Suzette
View of Suzette with vineyards
Suzette
Location within Provence-A.-C.d'A. region  Suzette
Administration
Country	France
Region	Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur
Department	Vaucluse
Arrondissement	Carpentras
Canton	Beaumes-de-Venise
Intercommunality	Ventoux-Comtat Venaissin
Mayor	Michel Ravardel (2001–2008)
Statistics
Elevation	224–722 m (735–2,369 ft) (avg. 425 m or 1,394 ft)
Land area1	6.75 km2 (2.61 sq mi)
Population2	124  (2006)
- Density	18 /km2 (47 /sq mi)
INSEE/Postal code	84130/ 84190
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.
2 Population without double counting: residents of multiple communes (e.g., students and military personnel) only counted once.

Coordinates: 44°10′08″N 5°04′09″E / 44.1689°N 5.0692°E / 44.1689; 5.0692

Suzette is a commune in the Vaucluse department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France.

See also[link]

• Dentelles de Montmirail
• Communes of the Vaucluse department

References[link]

• INSEE

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Suzette

v t e Communes of the Vaucluse department Althen-des-Paluds Ansouis Apt Aubignan Aurel Auribeau Avignon Le Barroux La Bastide-des-Jourdans La Bastidonne Le Beaucet Beaumes-de-Venise Beaumettes Beaumont-de-Pertuis Beaumont-du-Ventoux Bédarrides Bédoin Blauvac Bollène Bonnieux Brantes Buisson Buoux Cabrières-d'Aigues Cabrières-d'Avignon Cadenet Caderousse Cairanne Camaret-sur-Aigues Caromb Carpentras Caseneuve Castellet Caumont-sur-Durance Cavaillon Châteauneuf-de-Gadagne Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cheval-Blanc Courthézon Crestet Crillon-le-Brave Cucuron Entraigues-sur-la-Sorgue Entrechaux Faucon Flassan Fontaine-de-Vaucluse Gargas Gignac Gigondas Gordes Goult Grambois Grillon L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue Jonquerettes Jonquières Joucas Lacoste Lafare Lagarde-d'Apt Lagarde-Paréol Lagnes Lamotte-du-Rhône Lapalud Lauris Lioux Loriol-du-Comtat Lourmarin Malaucène Malemort-du-Comtat Maubec Mazan Ménerbes Mérindol Méthamis Mirabeau Modène Mondragon Monieux Monteux Morières-lès-Avignon Mormoiron Mornas La Motte-d'Aigues Murs Oppède Orange Pernes-les-Fontaines Pertuis Peypin-d'Aigues Piolenc Le Pontet Puget Puyméras Puyvert Rasteau Richerenches Roaix Robion La Roque-Alric La Roque-sur-Pernes Roussillon Rustrel Sablet Saignon Saint-Christol Saint-Didier Sainte-Cécile-les-Vignes Saint-Hippolyte-le-Graveyron Saint-Léger-du-Ventoux Saint-Marcellin-lès-Vaison Saint-Martin-de-Castillon Saint-Martin-de-la-Brasque Saint-Pantaléon Saint-Pierre-de-Vassols Saint-Romain-en-Viennois Saint-Roman-de-Malegarde Saint-Saturnin-lès-Apt Saint-Saturnin-lès-Avignon Saint-Trinit Sannes Sarrians Sault Saumane-de-Vaucluse Savoillan Séguret Sérignan-du-Comtat Sivergues Sorgues Suzette Taillades Le Thor La Tour-d'Aigues Travaillan Uchaux Vacqueyras Vaison-la-Romaine Valréas Vaugines Vedène Velleron Venasque Viens Villars Villedieu Villelaure Villes-sur-Auzon Violès Visan Vitrolles-en-Lubéron

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Kenneth Charles Williams (22 February 1926 – 15 April 1988) was an English comic actor and comedian. He was one of the main ensemble in 26 of the Carry On films, and appeared in numerous British television shows, and radio comedies with Tony Hancock and Kenneth Horne.

