January 25, 2009

Congratulations Miss America 2009, Katie Stam of Indiana!!

Whew – what a night! As I sit and type this, I think about how someone’s life has just been changed forever. 

So, here’s a bit of a review of the pageant. Prior to the telecast beginning, all of the former Miss America’s in attendance came up on stage – there were so many!  It was great to see how many were there to support the organization that gave them so much. Then the unofficial host came out to make sure we were all “warmed up” for the broadcast to begin. This is the guy who talks to us during all of the commercial breaks and keeps the audience energy up – he was really pretty funny (unfortunately, I cannot remember his name…). Then Miss Alabama’s Outstanding Teen sang the National Anthem, and I just kept thinking, “I wonder how long until she’s Miss Alabama?” Girl can SING.

Then the telecast began, and the contestants began introducing themselves. As I expected, I am officially a mess and am fighting back tears at this point. I was so excited/nervous for them all! I just remember the energy I felt when I knew I was being seen on TV by all of the people in my home state who were watching, just to catch a glimpse of me…  it’s such an awesome feeling.

And then they introduced the top 15, starting with America’s four choices from the reality series. And they were:  South Dakota, Georgia, Indiana and Alabama. Okay, I need a moment here. As you know, I am originally from South Dakota and I served on the judging panel that selected Miss South Dakota this year. She broke an over 30-year streak to get South Dakota back in the semi-finals, and I couldn’t be more proud of this girl. Okay, I’ll stop there. 

The remainder of the top 15 was:  Michigan, Delaware, Arkansas, Hawaii, District of Columbia, Iowa, New York, California, Tennessee, Kentucky and Florida. Congrats, ladies!!

The contestants who did not advance to the top 15 then retreated to couches at the back left of the stage, where they remained for the duration of the pageant. I liked that they were able to be out there, but I do wish they would’ve had a moment to go backstage first.  I’m sure they would’ve liked to have taken a breath or two, but they sure seemed to handle it well.

Swimsuit competition was up next, and it was so crazy to watch the contestants making their way down the stage while the camera guys were sliding the cameras right across the stage at them! Crazy.They were FIERCE, weren’t they? As I’ve said before, these ladies are fit. They came prepared, and their hard work really showed.

Next, they called 12 forward to compete in evening wear, and those were:
Michigan, Tennessee, Hawaii, California, Georgia, Florida, Kentucky, District of Columbia, Indiana, Iowa, Arkansas and New York.

My favorite gown was probably Arkansas – it was really amazing onstage. I also like a little “bling”, and that girl worked it well.

Next, they had all 12 girls get ready for talent, and they called out the top 10 one at a time and had each contestant then immediately compete in talent. While I do understand the suspense that this builds, I sure wouldn’t enjoy having to sit there and wait to see if I were called to make it into the top 10…  Though again, the girls handled it well and it was nice to be able to see them all sitting there supporting one another.

So the top 10 who then competed in talent were: District of Columbia, Georgia, New York, Hawaii, Indiana, Florida, Tennessee, California, Iowa and Michigan.Of the talents, I must say that Georgia stood out to me here – dang, that girl can SING! There were some really good dancers as well, such as Iowa’s tap performance. So impressive, ladies!

Immediately following the talent competition, the ladies were then cut down to seven to compete in a question asked by someone on the street in Vegas. I liked this idea, and thought the questions asked were actually really good. The top seven were:  New York, California, Iowa, Tennessee, Florida, Indiana and Georgia.

And finally, it was time to announce the runners up and the new Miss America. The final results were:
Fourth Runner-Up:  Miss Florida
Third Runner-Up:  Miss New York
Second Runner-Up:  Iowa
First Runner-Up:  Georgia
And the new Miss America:  Miss Indiana

Katie was so genuinely amazed by the whole moment – I loved watching her. I love that from the beginning of the reality series, Miss Indiana stood out as a strong contender. Plus, she was one of America’s choices, so you all should feel proud that you were smart enough to choose the next Miss America! I think she will do an incredible job, and will represent this organization well.

