Hosted by Mario Lopez with help by Clinton Kelly and Jeannette Carlson, the Miss America Pageant 2010 aired on the TLC channel.
Judges included Shawn Johnson, Vivica A. Fox, Rush Limbaugh, Dave Koz, and Brooke White, which is surprising. Her claim to fame is being in the top ten of American Idol. She’s a nice lady, but I’m not sure what she is doing as a judge. The judges were heavily on the entertainment sector this year. In fact, there’s usually a past crown winner judging and there wasn’t one this year, which seems very weird.
America got to vote based on a special program that TLC ran the night before the event. Their top three were automatically part of the Top 15 Finalists. America’s Choices are three Miss Kentucky, Miss Oklahoma, and Miss Arkansas. Ultimately, Arkansas was out with the first cut,
while Oklahoma survived long enough to strut in her gown, though she didn’t make the performing round.
Wow — for the first time ever, after the top 14 finalists were called (the judges’ choices and America’s Top Three), the 39 remaining contestants voted for one more who will be the 15th contestant. What’s more, they weren’t told about this until right before they voted, during the telecast. Now that’s new, and I like the concept. It adds spontaneity and an extra zap of excitement to the proceedings. Their choice was Miss Oregon. She didn’t make the cut, though, but I’m sure she loved the honor and being able to participate in the swimsuit.
The performance round was a mixture of talent. Hawaii did the hula, but in a more classical sense than what we normally see, Louisiana played a rousing number on the ...