Life and career[link]

Kenneth Charles Williams was born on 22 February 1926 in Bingfield Street, King's Cross, London,^[1] the son of Louisa ("Lou" or "Louie") and Charles Williams, a barber. Williams had a half-sister, Alice Patricia, born before Louie had met Charlie Williams. He was educated at Lyulph Stanley School, later becoming apprenticed as a draughtsman to a mapmaker. He joined the Army in 1944 at 18. As part of the Royal Engineers survey section in Bombay, he first performed on stage in the Combined Services Entertainment alongside Stanley Baxter and Peter Nichols.^[2] He was a voracious reader able to quote poems or literary extracts from memory. Excerpts from the diaries he kept as an adult show he adored his supportive, theatrical mother but despised his homophobic, morose and selfish father.

Comic performer[link]

His professional career began in 1948 in repertory theatre. Failure to become a serious dramatic actor disappointed him, but his potential as a comic performer gave him his break when he was spotted playing the Dauphin in George Bernard Shaw's St Joan in 1954 by radio producer Dennis Main Wilson. Main Wilson was casting Hancock's Half Hour, a radio series starring Tony Hancock. Playing mostly funny voice roles, Williams stayed in the series almost to the end, five years later.^[3] His nasal, whiny, camp-cockney inflections (epitomised in his "Stop messing about...!" catchphrase) became popular with listeners.^[4] Despite the success and recognition the show brought him, Williams thought theatre, film and television were superior forms of entertainment.

When Hancock moved the show away from what he considered gimmicks and silly voices, Williams had less to do on the programme. Tiring of his reduced status, he joined Kenneth Horne in Beyond Our Ken (1958–1964), and its sequel, Round the Horne (1965–1968). His roles in Round the Horne included Rambling Syd Rumpo, the eccentric folk singer; Dr Chou En Ginsberg, MA (failed), Oriental criminal mastermind; J. Peasemold Gruntfuttock, telephone heavy breather and dirty old man; and Sandy of the camp couple Julian and Sandy (Julian was played by Hugh Paddick). Their double act was notable for double entendres and Polari, the homosexual slang.

Williams appeared in West End revues including Share My Lettuce with Maggie Smith, written by Bamber Gascoigne, and Pieces of Eight with Fenella Fielding. The latter included material written by Peter Cook, then a student at Pembroke College, Cambridge. Cook's One Leg Too Few and Interesting Facts were part of the show and became routines in Cook's own performances. Williams's last revue was One over the Eight, with Sheila Hancock. In 1972, Williams starred opposite Jennie Linden in My Fat Friend. He also appeared with Ingrid Bergman in a stage production of George Bernard Shaw's Captain Brassbound's Conversion in 1971.

[edit] Carry On

Williams worked regularly in British film during the 1960s and 1970s, mainly in the Carry On series (1958–1978) with its British double entendre-laced humour. He appeared in the series more than any other actor.^[5] The films were commercially successful but Williams and the rest of the cast were poorly paid. In his diaries, Williams wrote that he earned more in a British Gas commercial than for any Carry On film. He often criticised Carry On films, his own performances and those of others, considering them beneath him. This was the case with many of the films, television programmes, stage plays and radio shows in which he appeared. He was quick to find fault with his own work. Despite this, he spoke fondly of the Carry On films in interviews. Peter Rogers, producer of the series, recollected, "Kenneth was worth taking care of because, while he cost very little – £5,000 a film, he made a great deal of money for the franchise."^[6]

Radio and television shows[link]

Williams was a regular on the BBC radio panel game Just a Minute from its second season in 1968 until his death. From 1972, when he felt he wasn't being appreciated, he would scream, "I've come all the way from Great Portland Street." (It was a short distance to the studio from his home.) He also talked for almost a minute^[7] about a supposed Austrian psychiatrist called Heinrich Swartzberg, guessing that show creator Ian Messiter had just made the name up.^[8]

On television he was a frequent contributor to the 1973-1974 revival of What's My Line?, hosted the weekly entertainment show International Cabaret and was a reader for the children's story-reading series Jackanory on BBC1. He appeared on Michael Parkinson's chat show on eight occasions, during which he told anecdotes from his career. Williams was a stand-in host on the Wogan talk show in 1986.

