She’s been dressed up, dressed down, relocated and updated.
Now she’s being mocked.
The latest chapter in Miss America’s ever-evolving search for viewers and cultural relevance finds the heroine at the butt of the joke.
Her hair is too big, her hairspray totally ’80s. Her makeup is clownish. Her gown belongs on an ice skater.
This year’s 52 Miss America contestants haven’t just been getting judged, they’ve been getting zinged in “Miss America: Reality Check,” a four-part reality series leading up to Saturday’s 8 p.m. EST crowning on TLC.
The series, whose final installment airs Friday, has tracked the transformation of beauty queens from old-fashioned “Pageant Pattys,” as some in the pageant world say, to modern “It girls.” Video
It’s out with the bouffant hair, the canned smile and the parade wave. Time to knock the beauty pageant on its sash, the show’s tag line goes.
The live crowning also attempts to introduce a bit of edge. “Reality Check” viewers have been asked to vote via text message for their favorite contestant, who will automatically become one of the top 16 finalists. The losers will be asked for their commentary on the finalists, perhaps a chance to fire some zingers of their own. The contestants will wear jeans (gasp!) during the venerable opening act, the parade of states.
It’s long past time for some new style and new sass, some say. The 87-year-old Miss America Pageant has seen a slow and steady decline of viewers for more than a decade. Discovery Channel-owned TLC is its second cable network since ABC dropped the pageant from its lineup in 2005.
It moved from its longtime home in Atlantic City, New Jersey, to Las Vegas in 2006 in an attempt to build some momentum. It’s already tried a menu of reality TV gimmicks, dropped the sashes, brought back the sashes and promised a return to old-school glamour.
But it rarely laughed at itself.
“I don’t think the past attempts were enough; they were little Band-Aids,” said Sam Haskell, Miss America Organization chairman. “In order for us to survive — and I want us flourish, not just survive — we need a younger generation to support it and find it entertaining.”
That means competing with reality television and, producers say, finding a Miss America who can go toe-to-toe with the Britneys and the Parises on the red carpet — though not at the night club.
“It’s someone who doesn’t go out and get drunk, but goes out and makes people laugh and has fun on the red carpet,” said Sarah Iven, editor in-chief of OK! Magazine and a pageant judge, describing her choice for the tiara. “Not a young woman stuck in an old woman’s suit.” – CNN
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