I attended the visitation after the final, and they announced that Miss Texas was selected by the contestants as Miss Congeniality.They also announced the non-finalist talent winners: Miss Arizona, Miss Pennsylvania, Miss South Carolina, Miss Utah and Miss Vermont. Congrats, ladies!!

I remember the feeling I felt when Miss America was over when I competed – a strange mix of exhaustion and sadness. Not sadness because of my performance or placement, but because the whole thing that I had prepared for and thought about for so long was over. In that sense, it’s a huge let down afterward.  I think contestants definitely need a good week or two to decompress after Miss America happens, just to get their heads back on straight! I also feel that same way in a sense tonight, because I have had such an amazing time writing this blog and really becoming a part of the process on such an interesting level. 

The TLC folks who I have worked with have been awesome, and I also wanted to thank the Miss America Organization for letting the blog idea happen, and for being supportive of it. I really feel that I have a lot to say when it comes to this organization, and I hope that my thoughts and/or opinions have helped in some way along the process. This truly is a wonderful organization that I have been so proud to be associated with. 

And with that, I think I will sign out for *sniff sniff* the final time – Congratulations again to Katie and to all of the ladies!!

See blogger Nicole Nigg at this year's Miss America pageant with three other former Miss South Dakotas (from left to right: Nicole Nigg, Miss South Dakota 2000; Kimberly McKay, Miss South Dakota 1995; Alexandra Hoff, Miss South Dakota 2008; and Kristi Bauer Richter, Miss South Dakota, 1994. View this photo

Other pageant photos:

The view from Nicole's Las Vegas hotel room: View this photo

Nicole in front of the Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino on the Las Vegas Strip, where the Miss America Pageant aired live. View this photo

The front of Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino: View this photo

Comments

[Green T]

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[Lido730]

Why on earth would you post the results prior to the show being aired on the left coast... you're all nuts!!!

[zvi]

all im loking for is a list of the songs palyed at the pagent. There is a particular one who's title i dont know but has some humming in it, its more of an easy listening type of song , and it was played quite a few times during the show. Can anyone help?

[ar]

I am very surprised with the outcome of this comptetition. I thought that all of the girls did exceptionally well but Miss Tennessee's tallent BLEW ME AWAY!!! That girl hit notes that rival Mirah Carey! Now that is REAL tallent! I was also surprised by Miss Indiana's gown. Althought she is a beautiful girl her gown was 80's fantastic? Sleeves and all? Anyway, I just think that Tennessee was robbed she should have been in the top 5 at least. Oh well, great job and congratulations to all the ladies.

[MH]

This contest is so rigged! I watch TLC frequently, and happened to catch some of the "countdown to the crown" shows. I only saw small segments of them over the past few weeks, but after seeing them, even I could have told you that it would come down to Georgia or Indiana! What a joke that "viewers now get to vote for Miss America!" Come on TLC...do you think we're all stupid??? Before viewers even got to vote, "someone" had already narrowed the finalists down. What a joke this pageant is! There were some girls in the "Countdown" shows that you never even saw featured or talked to at all. Of course, those girls did not make the finals. Ridiculous!

[sophals]

i think is cool how America got to pick the finalists this year! every year i wonder what makes the judges qualified to make the decision now i feel like its more appropriate to call it miss America because before it didn't make sense because only 5 or 6 people got to chose someone that so many young girls will look up to for the next year.

[sophals]

I'm so excited! i voted for miss Indiana! i picked Miss America!

[betty stern]

What a mess. Who is that guy that said frigin fantastic about the losing contestants? Mario should have had a rehersal or something & the whole format was awful. Having 2 losers sit there ready to perform & then not asked to. How terrible.
Whoever was in charge should promptly be fired.

[gary]

wtg for indiana