Pageant News Bureau - Miss America Coverage 1997

Atlantic City beach

Atlantic City Boardwalk

The scene in Atlantic City

The comeback year

It's the pageant that almost everyone has heard of, but it's one with a remarkably hazy identification in the public mind. It made its name synonymous with glamour and sex appeal, then fought that image relentlessly, with unintended consequences.
Now, the Miss America Pageant, after years of declining television ratings, has jumped back into the beauty business. Its publicity campaign this year focuses on less inhibited women in skimpier swimsuits. It is still a scholarship pageant, and a very generous one, but the cheesecake is back.

The strategy may work. The American media, which by habit tend to pack all their pageant coverage into the month of September, have swallowed the bikini bait. The public will be treated to endless stories about what's going on (and coming off) in Atlantic City.
But will the masses be impressed? Many Americans, according to informal PNB surveys, are unmoved by the news that Miss America contestants will wear two-piece swimsuits; these people are convinced that Miss America contestants have always worn two-piece swimsuits. They are equally certain that Miss America contestants still wear sashes. They say, "I've seen it on TV. " It's a remarkable irony: Miss America's success in achieving name recognition has confused it in the public mind with countless other pageants, and that's the very thing that the Miss America Organization has always struggled to avoid.
In any event, the hype is upon us, and we welcome it. But for those seeking perspective on the spectacle, PNB is here for you.

More chances to win

Atlantic City has been a center of casino gambling since the 1970s, but up until now, Miss America contestants were not allowed to take part. This year, contestants over 21 will get to take their chances at the tables. This change was not made with great fanfare, but it could be a subtle attempt to ease away from the "goody-goody" image that Miss America long has cultivated.

A little skin? No big deal

After 20 years with NBC, the Miss America Pageant is back on ABC, where the pageant made its televised debut in 1954. ABC has the reputation of being the raciest of the longstanding American networks. In the 1970s, it pioneered what was known as "jiggle TV," focusing on the physical attributes of its female stars. The tactic was denounced, but it was a commercial success. In the early 1990s, ABC became the first network to feature nudity in a regular program ("NYPD Blue").

Out of the ordinary

Bess Myerson became Miss America in 1945, the same year that Bess Truman became first lady of the United States. It was a remarkable coincidence, because the name "Bess" was rare among Americans. The sudden prominence of a name sometimes starts a trend among new parents naming their babies, but that didn't happen with "Bess." It is still most uncommon, and no Miss America, or first lady, has borne the name since.

Miss Minnesota speaks

Jennifer Ostergaard, Miss Minnesota, has a lot of people rooting for her. She also has a lot of roots. Her ancestors came from at least eight European countries: Denmark, England, France, Germany, Ireland, Poland, Scotland and Wales. The name, of course, is distinctively Danish.

Ms. Ostergaard is an accomplished dramatist and actress. Her first public performance was as an innkeeper in a Christmas play, and she was recruited into public speaking and drama in high school.

Jennifer Ostergaard has trained with physical fitness guru Mike Fifrick. He calls her "very down to earth."

Photo by Pageant News Bureau

Now, as a college student, she is one of the 20 leading forensics students in the nation. She is the only contestant doing a dramatic monologue as her talent performance this year.
She is from Winona, a college town in southern Minnesota. She likes the town, and apparently it likes her. She was Miss Winona 1993 and Miss Winona 1996. The second time was the charm.

A piece (or two) of history

After an absence of exactly half a century, the two-piece swimsuit will reappear this September on the Miss America stage. Contestants in Atlantic City will be given the choice of wearing a one-piece or a two-piece suit in what is now euphemistically called the "physical fitness" competition. This swimsuit policy is basically identical to the one that has been in place at the Miss USA Pageant for some time.
The change comes one year after the 50th anniversary of the "Year of the Bikini." But the two-piece suits authorized for Miss America are bikinis only in the broadest sense. Styles that are considered too revealing are forbidden, and contestants' navels reportedly will be strictly monitored, if not covered entirely.
In 1947, the year after the official introduction of the bikini, contestants at Miss America all wore two-piece swimsuits. These were modest affairs, showing only a small portion of the midriff.
Fifty years is a long time, and fans who follow only the Miss America Pageant may be unfamiliar with how a two-piece swimsuit looks. For the benefit of such people, PNB offers the following pictorial guide (in tasteful black and white). Those who are fans of other pageants, or simply have good memories, can skip this presentation.