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2005 Miss America Deidre Downs Sep. 18, 2004 Story by: Gina Jones,The Press of Atlantic City.com, and various other fans Click here for pictures of the event!
The Miss America 2005 pageant was held on September 18th at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Preliminary competition began on September 13th and continued on the 14th and 15th. After a very nice opening sequence with all the girls introducing themselves in T-shirts of their home states, viewers were brought into the Convention Hall. The ladies had on black cocktail attire along with black banners scripted with their Miss State title. Reality television viewers recognized another face on the stage: Chris Harrison, the host of ABC's "The Bachelor/Bachelorette," is host of the pageant. The 2004 Panel of Judges included: Kellye Cash - Christian Music Artist, Speaker, Miss America 1987; Lawrence Hamilton - Broadway Actor, Singer, Dancer; Jennifer Hanson - Country Music Singer, Songwriter, Miss California 1994; Phil Maloof - Businessman, Former State Senator of New Mexico, Actor; Barry Phillips - Two-Time Emmy Award-Winning Film/TV Art Director, Producer, Interviewer; Niki Taylor - International Model, Entrepreneur, Designer; and John Weidman - Emmy and Tony Award-Winning Writer. Changing from the past several years, only a top ten were named at this point. Using the sort of drama technique from shows like "Who Wants to Be A Millionaire," the ladies were announced. They were: Miss North Carolina, Kirstin Elrod; Miss California, Veena Goel; Miss Oklahoma, Elizabeth Kinney; Miss Georgia, Danica Tisdale; Miss Kansas, Megan Bushell; Miss New York, Christina Yvette Ellington; Miss Louisiana, Jennifer Dupont; Miss Alabama, Deidre Downs; Miss Arkansas, Lacy Fleming; and Miss Texas, Jamie Story. The top ten semifinalists then competed in casual wear and swimsuit. In casual wear the ladies wore an outfit that they would wear on a daily basis. Miss Louisiana Jennifer Dupont was the leader of this category. She wore a cute pair of jeans, white tank top, with a rose pink short jacket. The girls strutted their stuff to upbeat music and gave "attitude/" during this segment. The swimsuit segment was introduced with each girl in alluring posed at a candle lit pool side. All ten wore the string bikinis from Speedo. Once again the winner of the swimsuit category was Miss Louisiana Jennifer Dupont. After this the ladies returned to stage in white evening gowns for the announcement of top five. They were: Miss Alabama, Deidre Downs; Miss Louisiana, Jennifer Dupont; Miss California, Veena Goel; Miss Arkansas, Lacy Fleming; and Miss North Carolina, Kirstin Elrod. Singer Clay Aiken returns to the Miss America pageant Saturday with a larger presence than last year in the two-hour show. Aiken, the runner-up during the 2003 season of "American Idol," performed his current single, "My Way," and was on stage during the evening wear competition. All of the ladies returned to stage for a pass through before each of the top five came on stage with a family member as an escort. The leader from the evening gown category was Miss Alabama Deidre Downs. The top five then changed into business attire to answer those "cultural" questions in a push button game. It was a three way tie at the end of eight questions: Miss Alabama Deidre Downs, Miss California Veena Goel, and Miss Arkansas Lacey Fleming. The top five returned to stage in their white gowns for the first three members of the court to be announced. Fourth runner up and a preliminary talent winner was Miss California Veena Goel, a graduate of UCLA. She performed a jazz dance and her platform concerns Awareness and Prevention of Eating Disorders Awareness. She won the California title on her 3rd attempt. Third runner up was Miss Arkansas Lacey Fleming.. She is a vocalist and her platform concern Child Abuse Prevention. She is a student at Ouachita Baptist University and won the Arkansas title on her 4th attempt. Second runner up was Miss North Carolina Kristen Marie Elrod. She is a stuident at the North Carolina School of the Arts and is a classical vocalist. Her platform concerns the Prevention of Chemical Abuse. She won the North Carolina title on her 2nd attempt. At this point Miss Louisiana Jennifer Dupont and Miss Alabama Deidre Downs were left standing. They had to flip a coin and call their preference. Miss Alabama won and selected to do her talent second. These two nervous ladies then had to redress and perform their talent in a showdown, unlike "The Last Comic Standing" or "American Idol." Jennifer performed a jazz dance to "The Life of the Party." Deidre sang "I'm Afraid This Must Be Love." Once again changing into their evening gowns, the final announcement was made. The first runner up was Miss Louisiana Jennifer Dupont. She is a graduate of Louisiana State University. Jennifer's platform concerns the Eradication of Child Abuse, she won the Miss Louisiana title on her first attempt. Jennifer is also a triple crown winner from the state of Louisiana having been Miss Louisiana Teen USA 1998, and Miss Louisiana USA 2000. The new Miss America 2005 is Deidre Downs, Miss Alabama. Deidre, 24, was a Rhodes Scholar finalist, and graduated magna cum laude from Samford University She is an aspiring medical student who has a deferred admission to the University of Alabama-Birmingham-Medical School, became the third Miss Alabama to win the title of Miss America and the 50th crowned on live television. Alabama last won 10 years ago when Heather Whitestone won. Deidre has competed at Miss Alabama five times and had been first runner up in 03 and third runner up in 02 and 01. Deidre's platform is Pediatric Cancer Awareness and Funding. She was able to work through the Alabama state legislators a license plate that provides over $40 per plate sold for pediatric cancer research. Deidre has earlier in the week won the Quality of Life award. She won over $56,000 in scholarship money. When the new Miss America was announced, Clay Aiken siang the theme song "There She Is." In the first part of the pageant week, she confessed to having pageant-related dreams. "Well, I did have a dream I won Miss America," she told The Press last week. What happened next? "I woke up," she said. "It was a good dream." Sometimes, dreams come true. Special Awards: MAO Scholar Award: Miss America begins her tenure on the airwaves Monday morning, stepping into the national limelight with a live television interview with Katie Couric and Matt Lauer on NBC's Today at 8:30 a.m. ET. With minutes to spare, she will rush to appear on ABC's LIVE with Regis & Kelly, which airs at 9:00 a.m. ET. Telephone interviews will be scheduled as needed. Then she will hold her first press conference in New York City at Hotel InterContinental, The Barclay at 1:30 p.m. ET. Following the news conference, she will tape a segment for The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch on CNBC (which is slated to air Wednesday, Sept. 22 at 8:00 and 11:00 p.m. ET, and again on Sunday, Sept. 26 at 9:00 p.m. ET). Tuesday begins with a live appearance on the CBS Early Show at 8:30 a.m. ET, then to ABC for a live interview with former Miss America show host Tony Danza on new The Tony Danza Show at 10:00 a.m. ET. At noon, she will host a luncheon for New York City foster children at Planet Hollywood, before heading to the Ed Sullivan Theater for the traditional reading of the Top Ten List on The Late Show with David Letterman on CBS (which is scheduled to air on Friday night at 11:30 p.m. ET). The remainder of her week in New York will consist of corporate meetings. Her travels continue with weekend appearances at the NASCAR Weekend at Dover International Speedway in Delaware. Photos by: The Miss America Organization, REUTERS/Tim Shaffer, Susan L Gregg/Reuters, AP Photo/Daniel Hulshizer, AP Photo/Brian Branch-Price, and AP Photo/Mary GodleskiTO ADD OR UPDATE CONTENT TO TFTJ, use the Submission Forms.
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