| P a g e a n t N e w s B u r e a u |
|
HOME | NEWS | PEOPLE | FEATURES
| INTERVIEWS |
 |
| P a g e a n t N e w s B u r e a u |
|
HOME | NEWS | PEOPLE | FEATURES
| INTERVIEWS |
|
|
Stayin' aliveBeauty pageant "themes" are notorious for their banality. But the idea of incorporating elements from the CBS-TV show "Survivor" into the Miss Teen USA Pageant can only be called ingenious. "Survivor" was a so-called reality program in which a cross-section of people tried to fend for themselves and co-exist on an undeveloped island. One by one, they were eliminated from the island by their peers. In the finale, the previous exiles returned and helped narrow the field down to one person, the winner. The timeliness of the tie-in between the two programs is obvious, and was presumably no accident. "Survivor" was a major hit, and its finale -- broadcast just three days before the pageant -- drew high ratings and heavy publicity. CBS also broadcasts and co-owns the pageant. But aside from this, "Survivor" had much in common with a beauty contest. It was a competition for prizes and fame. It was a blend of reality and staginess, with cameras following people who supposedly were "being themselves." It was a blend of the frivolous and the serious, attracting a mixed audience of devoted fans and mere channel-surfers. Like pageants, reality programs have their critics. Their mingling of the artificial and the real can be disquieting to a journalist or any person concerned about communicating truth. But this situation is nothing new. More than 200 years ago, a British writer became famous for his fiction cleverly disguised as reporting, and he is still read today. His name was Daniel Defoe, and his most famous book was about a survivor on an island. "Robinson Crusoe." |
Bright as a new dimeAlexis Dollar is from the southern part of Alabama, a place where beauty queens flourish like honeysuckles. She has been a contender in state pageants for years. In her first try at Miss Alabama Teen USA, she was first runner-up, "and it was exciting." Then she was first runner-up again, "and it was kind of disappointing." Then she won, and the excitement was back. | 
|
 | While she was rising through the beauty queen ranks, she was getting acquainted with college. At 18, she is already well into her studies at Auburn University. "I skipped a grade in high school," she explained, "and I took some college courses while I was in high school." Ms. Dollar's academic interests are in communications and political science. She will cast a vote for the first time this year, and then she will get to analyze the results. (She can surely do it better than some of the pundits we've heard.) She's looking ahead to law school. |
One of her old school chums is Starla Smith, who was last year's Miss Alabama Teen USA and has since gone on to be crowned Miss United States Teen. "I'm very proud of Starla," Ms. Dollar said. And do you know who would be very proud to see Ms. Dollar win Miss Teen USA? Good guess.
Top two photos courtesy of Miss Universe L.P., LLLP, |  |
A girl in uniformSarah Thompson didn't flip the burgers. But she got the glory. |
| She won a pageant in her hometown of Dublin, Ohio, that made her a traveling spokesperson for Wendy's, the giant fast-food chain. Dressed as a Wendy's employee, she has appeared at charity-related events and at restaurant openings. It sounds like heaven to us a modeling job with fries on the side. Ms. Thompson, who's also a former Miss Junior Ohio Teen, has ambitions to be a broadcast journalist. "I don't want to do entertainment news," she says firmly. There's not enough depth there for her. She wants to be like veteran broadcaster Barbara Walters, an interviewer who "has a way of getting people to open up." |  |
 | Ms. Thompson has performed at Columbus Children's Theater, and she is program director for her high school's TV news program. She also writes all the scripts. She made a small confession to us. A couple of years ago, buoyed by her success in pageants and dazzled by the bright lights, she thought about forgetting college and heading straight into an acting career.
|
"My dad talked some sense into me," she says, "Now I know that if acting is my thing, it will come when the time is right." It could come sooner than she knows.
Color photos courtesy of Miss Universe L.P., LLLP, |  |
More on Miss Teen USA 2000 ... |
| Miss Teen USA archive |
| P a g e a n t N e w s B u r e a u |
|
HOME | NEWS | PEOPLE | FEATURES
| INTERVIEWS |
|
|
| Copyright © 1995-2006 Pageant News Bureau, Inc. All rights reserved. |
