Miss Maine

Miss Maine is already up and rolling... or should I say, up and 'bowling'...

Yes, we found this photo on the Miss Maine Facebook page with a caption that said it was a great event to have the contestants 'let their hair down' and get to know each other.

Julia Furtado, Miss Maine 2011, arrived at Miss Maine having never competed in a pageant before... and subsequently WON!  Meaning, Miss America was her second pageant ever (seriously - we still have a hard time comprehending the craziness of that statement).  Julia was one of the winners of the Duke of Edinburgh Award - and really looked radiant on-state during Miss America all week!

Maine History:  Maine has never produced a Miss America... but had back-to-back non-finalist Talent Award winners in '03 and '04.

Best Junkie Research Tool:  All the contestants can be found here at the Miss Maine site...

Who to Watch:  

Kacie Ferraro - former Rhode Island OT and Miss New Hampshire contestant.  Super smart girl - now teaching in Maine

Marisa Butler - 1st runner up at Miss Maine Teen USA

Molly Bouchard - Miss Jr. Maine Teenager, Maine's Junior Miss/Distinguished Young Woman/whatever theyre calling it now '08

Gillian Ramsdale - the girl is going to do a basketball routine for her talent - and we're 'hooping' to see pictures! (bad joke... sorry)...

All the best to everyone at Miss Maine!!!

MAJ

Miss Michigan

 Miss Michigan 2011, Elizabeth Wertenberger, is a walking miracle.  Diagnosed with Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis at the age of 13, she was told she’s probably never walk again and would have to move around via a wheelchair for the rest of her life.  Well, if you saw her Miss America video, you know the story… not only is she walking, she’s a tumbler as well!

Miss Michigan also had a very ‘fashion forward’ look about her at Miss America… from her trendy haircut to her out-of-the-box evening gown, Elizabeth certainly had a ‘look’ you remember even when she was off stage.  We know it's that sense of style and drive to 'prove her naysayers wrong' that will continue to bring her success in life!

Michigan History:  Michigan has had 5 Miss Americas... Patricia Donnelly in '39, Nancy Flemming in '61, Pam Eldred in '70, Kaye Lani Rae Rafko in '88 and Kirsten Haglund in '08 (if you never saw it, google Kirsten's evening gown from '08 --- it's stunning and started the beaded 'illusion dress' trend!)

Best Junkie Research Tool:  The Miss Michigan site has all the headshots located here...

Who to Watch:

Kelly Oles - 1st runner up in '11, 3rd runner up in '10, prelim talent winner

Elizabeth Hawthorn - 3rd runner up in '11, MI Teen USA in '08, community service award winner in '11


Emily Kieliszewski - 2nd runner up in '11, 3rd time at Miss MI


Interesting item to note... Sydney and Cameron Learman - Sisters who are both competing for the Miss Michigan title this year... Enjoy their story here... :)

The Junkies are "Smitten with the Mitten"!!!  All the best to the new Miss Michigan!!! :)

MAJ

Miss Minnesota

 

Natalie Davis, Miss Minnesota 2011 is such a gem.  She has that classic blonde ‘Sweedish Beauty’ about her (coming from Minnesooooo-ta, ya know) and can sing like a bird!  Her evening gown at Miss America was one of our favorites of the entire competition… the blue color was perfect on her skin and she looked a million miles long in it!   

In fact, Natalie has tons of Miss America photos here, on her blog... 

Natalie is certainly not the only one, but she's one of the best contestants who have kept a blog and updated it fairly regularly throughout her reign.  We love her latest posts… a whole series entitled, “Miss Minnesota 101” which consist of everything from ‘What to pack for pageant week’ and her 'Favorite Products’!!!  Obviously, such posts aren’t limited to only Minnesota – if you’d like to see them for yourself, just check them out here...

Minnesota History:  3 Miss Americas are from Minnesota... BeBe Shopp in '48, Dorthy Benham in '77 and Gretchen Carlson from Fox News was crowned Miss America 1989, and was the last violinist to take the title.

Best Junkie Research Tool:  The Miss Minnesota website is super clean and easy to navigate... find all the 2012 contestant info here...

