MISS ALASKA

One of the things we love about the Miss America pageant is that it draws in young women who are looking for a way to stand out in the world.  Miss Alaska 2013 Michelle Taylor, is no exception.

From the University of Alaska Anchorage "Student Spotlight"-

          "This year’s 2013 Miss Alaska, Michelle Taylor, is the first to admit she never thought she’d be competing in beauty scholarship pageants, much less be a Miss America contestant in Atlantic City on Sept. 15.
          Like many, Michelle believed the stereotypes surrounding beauty pageants. It wasn’t until she attended a competition and followed some of the most famous beauty queens on social media that she realized it was much more than beautiful women wearing tiaras and fancy dresses.

          “These women are well-rounded, poised professionals. They have great communication skills and want to be role models for young people in our nation. It’s inspiring that they take such an active role in the community, promoting their platforms and raising awareness to hot topics and issues we face in our country,” she says.
          “I wanted to be one of those women.”

We saw Michelle perform her talent in Atlantic City and watched her exude confidence on stage (this gown was STUNNING on her) - and let me just say... Not only has she become "one of those women"...  I'm certain she now has young girls looking up to her thinking the exact same thing. :)

In fact, Michelle's work as Miss Alaska is no doubt one of the reasons why there are so many contestants this year!  There are 18 girls vying for the crown - and 10 of them are brand new to the Miss Alaska stage!  That's evidence of a growing program - Congrats Alaska!!! :)  We expect big things from you in the years to come! :)


Junkies Say Here's Who to Watch:

Sarah Cvancara - 1st runner up '13
Veronica Temple - 2nd runner up '13, 3rd runner up '11, AK Teen USA '12, AK OT '09
Brooke Johnson - 1st runner up AK USA '14
Sierra Rain Begich Slade - AK OT '08
Carolyn Layne - 3rd runner up '13 
Victoria Bensel - Collegiate Track Athlete - she's driven
Melissa Kaylor - Outstanding voice - 3rd place AK Got Talent'12
Malie Delgado - Strong vocal - made it to 2nd round of the X Factor on TV (3 yes votes!)

GOOD LUCK LADIES!!!  WISHING YOU THE BEST!!! :)

MAJ

MISS NEW YORK

So, here's a little secret.  One of our favorite things... is seeing who takes the crown back in Miss America's home state after she wins the big title!  Honestly!  We get super giddy about it!  It's kinda like telling someone, "Sorry, you lost.... Oops!  Just kidding!"  Although perhaps not quite THAT dramatic - it's still pretty wonderful - especially when the competition was fierce to begin with - and both girls at the top had a chance to become Miss State.

 

This year, the state of New York was super fortunate to get another incredible Miss NY in Amanda Mason.  Stunning and articulate with a killer voice, Amanda was the 1st runner up to Nina Davuluri and hasn't missed a beat since being named Miss New York.  She's all over social media, she's making appearances left and right, and she's forever part of the sisterhood who crowned 4 Miss New York's in 2 short years.  Don't be surprised if you see Amanda's name up in lights one day - she could've easily been a runner up/winner at Miss America if given the opportunity and we know you'll be hearing her name for years to come!  Good luck Amanda!

Ok - Now on to this year's competition!

So - one of the biggest mistakes you could make, would be to think that because Miss America has come from New York the last two years in a row, perhaps this isn't going to be much of a pageant this year...

Hmmmm... How can I say this...?

You would be WRONG!!!  Miss New York is STACKED AGAIN this year - and it's gonna be a crazy-fight to the finish!  And don't forget - if the winner of Miss New York becomes Miss America - it would be a historic three-peat for the first time EVER!  No Pressure! :)

Junkies Say Here's Who to Watch: 

Julia Rae Schlucter - PA OT '08, 1st runner up at MAOT, great voice,
Desiree Wiley - 3rd runner up '13, 4th runner up '12, SS Prelim, news reporter in Buffalo
Jillian Tapper - 3rd runner up Miss FL '12, Baton Twirler
Jamie Hughes - former Miss VA competitor, Miss VA US '12
Cat Janisko - 4th runner up '12 and '13 at Miss PA, news reporter in Plattsburgh
Kira Kazantsev - Top 10 '13, Russian, stunning, triple major graduate from Hofstra
Christina Moore - Top 10 '13
Jamie Macchia - Top 11 '12
Claudette Gomez - Law Student at Columbia, 1st time at Miss NY

All the best to everyone at Miss NY!!!  Could it be 3 in a row???


