for a finalist at the Miss America competition.  On the Miss America site, there are videos for all of the 53 contestants.  I have chosen some favorites and placed my vote for my #1 favorite.  The voting will close Thursday, January 10th at 11:59 p.m. {PST}.

Here are my top five favorites going into the pageant:

Miss Colorado

Miss South Carolina

Miss Maryland

Miss Idaho

Miss Oklahoma

Prissy Southern Giveaway!

Back in 1979 Miss Charleston, Jan Jenkins Herlong became Miss South Carolina.  She's a Lowcountry South Carolina farm girl who went from bare feet to high heels to compete in the Miss America Pageant.  Jane came from a meager background and was literally the farmer's daughter.  Diagnosed at a young age with dyslexia, she was also told that she wasn't very pretty.

Well, bless her heart, 'cuz she ended up walking the runway in the Miss America pageant...looking ever-so beautiful in a hot pink one-piece!

Jane's official Miss America portrait.  What an exciting time in her life this must have been!

Today Jane is a professional speaker, professional singer, recording artist {her singing is aired regularly on Blue Collar Sirius Xm Radio}, and author.  My late BF Teresa Jane designed Jane's website and and gave me her book Bare Feet to High Heels.

I enjoyed Jane's book so much, I decided to buy her CD's for my roadtrip to Georgia!

Bury me with my Pearls

Don't throw tomatoes at my field of dreams

Down-home Principles, Uptown Humor

You can order Jane's CDs and books here.
OR, you can enter to win the 3 CD's featured above from Miss Janice!  I so enjoyed Jane's prissy Southern humor and now would love to pass these on to someone who might appreciate the same. {I'm not parting with my book 'cuz my late BF Teresa Jane gave it to me and it's autographed by Jane}.
All you have to do to enter is leave a comment telling me you would like to win the CD's.  I will draw for the winner tomorrow at 6pm.  Good luck y'all!