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Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Miss New Mexico Pageant Isn't About Eye Candy
By Dan Mayfield
Of the Journal
Since Jenny Marlowe, Miss New Mexico 2008, won the Miss America Reality Show (and $20,000), all eyes are now on New Mexico to be a force in the 2009 Miss America Pageant.
So, when Carol Henry asked me to judge the contest to pick Miss New Mexico 2009, I sweated it. I, along with four distinguished judges, were to pick the best of New Mexico's young women in Alamogordo last weekend.
Yeah, my buddies gave me enough grief about it for weeks. But, man, it's a tough job.
It may sound trite, but we did want to give crowns to all the contestants. These young women do represent the best that New Mexico has to offer. They're smart, talented, quick on their feet, and academically and community-minded women. The Miss America Organization is a scholarship organization, and the women were competing through the various pageant arts for thousands of dollars in scholarships to help further their academic ambitions.
This year's winner, Miss Albuquerque Christina Olmi, is well suited to the job. Her platform of community service includes working with Mothers Against Drunk Driving.
But being a judge isn't all about the eye candy. The most important parts of the pageant are an interview and the talent portions. During the interview, the judges tried to discern which women were most in tune with the state, our values here, and could represent their chosen community organizations the best.
The local hostesses in Cloudcroft made sure we were all comfortable, entertained, and well fed at local eateries like the Western Bar. But the stress, the idea of knowing that my choices would reflect New Mexico for a year, have weighed heavily on my conscience all week.
This competition means a lot, not just to the competitors, but to New Mexico. The winner will wear The Crown for one year and represent New Mexico on national TV next year during the reality show and the annual Miss America show.
But the competition is worth more than that. The women competing — who can't be older than 25 at the time of the national competition — are in this for scholarship money.
I was the only New Mexican on the judging panel, and the only one who hasn't been involved in the Miss America Organization before. The other judges, however, are the A-team recruited by Carol Henry, executive director of the Miss New Mexico Scholarship Program:
n Jim Jones, a former director at the Gates Foundation, as in Bill, as in the second-richest man in the world. Jim was in charge of Gates' philanthropic work in Africa. Starting next week, he will head up the ExxonMobile Foundation. He has judged several dozen local pageants and one Miss America and is very clued into the pageant's inherent drama.
n Bonnie Sirgany, who probably had the best job in show business: The traveling companion for Miss America. Every other month, for the last 19 years, Bonnie has gone everywhere Miss America has. She tried to keep nosy boys out, make sure Miss America is on time and was on hand to help Miss America in any way she could.
n Luanne “Lulu” Gamba, the former head of the Rhode Island Miss America pageant system, has judged more than 50 local pageants. She, like the rest of us, stumbled into the MAO, first as a stage director and producer and later as a director.
n And of course, Mrs. Cash. Billie Cash is the mother of this year's MC, Kellye Cash, Miss America 1987. Mrs. Cash is an author, recording artist, motivational speaker and more. She has a very Southern gentlewoman outlook and is always prepared with something nice to say.
Kellye Cash, this year's MC, has several stories about her Uncle Johnny. Though she doesn't sing quite like Johnny, the Cash family apple doesn't fall too far from the tree. She's engaging, personable, gregarious and talented.
The Miss America system isn't just a beauty pageant. These are all young women who have scholastic ambitions. The scholarship program gives thousands of dollars for young women to study anything, from cosmetology to law, medicine and, mostly, communications.
They're tested heavily on everything from their platform of community service to their fashion and common sense in the pageant.
The back-breaker part of the contest is the interview. It's not televised on the Miss America show, but it's worth 30 percent of their final score. It's fast paced and our questions were designed to be open-ended. No yes-or-no answers, please.
As a judge, this was critical. As Miss New Mexico — or better yet, Miss America — the winner will be counted on to visit schools to talk about her platform. She will be asked to visit hospitals, to MC charity events, and to be a face of New Mexico. The interview portion of the contest was designed to bring out a contestant's wit, class and personality. Trust me, it taxed the judges just as much as the contestants as we tried to avoid dead time and keep contestants on their toes.
Sure, the elegance of the evening-gown competition and the spontaneity of the on-stage question show which women have poise, grace, and can think on their feet. But it's the swimsuit portion that gets the most questions from audience members.
The goal is to find a girl who can feel comfortable anywhere as Miss New Mexico and is comfortable enough in her own skin to handle the modeling contracts that will inevitably come her way.
The experience, however, has taught me that Miss America Organization is about much more than beauty. The women in the competition are the best the state has to offer.
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