Who to Watch:

Samantha Phillipi - 2nd runner up in 10 and 11, prelim swimsuit winner

Siri Freeh - beautiful, 1st runner up and prelim talent winner in '10, did not compete in '11

Rebecca Yeh - violin player (ala Gretchen Carlson), young but smart! 


Prelims for Miss Minnesota 2012 begin Thursday!  Best of Luck Ladies!!!

MAJ

Miss Alaska

Miss Alaska... What can you say about the state whose most famous contestant, didn't even win the crown (Sarah Palin, 1st runner up and Miss Congeniality at Miss Alaska 1984).  Well, just because it's not considered a 'pageant state', that doesn't mean the Junkies will pass up the chance to bring you what we know about Miss Alaska!  We admit it's not much... but here's what we know! :)

Photo courtesy of Apogee Studios


Katy Lovegreen was another Irish Dancer at Miss America, making 3 in one year (OK, DE and AK).

Items to Note: There are 13 ladies competing for Miss Alaska this year... which is the same number in states like Nebraska and Iowa...

Alaska History:  Nobody from Alaska has been crowned Miss America... in fact, they've only placed in the Top 10 once --- Jamie Tinker in '98

Best Junkie Research Tool: There are photos from last year's court on the Miss Alaska page here... but for a list of the current contestants, you'll need to go to the Miss America site here...

Who to Watch: 

Sarah Joy Temple - Alaska USA '10, younger sister Veronica was AK OT in '09

Julia Marstall - 1st runner up '11

Tiffany Hancock - 4th runner up in '11

All the Best to Everyone competing for Miss Alaska 2012!!!  Junkies Love the Last Frontier!!! :)

MAJ

Miss Wisconsin

 Your reigning Miss America Laura Kaeppeler, is from the great state of Wisconsin!!!  Which, as we all know means (c’mon Junkies… you know you wanna... so go ahead and say it with me…)… “If the winner is unable to fulfill her duties, the 1^st runner up shall take her place.”  And let me say, Wisconsin’s 1^st runner up is an outstanding choice!

It takes a special girl to agree to ‘take over the crown’ for only a few months before a new state queen is crowned.  Lots of times you get the 3^rd or 4^th runner up, or even the girl who finished in 6^th place - because the Top 5 are prepared to return, hoping to win, so they can compete for Miss America themselves. Raeanna Johnson was 1^st runner up to Laura and by all accounts, you can see that Wisconsin got lucky with both Laura and Reanna in the same year!

Raeanna had just moved to Texas when she watched Laura Kaeppeler be crowned on national television.  After considering her options, she decided to return to Wisconsin and take over the title.  Kudos to Raeanna!!!  If you don't know much about Raeanna, enjoy this video of her --- she's delightful!!! :)

Wisconsin History:  Besides Laura Kaeppeler, Terrry Meeuwsen was named Miss America in 1973 and now is a host on The 700 Club.  There's an interview with both Wisconsinites at this link here...

Best Junkie Research Tool:  We’re guessing that the volunteers in Wisconsin feel like life never stops!  From last year’s state pageant, they spent time preparing Laura for Miss America… then, after she won, they’ve spent time preparing for her Homecoming and several appearances in the Badger state!  Now, they’re about to crown a new queen!  That’s a lot of work to do by people who don’t get paid to do it!  The fact that they’ve been able to keep a strong website despite all this, speaks well of the program.  Check it out here... find it at the 20:10 mark.

Who to Watch:

Tonya Popowski - Miss WI OT in '05, Top 10 in '10 and '11

Desiree Geffers - 2nd runner up in '11, 3rd runner up in '10, 5th time at Miss WI

Katie Williams - 4th runner up in '10, Top 10 in '11, 4th time at Miss WI

Elizabeth Kramer - vocalist, 4th runner up in '11, Top 10 in '10

Mary O'Connell - Top 10 in '11, strong talent 


All the Best to everyone at Miss Wisconsin!!!  Junkies Love Ya!!! :)


MAJ

Miss New York

Kaitlyn Monte is your classic, over-achieving, go-getter of a girl!  She graduated college at the age of 19, she's been performing with the USO as a Liberty Bell, was 1st runner up at Miss Sweetheart in 2008 and she finished as a preliminary swimsuit winner and 2nd runner up at Miss America.  Probably a first born child as well (lol!) :)

