Miss USA R'Bonney Gabriel crowned Miss Universe 2022

Real beauty is on the inside.

Does anyone watch these colossal wastes of time and effort anymore?

I'd rather watch paint dry, but that's my personal opinion. If someone could explain why these events are still relevant I'd be more than happy to listen.

The contestants are painted up beyond all recognition, something I saw when I was a kid and I saw a Miss America at a meet and greet. She was up on a stand, like a statue, there to be admired, the unapproachable Venus in an evening gown at 10 AM, makeup applied with a trowel, garish without stage lighting, a prize bit of beef after a shampoo and blow dry to make the coat shine for the judges and cameras.

I actually felt sorry for her, I knew there was a human being under all that crap she was wearing and that she had to be bored out of her mind, bodyguards making sure nobody got close enough to chat her up. I did have the feeling that if I'd asked her about it, she'd have said through painted lips she was afraid would crack, "It's a job, kid."

At least Miss America didn't ultimately go to slaughter and be turned into hamburgers.

think they are shown on tv anymore. Haven’t watched one since 1970’s. I think some of the winners used to get money to go to college, but not sure about that now.

I actually thought they didn't have this any longer which is why I clicked on this thread. I do believe, Like another DUer said, I think the last time I watched this was in the 70's. It looks to me like it's become even weirder than back then. Is there some new criteria that contestants dress like they are going trick or treat?

Boggles my mind.

At Miss Texas, back in the 60s. She was one of my grandmother's nieces or grand-nieces--can't remember which. Kinda on the distant side for me.

Anyway, you know how they say that the first runner-up matters? Well, guess what? It did matter that year. I don't know what happened to the original Miss Texas, but my cousin had to step up after the other one had to step down.

She got all the perks, and especially the only one she cared about, the college scholarship that came with the title.

Another woman I knew was a Miss Teen USA, and she was also in it for the scholarship money. She wasn't a dummy, but she wasn't quite "scholarship-smart." Didn't qualify for a lot of other scholarships based on other factors, either. But she did want to become a teacher, so she did the beauty pageant thing for scholarship money, because one thing she did have going for her was looks.

A college classmate was in the pageant biz. She was using it as a springboard for an acting career, because it gave her experience before TV cameras, and audiences, too. Oddly enough, she gave up the acting after a while, and wound up as a successful film makeup artist. She had learned a whole lot about what it took for people to look right on camera through the pageant biz, so she was a natural fit for that job.

So most of the pageant types I've known (admittedly a limited sample) were all using it as a means to an end.

Hilarious movie, especially the "talent" portion of the show.

good for her.

Tacky costume.

It took almost 40 years from the start of that Miss USA pageant for a first black Miss USA (although only 10 years for the first Asian in general).

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