Miss
America 1990 reveals the key elements to making you not only a pageant
winner but a success in life.
Debbye
Turner, DVM is
Miss America 1990 and currently appears as a featured correspondent
on CBS's The Early Show, where, as a
veterinarian, she's an authority on pet behavior and health care in
segments titled "Pet Planet," while also offering perspectives
on the pleasures and perils of being an adult in "Life Matters"
segments. She has a degree in veterinary medicine from the University
of Missouri-Columbia. Her combination of intelligence, beauty, talent,
hard work, and ability to learn from her early pageant experiences in
the 1980s in Jonesville, Arkansas, led to her crowning as Miss Missouri
in 1989 and, ultimately, her victory as Miss America 1990. Debbye has
served on many local, state, and national boards over the years, including
the National Council on Youth Leadership, Children's Miracle Network,
Missouri Division of Youth Services, and Mathews-Dickey Boys and Girls
Club. She is currently a member of the National Advisory Child Health
and Human Development Council. She lives in the New York City area with
her Siamese cat, Blessed.
If
the judges don't see who you really are, you will never win.
One
of the best interviews I ever gave as a contestant in the Miss America
system was my first. I was 16 years old, full of life, and unafraid
of speaking in front of people. I was so inexperienced that I didn't
know to put on airs, deliver prepared sentiments, or get nervous. I
was wholly myself. I joked around. I spoke sincerely. I smiled. I was
just Debbye. I did not win that first pageant. But I was chosen as second
runner-up behind two much more experienced and older contestants. I
am confident that my high placement was solely because of that interview.
Soon enough, I began to get advice from "experts," to learn
the system and develop that "Pageant Patty" persona that is
all too prevalent in the pageant world. People coached me right out
of being Debbye Turner and into being some version of who they thought
a winner should be.
I finally got the best advice I'd
ever received about competing from a former Miss Arkansas who judged
me at the Miss Arkansas Valley pageant. Her name is Regina Hopper Blakely.
And, Regina, I thank you! She said to me after the pageant, and my first-runner-up
placement, "Debbye, the pageant is won or loss in the interview.
If the judges don't see who you really are, and whether you are able
to carry the job of winning, it doesn't matter how good you are
on stage; you will never win." That set the tone for my future
preparations and put me on the road to becoming Miss America. I went
back to just being Debbye, but being the best Debbye I could
possibly be. That should be the goal of every contestant in the Miss
America system or any pageant.
I
have mainly judged in the Miss America system. It is a wonderful program
that awards scholarships to young women who have strong communication
skills, entertaining performance ability, confidence, discipline, and
infectious personalities. The Miss America program has a three-tiered
competition system (local, state, and national) with five areas of competition:
Interview, Talent, Swimsuit, Evening Wear, and, new this year, Casual
Wear. In order for a young woman to be successful in this system, she
must possess self-confidence, a commanding knowledge of the world around
her, strong convictions, passion, eloquent speaking abilities, good
stage presence, charisma, and a well-developed sense of personal style.
The
judge must be fair-minded, unbiased, and enthusiastic.
The most important quality a judge
in the Miss America system can possess is a good understanding of the
program and the women who compete in it, and they must also have a sincere
appreciation for the program's benefits to its participants and the
community at large. The judge must be fair-minded, unbiased (or at least
able to put personal bias aside during competition), discreet, experienced
in some area of business or entertainment, accomplished in her/his own
right, patient, consistent, and enthusiastic. A good judge will give
the last contestant in the lineup the same rapt attention, regard, and
equity that the first contestant received, which takes purposeful dedication
to the process. Judges cannot get "pooped" halfway through
the pageant.
The
winner represents the whole program.
I want to learn so many things about
a contestant during the interview process. I want to know the real
person — her sense of humor, awareness of social and current event
issues, where her passions lie, and what her convictions are. I want
to know if she can understand and answer easy and tough questions
with ease and perceptiveness. I want to know if she truly believes what
she is "trying to sell" to the panel of judges. I want to
know how well-studied she is on her chosen platform topic. I want to
know if she is aware of the relevant issues surrounding that platform.
I want to know if she knows the politics of the day and what her opinions
are about them (or if she even has an opinion). And, most importantly,
I want to know whether she can handle a tough press interview. She should
be able to speak confidently about any topic, and be able to relate
to small children as easily as she can relate to elected officials,
the elderly, or the "regular Joe" on the street. My questions
are designed to bring these qualities to light.
How
to be natural in unnatural circumstances.