Personal life and death[link]

On 14 October 1962, Williams's father, Charlie, was taken to hospital after drinking carbon tetrachloride that had been stored in a cough mixture bottle. Williams refused to visit him, and the following day went out for lunch and then to the cinema. Charlie died that afternoon and, an hour after being informed, Williams went on stage in the West End. The coroner's court recorded a verdict of accidental death due to corrosive poisoning by carbon tetrachloride.^[9]

Several years later Williams turned down work with Orson Welles in America because he did not like the country and had no desire to work there. Many years after his death, The Mail on Sunday, quoting Wes Butters, co-writer of the book Kenneth Williams Unseen: The Private Notes, Scripts And Photographs, claimed Williams had been denied a visa because Scotland Yard considered him a suspect in his father's death.^[10]

Williams insisted that he was celibate, and his diaries substantiate his claims – at least from his early 40s onwards. He lived alone all his adult life and had few close companions apart from his mother, and no romantic relationships of significance. His diaries contain references to unconsummated or barely consummated homosexual dalliances, which he describes as "traditional matters" or "tradiola" (since male homosexual activity was a criminal offence in the UK before 1967, outright admission would have been held against him if anyone had read the diaries). He befriended gay playwright Joe Orton, who wrote the role of Inspector Truscott in Loot (1966) for him, and had holidays with Orton and his lover, Kenneth Halliwell, in Morocco. Other friends included Stanley Baxter, Gordon Jackson and his wife Rona Anderson, Sheila Hancock, Maggie Smith and her playwright husband, Beverley Cross.^[11]

Williams lived in a succession of small rented flats in North London from the mid-1950s. After his father died, his mother, Louisa, lived close by him and, finally, in the flat next to his. His last home was a flat on Osnaburgh Street, now demolished. Williams was fond of fellow Carry On regulars Barbara Windsor, Kenneth Connor, Hattie Jacques, Joan Sims (whom he once proposed marriage to but she rejected it) and Bernard Bresslaw.^{[citation needed]}

Williams rarely revealed details of his private life, though he spoke openly to Owen Spencer-Thomas about his loneliness, despondency and sense of underachievement in two half-hour documentary programmes entitled Carry On Kenneth on BBC Radio London.^[12] In later years his health declined, along with that of his elderly mother, and his depression deepened. He died on 15 April 1988 in his flat;^[13] the cause of death was an overdose of barbiturates.^[14] An inquest recorded an open verdict, as it was not possible to establish whether his death was a suicide or an accident.^[15] His diaries reveal he had often had suicidal thoughts and as far back as his earliest diaries he noted there were times when he could not see any point in existence. His authorised biography argues that Williams did not take his own life but died of an accidental overdose. The actor had doubled his dosage of antacid without discussing this with his doctor, which, combined with the aforementioned mixture of medication, is the widely accepted cause of death. He had a stock of painkilling tablets and it is argued that he would have taken more of them if he had been intending suicide.^[16]

His mother died in July 1991 and his half-sister, Pat, died in 1994.^{[citation needed]}

Legacy[link]

Diaries and biographies[link]

Posthumous publication of his diaries and letters, edited by Russell Davies, caused controversy—particularly Williams's caustic remarks about fellow professionals—and revealed bouts of despair, often primed by feelings of personal isolation and professional failure. Williams wrote his diaries from the age of 14 in 1940 until his death 48 years later, although the earliest to survive to publication was for 1942 when he reached 16. Williams kept pocket-sized diaries for 1942 and 1947 (he kept no diaries for 1943 to 1946 as he was touring the Far East in the army); a desk diary for 1948; pocket-sized diaries for 1949 and 1950; desk diaries for 1951 to 1965; standard edition desk diaries for 1966 to 1971, and finally A4-sized executive desk diaries for 1972 to 1988. He claimed that writing in his diaries eased the loneliness he often felt.

