Pageant traditions loosening

By Janet Adamy
Daily Staff Reporter

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. - For many, the words "Miss America Pageant" conjure up images of big hair and heavy makeup.

But to the contestants and thousands of volunteers who dedicate their lives to the coveted crown, the Miss America Pageant program is more than a beauty contest.

These devotees assert that the purpose of the pageant is to provide young women with a venue that enables them to achieve their academic goals and better serve their communities.

BOHDAN DAMIAN CAP/Daily Miss Vermont Jill Renee Cummings Michelle Lamontange proudly displays her navel ring Wednesday night.

All prizes are in the form of scholarships. Miss America Pageant officials boast that their program is the largest provider of scholarships exclusively for women in the world, providing Miss America 1997 Tara Holland with nearly $80,000 in scholarship money.

In an effort to emphasize sincerity, Pageant CEO Leonard Horn told judges this year to penalize contestants' scores if they detect that a woman is being phony.

This new addition to the scoring method shouldn't hurt Miss New Hampshire Michelle Lamontange, who embodies the image of the updated, down-to-earth contestant: The front woman for a rock band, Lamontange breaks all the Miss America stereotypes.

Lamontange, whose fellow band members celebrated her crowning with a "kegger," is proud that she doesn't conform to the Miss America Pageant stereotype.

"It's a whole new audience I'm bringing in," Lamontange said. "It's kind of neat to show them this side of reality."

Wearing leather boots and a chartreuse suit, she brought the audience to their feet during the talent competition as she sang a rock version of the song "Route 66," which she chose because its lyrics incorporate numerous states.

Lamontange said she does not take the competition too seriously, adding that some of her favorite parts of the pageant include getting free food, free T-shirts and gambling.

Contestants are also required to have a platform on which they answer questions during the personal interview and evening gown portions of the competition. "It's a program that believes in women, and it's a program that has evolved," said Holland, who has worked to promote increased literacy.

While devoting the last year to her literacy campaign, Holland inspired a 65-year-old man to learn to read, motivated a mother in a correctional facility to educate herself for the sake of her children and, Holland believes, was instrumental in bringing the issue of literacy into the spotlight in Washington, D.C.

With the emphasis shifting toward goals and personality, contestants said they had mixed feelings on the issue of whether the swimsuit and evening gown competitions are outdated.

"As much as people say that they don't, looks can count as much as your personality can," said Miss Connecticut Merissa Starnes. "It's not beauty as much as how you present yourself."

Miss Colorado Regina Flores said although she thinks Miss America's appearance in an evening gown is still important, how she looks in a bathing suit is irrelevant. "You've never seen her pose in a swimsuit after the pageant," Flores said.

09-12-97