MAJ

MISS NEW HAMPSHIRE

Samantha Russo has a gift.  The girl can sing!

Samantha was named the preliminary talent award winner on the very first night of competition at Miss America - which, in case you don't know, is typically STACKED with crazy amounts of Talent.  In case you missed it - here's a video of her prelim performance from YouTube :)

I told you... THE GIRL CAN SING!  And - she just started taking lessons AFTER she was named Miss New Hampshire!

In addition, we loved Samantha's "Top Things Learned at Miss America" post from her own blog... If you're a contestant this year, do yourself a favor a read it here!  Well worth the time!!! :)

We're pretty sure we're going to be seeing great things from Sam Russo over the coming years... She won Miss NH on her first try - which might now feel like a 'detour' on her journey towards a career in sports broadcasting.  In fact, she has a love of baseball that warms our Junkie hearts!  Here's wishing BIG SUCCESS to Samantha in the years to come! :)

Regarding this year's competition - Lucky for us - we got to meet a WHOLE BUNCH of Junkies from NH at Miss America in Atlantic City!  Don't think we haven't forgotten about you :)  We LOVE our NH Junkies and can't wait to see how this week's competition plays out :)


Now - Junkies Say Here's Who to Watch:

Sarah Mousseau - 2nd runner up '12 and '13, Prelim SS in '13
Kendall Wipff - 1st runner up '13, Miss Mass OT '10, 3rd time at Miss NH
Jessica Avelar - 3rd runner up in '13
Holly Blanchard - Prelim Talent winner, Top 12 in '13
Joanna Shields - Miss CT competitor twice, lovely body

Big Shout Out to Stephanie and Nichole Iacuzio - sisters competing together at Miss NH!  And Junkies also wanna say "Good Luck" to Kat Howland who sent us some fabulous New Hampshire maple syrup plus other goodies from the Granite State (You Look Great Kat!!!) :)  


GOOD LUCK TO ALL AT MISS NEW HAMPSHIRE 2014!!!

Collage courtesy of Miss America Class Updates :)

MAJ

MISS VERMONT

Whenever you start to think you're busy... Remind yourself of Miss Vermont, Jeanelle Achee's schedule the year BEFORE she was named Miss VT.  According to an online article in the Hearld of Randolph, Jeanelle juggled 2 jobs, logged over 600 hours of community service, completed her third year of nursing school and pursued a minor in global studies.  Oh - and did we mention she was also named a Truman Scholar?  Whew!  The Junkies are tired just thinking of it all!

But we shouldn't be surprised... After all, Vermont has been crowning super smart, accomplished, women for decades and Jeanelle was no exception.  We look forward to watching Jeanelle in the years ahead and watching her excel in her field of choice. :)

Now - Regarding Miss Vermont 2014 - there's a wonderful group of girls to choose from.  Different states have different preferences on what they're looking for - but in Vermont, there's no way you can win if you don't have a stellar interview.  That's what makes it a little hard for the Junkies to choose a winner - because someone's interview ability isn't typically something you can research online.  However, we've done our best - and here's what we've got!

Junkies Say Here's Who to Watch:

Jackie Croft - 1st runner up '12, 2nd runner up '13
Nina Merriman - 1st runner up '13
Alayna Westcom - 4th runner up '11, scholar award in '11
Ashley Bourdeau - rookie, articulate, lovely headshot, zumba instructor

ALL THE BEST TO EVERYONE AT MISS VERMONT!!!  GOOD LUCK!!!