When it comes to the interview,
the saying, "knowledge is power," is key. The second key is
being at ease. A contestant should watch at least two news broadcast
everyday. She should read at least two newspapers everyday (from front
to back). She should keep a journal of names, events, and hot-button
issues to review on a regular basis, and engage in discussion (even
debate) with someone else who is knowledgeable about the issues of the
day. Of course, the pageant contestant should research her platform
topic to its absolute fullest extent. She should easily be able to rattle
off statistics, trends, latest developments, and future advancements
without even thinking.
Being
natural in an unnatural circumstance (and going through a Miss America
interview is certainly unnatural!) takes effort and much practice. The
best way to overcome the anxiety of the interview is to do it so often
that it no longer feels uncomfortable. In other words, mock interview,
mock interview, mock interview!
It
is important to assemble a group of qualified volunteers to serve as
mock judges. Ask professors, school counselors, the family attorney,
doctor, or dentist, your local dance/music teacher, a local business
owner, or even other pageant directors (being careful to avoid someone
who may have a conflict of interest with another contestant). Also,
ask people who have experience judging in the Miss America system. I
think holding once-a-week sessions is sufficient to give the contestant
a chance to digest the information, learn, and improve before the next
session. The mock judges should grill the contestant on current events,
her platform, philosophical issues, and personality questions.
It
is a great idea to videotape the sessions. The contestant should give
the judges a chance to confer amongst themselves privately, then come
in, sit down, take a deep breath, and allow the judges to review the
tape minute by minute, question by question. As a contestant progresses,
the process will become more natural. At this point she should be able
to relax and be herself, and she will find herself thinking of
the funny, witty, or even cute answer along with the "real"
answers. The best thing a contestant can do is make judges laugh (it's
even better than making them cry). But the humor has to be real, honest,
and unforced.
True
talent is finding your personal style and nailing the execution.
The talent competition is the time
to wow the judges and the audience, and the only time, I think,
that a contestant should really "perform" or, as they say,
"leave it all out on the stage." The only way to do this is
to be well-prepared. It is critical to practice daily, tenaciously,
and meticulously in order to get the details down pat. Remember: the
most entertaining performance is one that is superbly executed.
As
a judge viewing a talent performance, I first look to be entertained,
pure and simple. I am asking myself several questions: "Am I enjoying
this performance? Are they enjoying this performance (the contestant,
that is)? Do I want it to keep going when it's over, or have I had enough?"
The talent competition is truly about showmanship, style, razzle-dazzle,
and stage presence, but all of those go hand-in-hand with proficiency.
While
the costume enhances the overall experience of the performance, I am
neither overly impressed nor discouraged by an outfit. For me, the best
costume is "invisible" — neither detracting from the
contestant's routine, nor distracting me from my enjoyment of the presentation.
It should be appropriate and flattering, but it need not be elaborate
or expensive. The best costume should just continue the mood,
theme, and visual aesthetic of the performance, not create them. If,
as a judge, I have enough time to think about how expensive or inexpensive
the costume is, then the contestant has not fully done her job of mesmerizing
me with her performance.
Letting
the "real you" shine through.
As for the Swimsuit and Evening Wear segments of the Miss America
competition, they're all about the contestant's allowing her personal
style and personality "shine through." I am looking for confidence,
ease, a "glow" or radiance, and elegance; every person has
a different way of expressing these qualities. The walk on stage should
be smooth and natural. When I was preparing for competition, I would
walk for hours in our basement in front of a full-length mirror wearing
4-inch heels — paying close attention to my hand position, head
position, how I swung my arms, whether my ankles wobbled, or whether
I was just clunking along. An easy trick is wearing the competition
shoes a lot (without scuffing them!) to get used to walking,
standing, and even sitting in them.
After
expressing all of the above, I must stress the importance of using pageants
as a means to an end, not an end in itself. What is learned in
pageant competition should prepare you for bigger life goals, and what
is developed for competition on stage will carry over into the rest
of your life. Confidence, eloquence, charisma, excellence, determination,
and setting and achieving goals will serve anyone throughout their life.
That is the definition of a true winner; a title and a crown are just
icing on the cake.
The
best asset a contestant has in competition is her individuality. No
one else can be her! That is why I have put so much emphasis on being
natural. Many will be good singers, dancers, or pianists, have great
bodies and gowns, and be smart and articulate. But — trust me on
this — only a few will have all those things and possess
a true sense of who they are. Only a few will be comfortable in their
own skin, and truly be themselves. It sounds so simple, but it
is not. It takes effort. It takes courage. It takes practice. The Miss
America winner is not necessarily the most-beautiful or most-talented
contestant on stage. But she is always the one who has "it"
— that special something that is the confidence to be excellent,
yes, but more importantly to be herself without apology. That is not
only the key to success in pageants but also the key to success in life.
