“Win or lose, we’re all winners.” – Miss Maine ‘09
On Saturday night, Katie Stam (Miss Indiana) was crowned Miss America at the end of the worst reality TV competition I’ve seen in a long time.
TLC would have been better off filling their Saturday night lineup with old episodes of "Flip That House".
The Miss America Pageant is supposed to be inspirational, showcasing the best of what young America has to offer. Not this year. Not only were the contestants disappointing on stage, but I’m pretty sure that many of them will have difficulty landing jobs post-pageant.
I certainly wouldn’t hire them. Here are 3 reasons why:
1. Disastrous First Impressions
The telecast kicked off with a cheesy group dance number, after which each contestant was given the opportunity to introduce themselves as well as the state they represented. The idea (I think) was for the women to state interesting facts about their home states, while also showcasing their winning personalities.
The following are just a few gems from the introduction segment (again, these were the actual quotes):
“I’m from the state where the only thing cooler than our Winter Olympics is our hot David Archuletta.” – Miss Utah
“I’m not Hannah, but I am from Montana!” – Miss Montana
“I’m from the state where the weather changes more often than people ask Mario {Lopez} to take off his shirt!” – Miss Oklahoma
“I’m from the only state never to have an earthquake and I’m here to rock your world.” – Miss North Dakota
Alas, Miss North Dakota didn't make it to the talent competition...
Over-rehearsed, cliché-riddled introductions are a good way to get noticed…but for all the wrong reasons.
2. Bad Interview Habits
Miss America contestants are trained to speak without thinking, which is why they look ridiculous during the interview portion of the show. Their answers usually contain three components (none of which one should emulate in any interview of consequence):
1. Restate the question verbatim
2. Steer your answer toward clichés about responsibility and obligation
3. Throw several decisive words together and hope the ending makes sense
Just once, I would like to see a contestant say “I’d like to take a moment to think about that” and then proceed to use her first ten seconds to craft a novel answer IN HER HEAD.
3. Direction is just as important as Enthusiasm
After Miss Indiana was crowned, I visited the pageant’s official website to learn more about her. While she had certainly seemed like one of the most worthy competitors, I wasn’t blown away by any one facet of her game. I went to the website hoping to learn more about her public service platform. Past Miss America’s have been powerful advocates for specific causes such as breast cancer awareness or eating disorders.
Not this year.
Turns out that Katie Stam's public service platform is listed as follows:
Passion for Service: Promoting community service and involvement.
That’s like telling a potential employer that you "have a passion for hard work and you plan to promote hard work on the job."
Right, but what are you going to do, exactly?
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