Miss Vermont 2014 collage courtesy of Miss America Class Updates!  To see a larger image, just click on the photo! :)

MAJ

2014 STATE PAGEANT SEASON!!!

Wowzers.

Are we really here again?  Is it really time to take another spin on the Junkie Merry-Go-Round of insanity as we predict the 53 women who will compete for the title of Miss America 2015?  I'm trying to remember why I put myself thought this... LOL!  Truth is, I think this is why I'm called a "Junkie"... It's the sickness that slowly takes over... and before you realize it... you're googling girls left and right, day and night... combing and searching for a bit of insight... :)

Could someone please do me a favor and stage an intervention next year...?

Awesome.  Thanks :)

OK - Here's the list of each and every state pageant coming up - Starting, with Miss Vermont this weekend!

In case you haven't seen this before - Here's how it works... I'll post a blog about each state and who I see as the front-runners to win the crown.  The number of girls competing a State varies dramatically - which means, there's no rule regarding how many names get listed.  If you wanna know how we choose the ladies on our "Here's Who to Watch" list, check out our explanation at our blogpost here from 2013 or our follow up post here - which explains things a little further...

Please know - I'M NOT PERFECT which means sometimes I get it right - sometimes I get it wrong... Last year, we were correct 86% of the time - Which frankly, was a little surprising even to us! :)  However - it's worthy to note that last year, we missed the very first state of the year (which happened to be New Hampshire) and strangely enough, we also missed all of the states that start with the letter "I"... Iowa, Indiana, Illinois AND Idaho!  Intriguing... Inexplicable... Incomprehensible... Inconceivable for everyone, we know... :)

One of our favorite posts of last year was telling you which states received the Top 5 hits out of all 53 states... And let's face it - if you clicked the previous 2 links, you might as well click this one too!  To see the "Top 5 of 2013" just click here...   It's pretty amazing to see where the best "Junkies" in the nation come from and which states they follow :)

So - without further adieu, we'll get started tomorrow with Miss Vermont!  Stay Tuned - Another year's worth of addiction is about to commence...

MAJ

Hey Junkies! Where Ya Been???

HEY JUNKIES!  WHERE YA BEEN???

LOL!  Good Question!  One I've been asked many times over the past several months... And I'm not sure I've had a good answer for you until now.  For those of you who thought we disappeared off the planet - My apologies.  Truth is, we've had to do some searching to uncover answers for our absence the past many months... In the end, here are three thoughts that are therapeutic to my soul and offer a few explanations...

1. Burn Out.  Within 9 months (Jan 2013 - Sept 2013), we crowned 2 Miss Americas, Junkies posted predictions on all 53 state pageants, maintained a Blog, Facebook page and Twitter feed, PLUS we traveled to both Vegas AND Atlantic City to see Mallory and Nina be crowned live.  Truth is, if this were my full time job, I could understand seasons where everything seems overwhelming... But unfortunately, I don't get paid for this gig (at least not yet!).  This is my hobby.  And I gave a lot of time, effort and energy to my hobby in a short period of time.

2.  New Job in Real Life.  After spending 15 years building my career in the same industry, I took a new position that stretched me professionally.  Doing so has meant I haven't had as much time for my hobby - and much of my energies have gone into my new position rather than into eating, sleeping and drinking Miss America Junkies all day, every day. :)

3.  Goal Achieved.  You may be asking yourself, "Goal Achieved?  What does that even mean?"  Well - if you go back through the archives of this blog, you'll find something I write over and over again.  One of the reasons I started Miss America Junkies is because I wanted to help 'change the tone' I was hearing from online pageant people.  Years ago (before social media went crazy), information regarding Miss America contestants was super difficult to find.  Even less than 5 years ago, I remember staying up into the wee hours of the night, just to find out who were the winners at our own Miss America preliminary!   There were only 2 or 3 independent websites dedicated to pageants, and very few states had their own Facebook pages - let alone updated websites with contestant information.  Conversely, young women were online in droves - which made the information gap larger than ever!  So what happened?  Well, that void of information was filled with online message boards.  A fine idea initially, until it brought out the worst in pageant followers.  Soon, all I began to see was negativity and bad-mouthing from a bunch of anonymous posters.  That's why it became my goal to bring faster, more positive attention to titleholders WITHOUT the ugly judgement that often came alongside pageant commentary.  I just thought you could still have fun, provide information quickly, and still 'be bold' in predictions without being nasty.