Miss New York has come a long way in a short time... There's a sort of 'momentum' that's created when you have girls from the same state finishing strong in successive years.  A girl who makes Top 10 helps the girl she crowns with her insight and 'what i wish i would've known' commentary, and the new girl finishes in the Top 5.  We've seen it happen again and again in state after state.  RARELY does a state come out of NOWHERE to win the crown... chances are, that state was at least a semi-finalist within a couple years of the state who wins it all.  Given this info, we wouldn't be surprised if Miss New York finishes with a Miss America sometime in the next 3 years. :)

Miss New York History:  New York has had 3 Miss Americas... Bess Myerson in 45, Tawny Godin in '76 and the infamous Vanessa Williams in '84.

Items of Note:  Miss New York head-shots are always, ALWAYS the best!  Why?  Hello - it's NYC!  Most of these girls have on-stage performance aspirations (be that acting, modeling or Broadway).  You get good head-shots as a product of the environment!

Best Junkie Research Tool:  Miss NY '10 Claire Buffie has created a video series with each contestant called "What Do You Stand For?"  Don't bother googling "Miss NY"... you won't find it... Start with this link here... and then you can see group 2, 3 and 4 on the right hand side.  Group 5 hasn't been released yet - so you can't see all the contestants on video, but we'll take what we can!

Who to Watch:

Maria DeSantis - Miss Americas Outstanding Teen (National Winner) in 07...Opera Singer

Mallorie Hagen - 1st runner up in '11, tap dancer, 2nd time at Miss NY

Hannah Wright - 2nd runner up in '11, ballet dancer, 3rd time at Miss NY

Desiree Wiley -  3rd runner up in '11, lyrical dancer, 2nd time at Miss NY

Acacia Courtney - Connecticut MAOT contestant, interview winner, really long and tall :)

Shannon Oliver - extremely well spoken, 3rd runner up at Miss Virgina '11

Whooooooooooooooo Hooooooooooooooooo for the Empire State!  Good Luck Miss New York 2012!!! :)

MAJ

Miss Delaware

Maria Cahill is a hoot!  Ok, so we don't know her personally at all, but from the outside looking in, she's confident, witty and quirky!  We have a feeling she's always been this way... from her love of Big Mac's to supporting her siblings sporting events, Maria's twitter account is alive and active with updates on who she is and how she lives!  We love it! :)

Maria was given a non-finalist talent award for her Irish Step Dancing routine at Miss America... and we think she should've received an award for 'wearing the heaviest dress' in evening gown!  Check out the full beading on this puppy!!!  I can't imagine how much that thing must've weighed!!!

Delaware History:  Never had a Miss America... but Maria follows in a long line of Delaware contestants who've finished with a preliminary talent or non-finalist talent award... Not bad considering Miss America was only Maria's 5th pageant ever!


Best Junkie Research Tool:  Headshots and details of the girls can be found here at the Miss Delaware site... Everyone has the same background, so we're guessing these were taken during a recent orientation weekend specifically for the website. :)


Items of Note:  Although Miss Delaware is always exciting - a true Miss America Junkie doesn't exist without knowledge of Mr. Delaware 2008. Chris Saltalamacchio was given the title in a male pageant designed to be a fund-rasier for Miss Delaware and the name just stuck!  He's a pageant/dress consultant, entertainer, emcee and reality TV dude as well (as seen on Jersey Couture earlier this season!).  Check out his tweets as well and soon, you'll be hooked too :)

Who to Watch:

Steffi Holmes - 2nd runner up in '11, 1st runner up in '10, 3rd time to Miss Delaware, opera singer

Erin Magnin - 3rd runner up in 11, 3rd time to Miss Delaware, vocalist

Chelsea Betts - Delaware's Outstanding Teen in '07, 4th runner up in '10, 3rd time to Miss Delaware

Alyssa Murray - 4th runner up in '11, 2nd time to Miss Delaware

Others to watch:
Becky Albini - Outstanding Teen contestant in Connecticut
Alix Gardner - Her talent is a comedic routine!
Tierra Fair - Did you get that?  Her name is Tierra (Tiara?) 

All the Best to everyone at Miss Delaware!!!  Can't wait to see who the winner is on June 16!!! :)

MAJ