Miss America 2016

[LXA SE285]

I remember one year a contestant did a ventriloquist act for her talent.

Were you thinking of Paige Phillips, Miss Alabama 1981? Her routine was corny as hell, but she killed it from a technical standpoint. She got something like a 5-minute ovation. Locally everybody thought she was a shoo-in, but she ended up first runner-up.

[LAblondeGPhi]

Originally Posted by LXA SE285

This photo is going to haunt my dreams.

[sugar and spice]

Originally Posted by LXA SE285

Were you thinking of Paige Phillips, Miss Alabama 1981? Her routine was corny as hell, but she killed it from a technical standpoint. She got something like a 5-minute ovation. Locally everybody thought she was a shoo-in, but she ended up first runner-up.

There's a video of this on Youtube somewhere--I watched it a while back. I'm generally not super-impressed by ventriloquist acts, but she was legitimately amazing. She did voices for both her dolls, they had entirely distinct voices from each other--while singing!--and you couldn't see her lips moving at all. I think she actually works at least part-time as a ventriloquist now, or at least did for many years. It's ridiculous good.

Originally Posted by Sister Havana

Miss Vermont actually performed a science experiment for talent at this year's pageant. Here's the video from preliminaries. (Too bad she didn't make the finals! I will take that over bad singing any day.)

Yeah, that's what got me thinking about it. It just seems so silly that some of these women are so talented in so many ways, and yet the pageant definition of "talent" remains pretty narrow. I remember watching a Miss Wisconsin who was a doctor at the age of 22, who ended up playing a violin solo for her talent (and was surprisingly good at it). She was a 22-year-old doctor, isn't that enough talent? Haha.

[Katmandu]

Jayne Ann Jayroe, Miss Oklahoma, in 1966 conducted the miss America orchestra, sang and danced. Although this was regarded as a stunt and later conducting was "disallowed" as a talent, the reality is she was actually trained as a conductor, aspired to be a conductor, but lived in an era in which maestros were males. She rocked. I loved her.

[jolene]

Originally Posted by Katmandu

Jayne Ann Jayroe, Miss Oklahoma, in 1966 conducted the miss America orchestra, sang and danced. Although this was regarded as a stunt and later conducting was "disallowed" as a talent, the reality is she was actually trained as a conductor, aspired to be a conductor, but lived in an era in which maestros were males. She rocked. I loved her.

As someone who's a musician and songwriter, that's AWESOME!

[Katmandu]

She was also an Alpha Chi Omega from Oklahoma City University, which for a small school, has produced more than it's share of broadway and pageant stars. She began by singing and dancing to, "1, 2,3" ( it's so easy, like taking candy from a baby) then went over, took the baton from the orchestra conductor, and conducted... Stunt...hmmmph.

[Cheerio]

Originally Posted by Xidelt

I remember one year a contestant did a ventriloquist act for her talent.

Originally Posted by LXA SE285

Were you thinking of Paige Phillips, Miss Alabama 1981? Her routine was corny as hell, but she killed it from a technical standpoint. She got something like a 5-minute ovation. Locally everybody thought she was a shoo-in, but she ended up first runner-up.

Another ventriloquist first runner-up was Miss Louisiana 1987 Patricia Brandt. Ventriloquist Miss Arkansas 2011, Alyse Eady, also placed first runner-up.

And of course if your memory goes back to The Age of the Beatles (not quite dinosaurs) Vonda Kay Van Dyke Miss America 1965 from Arizona also performed ventriloquism as her talent; so far she is the only ventriloquist to WIN the Miss America crown.

[carnation]

I was rather grossed out by the clogger who won.