In April 2008, BBC Radio 4 broadcast the two-part The Pain of Laughter: The Last Days of Kenneth Williams.^[17] The programmes were researched and written by Wes Butters and narrated by Rob Brydon. Butters purchased a collection of Williams's personal belongings from the actor's godson, Robert Chidell, to whom they had been bequeathed.^[18]

The first of the programmes said that, towards the end of his life and struggling with depression and ill health, Williams abandoned Christian faith following discussions with the poet Philip Larkin. Williams had been a Methodist, though he spent much of his life struggling with Christianity's teachings on homosexuality.^[17]

Kenneth Williams Unseen by Wes Butters and Russell Davies, the first Williams biography in 15 years, was published in October 2008.^[19]

An authorised biography, Born Brilliant: The Life Of Kenneth Williams, by Christopher Stevens,^[20] was published in October 2010. This drew for the first time on the full Williams archive of diaries and letters, which had been stored in a London bank for 15 years following publication of edited extracts.^[21] The biography said Williams used a variety of handwriting styles and colours in his journals, switching between different hands on the page.^[22]

Portrayals[link]

Williams' blue plaque at 57 Marchmont Street

Williams has been portrayed in two made-for-television films. In 2000, Adam Godley played him in the story of Sid James and Barbara Windsor's love affair, Cor, Blimey! (Godley had originated the role in the 1998 National Theatre play Cleo, Camping, Emmanuelle and Dick on which Cor Blimey! was based). Subsequently in 2006, Michael Sheen played him in the BBC Four drama Kenneth Williams: Fantabulosa!.

David Benson's 1996 Edinburgh Fringe show, Think No Evil of Us: My Life with Kenneth Williams, saw Benson playing Williams; after touring, the show ran in London's West End. Benson reprised his performance at the 2006 Edinburgh Fringe and continues to tour.^[23]

From 2003 to 2005, Robin Sebastian took on Williams in the West End stage show Round the Horne... Revisited, recreating his performance in 2008 for a production called Round the Horne: Unseen and Uncut.

Recognition[link]

The flat Williams had lived in on Osnaburgh Street from 1972 until his death was bought by Rob Brydon and Julia Davis for the writing of their comedy series Human Remains. The building was demolished in May 2007.^[24]

The English singer-songwriter John Howard's song "Who's Listening? (For Kenneth Williams)" appeared on Howard's 2007 album Barefoot with Angels.^[25] In 2011, Howard wrote:

This wasn't written about Kenneth Williams per se, but, after I'd composed it and was playing it through, I realised the lyric sort of summed Kenneth up − I think I'd recently been reading his published Diaries and I had ended the song with the same words Williams had written in his diary before he died. The dichotomy of the man was fascinating, how he was everyone's camp comedic hero but yearned to be taken seriously as an actor; hated the Carry Ons but couldn't escape them; had a kind of self-loathing but also found himself beautiful. His friendship with the louche Joe Orton also seemed out of step with his image of every housewife's favourite funny man. The character in the lyric of "Who's Listening?" is similarly hard to weigh up, so I decided to dedicate the song to Kenneth. My partner was in a play with him in the '70s and said he was a lovely man, very generous with friends and generous with fellow actors on stage as well. But a very complex character.^[26]

Williams is commemorated by a blue plaque at the address of his father's barber shop in Marchmont Street, London, where he lived from 1935 to 1956. The plaque was unveiled on 11 October 2009 by Bill Pertwee and Nicholas Parsons, with whom Williams performed.^[27]

In September 2010, a plaque commissioned by the British Comedy Society was unveiled in the foyer of the New Diorama Theatre by the Mayor of Camden accompanied by David Benson, the actor known for his performances of his own work dedicated to Williams, Think No Evil of Us - My Life With Kenneth Williams. The theatre stands in the Regents Place development, site of the demolished Osnaburgh Street.