Since The Junkies' inception, some wonderful things have happened... First, more and more 'positive' blog and facebook groups have come into play and are gaining steam!  Miss America Class Updates and Miss America Unlimited have wonderful Facebook pages to keep fans informed (check 'em out!).  I'm floored at how many people 'live tweet' now from various state competitions - let alone Miss America!  It's a HUGE change from 5 short years ago and it's made a big difference!  In addition, because of our travels to numerous state pageants, Vegas and AC, The Junkies have personally met countless contestants and volunteers who have been quick to offer support of our philosophy and encouraged us with their positive feedback.  It seems YOU CAN have fun, make predictions and enjoy competition without being ugly.

Here's the deal... My goal was to change the tone of the internet regarding Miss America contestants.  I think that's happened.  It's not over - and we certainly aren't claiming we did it all by ourselves - but overall, I believe our involvement has helped facilitate some good things in pageant-land.  And that - is extremely rewarding. :)

So - where does that leave us now?  Well... here's what I know...

1.  We WILL be posting our beloved "Here's Who to Watch" blogs on each and every state - starting THIS WEEKEND with Miss Vermont! :)  It's a crazy under-taking, but we're committed to getting it done :)

2.  We're still considering state pageants to attend this summer... As you can imagine, traveling to these events is another large under-taking, and requires a lot of coordination from the 'real-job' and the home front.  We promise to keep each of you informed as we work towards our summer schedule.

3.  Set new goals.  I'm not quite sure exactly what this looks like just yet - but I'm excited about what the future holds!  As we grow, we'll be sure to include you on all the latest information in the land of MAJ... Again, we're so appreciative of those who have been a part of our journey thus far and we look forward to where we go from here!

In the meantime, WE STILL LOVE HEARING FROM YOU!  Whether it's interacting via Facebook, Twitter or this blog, The Junkies have developed some incredible real-life friendships and wonderful on-line relationships with people we would've never met otherwise - and we're super grateful for it!  THANK YOU for the things you do to promote The Junkies to your family, friends or people who are new to the world of pageantry.  That's how we continue to 'spread the word' of positive pageant commentary and continue to accomplish our original goal.

STAY TUNED for the MISS VERMONT blog coming up this week - and the MISS NEW HAMPSHIRE blog coming up next week!  It's about to get CRAZY!!!

THANKS JUNKIES!!! :)

MAJ

NINA DAVURULI IS MISS AMERICA 2014!!!!

First of all... let me say how sorry I am that this post was not completed sooner! :(  My apologies to those of you who have been waiting patiently for me to post my over-all thoughts... Let's just say, I'm getting too old to be witty and creative when I've only had 3 hours of sleep!

That being said - Your new Miss America is Miss New York, NINA DAVURULI!!!!

Nina seemed to have everything going for her on finals night... She was polished, yet spunky.  She was approachable, yet beautiful.  Her talent was complex, yet entertaining.  As our first Indian-American to be named Miss America, you may have caught her on one of her TV appearances stating: "The everyday girl-next-door in America doesn't look like she did 10 years ago - and 10 years from now, she won't look the same as she does today either."  Additionally, she is excited about the opportunity to be a role model for little girls who look like she does.

I'll be honest...  I don't care what color she is... Instead, here's what I care about.  Nina is confident, striking to look at, a strong communicator and appears to be extremely genuine.  She could be purple for all I care - as long as she still possessed these qualities which I consider to be necessary for someone to make an impact on others.

So all the best to Nina!  May she become one of our most impacting Miss America's in history!

