They had to win their local and state contests so they could get to the national finals in Mobile within six months of graduating from high school. Instead, contestants were judged on interview technique, talent, scholastics, fitness and self-expression.Ĭontestants could apply only once to become America’s Junior Miss. Beauty was not one of the judging criteria. “We don’t call ourselves a pageant,” said Bellew, “although we are formatted in a pageant fashion.”Īmerica’s Junior Miss prided itself on its differences from conventional pageants. Executives seem to grimace every time they hear it.

Part of that is a smart move: to embrace who you are.”Īt America’s Junior Miss headquarters, “pageant” is a sensitive word. “He doesn’t try to change what Miss USA is. “Donald Trump has a different product,” Bellew said. The Miss USA program, which is owned by Donald Trump, attracted 8 million viewers in April. Traditional competitions are flailing behind more sensational contests such as Miss USA, which teamed up with “Fear Factor” this year to show bikini-wearing contestants covered in gallons of live worms and fish oil. Last week, the 84-year-old show, which had 85 million viewers in 1985, announced it was moving to a cable channel, Country Music Television. Miss America, perhaps the nation’s most historically successful pageant, was dropped by ABC last year after its television audience fell below 10 million. Last week, as Bellew was watching the televised show, a volunteer turned to her and said: “If I didn’t know the girls, I wouldn’t watch that for two hours.” Every former Junior Miss and volunteer in the room agreed.Īmerica’s Junior Miss is not the only distressed pageant. Yet even the program’s most devoted fans admit the show’s format was stilted. The contestants, she said, delivered the best reality they could. “They tell us they want more backstabbing,” Bellew said, “but ugliness and viciousness is a problem for us. This year, Junior Miss relied heavily on local taxpayer support, with the city and county of Mobile providing a third of the program’s $1-million budget.Īfter experimenting with a behind-the-scenes “reality” TV concept last year, the program was told it needed more cutthroat competition.

Yet the show’s popularity has dwindled since its heyday in 1965, when it began a 23-year run on national television and was sponsored by Coca-Cola and Kodak. None of its winners had to turn in her crown after nude pictures popped up somewhere. Its contestants were girls just graduated from high school - not the more worldly women you would find over in, say, Atlantic City, at the Miss America contest. “We decided to draw a line in the sand.”Īmerica’s Junior Miss was a pageant meant to honor an age of innocence. “We didn’t want our girls eating bugs or taking their clothes off,” Bellew said.

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