Now - it's time to let you in on our thought process as Miss America week progressed... Here's several thoughts... in completely random order...

1.  Even though the Junkies went 6 for 6 with prelim winners, we only went 8 for 15 in our Top 15 finalists.  Seems like we have a corner on the "Top Talents" and "Best Swimsuits" but we do not have a good grip on the most consistent ladies on the stage in all areas of competition.  This can be remedied by attending more prelim nights (Junkies only saw 1 prelim this year)... but unfortunately, it's not always conducive to do so (see 'real life' job reference above).

2.  Only seeing one prelim night also kept us from seeing the 'spark' in Nina that the judges obviously saw.  In fact, Nina had her On-Stage Question the night we attended prelims and I'm afraid we weren't able to really pick any of these answers out as "spectacular"... they all sounded about the same in our book.  Had we seen her presence in Swimsuit or her Talent, we might've been able to notice the girl that the judges fell in love with. 

3.  I think the final night panel also threw us for a loop... The fact that all of the Top 5 were brunettes tells us that we weren't in the final night panel's heads at all.  To only have picked 2 of the Top 5 (OK and CA) is a bummer for the Junkies... one of our poorest Top 5 finishes in recent history (boo).

4.  You'd never believe me if I told you how many times I substituted NY, MN and CA into my top 5.  Frankly, I only expected 1 of the 3 to make the Top 5 - never in a million-zillion years did I think all 3 would make it.  I was wrong.

5.  Never in a million-zillion years did I think NY and OK would be looking at Top 5 finishes THREE YEARS IN A ROW!!!  Kaitlin Monte, Mallory Hagan and Nina Davuruli vs. Betty Thompson, Alicia Clifton and Kelsey Griswold (And prior to that, Emoly West from OK was Top 5 and Claire Buffie from NY was Top 10).  To have 2 states performing that well year after year after year has got to be frustrating for 51 other contestants - but dang!  These 2 programs are proving to be the premier programs in the country!

6.  WE'VE FINALLY CROWNED OUR FIRST FORMER STATE OUTSTANDING TEEN!!!!  Nina was Michigan's Outstanding Teen 2006 and 1st runner up at MAOT!  Watch for state pageants across the country to crown more OT state winners this year!

7.  Junkies haven't seen the TV production yet - but to have earned the highest ratings in nine years screams "WE'RE BACK!!!"  WHOOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOOOO for finding the magic formula and producing a show worthy of American viewership.

8.  ATLANTIC CITY!!!!!!  Where do I begin???  As a Junkie who saw her first Miss America crowned in Las Vegas, but who's completely familiar with the amazing amount of history and tradition that exists on the Jersey Shore, let me say... WOW!!!  There are most certainly differences between the 2 cities beyond geographics... but I gotta give the edge to the quaint and charming city on the sea.  Plus, getting out to the Sheraton Hotel was a huge bonus - seeing shoes, evening gowns and trophies up close and personal was great fun!  Being 'crowned' by Bert Parks was another big hit!  And having my photo taken next to those famous "Atlantic City" wooden boats on the beach was icing on the cake!  You just don't get that in Vegas, Baby :)

9.  Even if we went 0 for 6 and 0 for 15, we still would've LOVED meeting fellow Junkies!!!  This year was particularly fantastic as so many of you found us and told us what our page meant to you!  We never expected to have that kind of impact on people - and we're grateful to consider many of you 'friends'.  PLEASE continue to stay in contact with the Junkies - and if there's anything we can do for you - just let us know! :)

And that's a Wrap!  Another Miss America crowning is in the books - another woman gets the job of a lifetime and another little girl is currently wondering if she might become the new Miss America one day.  The Junkies look forward to seeing Nina make her mark on Miss America history and will do everything we can to keep you updated along the way...

UNTIL WE MEET AGAIN - make sure you're practicing your wave... blowing kisses in the wind... standing up tall with your shoulders back and chin up... as we all sing together... "There She Is..."

Thanks Junkies!  What a GREAT year it's been! :)

MAJ