Performances[link]

Films[link]

Albums[link]

• Kenneth Williams on Pleasure Bent 1967, Decca LK 4856. Music by Ted Dicks, lyrics by Myles Rudge. Arrangements and musical direction by Barry Booth, sound supervision by Roger Cameron.
• The World of Kenneth Williams 1970, Decca SPA 64. Stereo edition of recordings from the 1950s and 1960s.

Footnotes[link]

References[link]

• Williams, Kenneth (1993), Russell Davies, ed. The Kenneth Williams Diaries. London: HarperCollins.

External links[link]

• Kenneth Williams at the Internet Movie Database
• Kenneth Williams at the British Film Institute's Screenonline
• Kenneth Williams at Find a Grave

Dany Brillant, born Daniel Cohen-Biran (1965-12-28 – ) in Tunis, Tunisia. He is a Tunisian-French vocalist.

In June 2005, Brillant appeared on Les stars chantent leurs idoles, on France 2, alongside stars such as Julio Iglesias and Il Divo.^[1]

Discography[link]

Albums[link]

• C'est ça qui est bon (1991)
• C'est toi (1993)
• Havana (1996) — Brillant's first platinum album
• Nouveau jour (1999)
• Dolce Vita (October 2001)
• Jazz... à la Nouvelle Orléans (2004)
• Casino (2005)
• Viens dancer (2007)
• Puerto Rico (2009)

Source: ^[2]

References[link]

1. ^ "Télévision: le zapping de la semaine" (in French). edicom.ch. 2005-05-29. http://users.teledisnet.be/web/jfo13895/pages/presse/mai2005.htm. 
2. ^ "Dany Brillant" (in French). MCM. http://www.mcm.net/musique/ficheartiste/1610/. 

External links[link]

• Biography of Dany Brillant, from Radio France Internationale

This article about a French singer is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e

Suzette Charles (born Suzette DeGaetano, March 2, 1963, Mays Landing, New Jersey) is an American singer, entertainer and former Miss America.

Career[link]

Born in Mays Landing, she represented New Jersey in the 1983 Miss America pageant held in Atlantic City, New Jersey. She won her preliminary talent night and finished first runner-up to Vanessa Lynn Williams, who became the first African-American to wear the crown and title of Miss America. When Williams was forced to relinquish the title amid a scandal triggered by Williams' posing for nude photographs published in Penthouse magazine, Charles was crowned in Williams' place and served the remaining seven weeks of Williams' reign.

Charles, who already had many credits in advertising and educational television, has gone on to a career as a singer, entertainer, and television personality. She has acted on the CBS television series Frank's Place and performed on This Morning, a British talk show. She narrated the motion picture, Beyond The Dream, and has appeared on stage with Stevie Wonder, Alan King, Joel Grey and Lou Rawls.

Charles also pursued a singing career. She toured with Stevie Wonder and Lou Rawls in the late 1980s. In 1993, she worked with top British producers Mike Stock and Pete Waterman. She released her debut solo single, "Free To Love Again", in August 1993. The single peaked at #58 in the UK Singles Chart,^[1] and her album was eventually shelved. Other unreleased songs she recorded with Stock and Waterman included "After You're Gone", "Don't Stop (All The Love You Can Give)", "Every Time We Touch", "What The Eye Don't See" and "Just For A Minute". She has also toured with The Suzette Charles Band. Her producers have included Waterman and Michael Raye.

Her father, Charles DeGaetano, is of Italian descent,^[2] and her mother, Suzette (Burroughs) DeGaetano, is African-American, and was the elementary school music teacher in the Buena Regional School District, Buena, New Jersey.

Charles has been a resident of Mays Landing, New Jersey.^[3]

Charles's seven weeks reign is the shortest served by any Miss America.

Sources[link]

• Suzette Charles at the Internet Movie Database

References[link]

Miss America
250px The Miss America logo
Formation	1921
Type	Scholarship Pageant
Headquarters	Linwood, New Jersey
Location	United States
CEO	Art McMaster
Website	Official website

The Miss America pageant is a long-standing competition which awards scholarships to young women from the 50 states plus the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands. The winner of the national pageant is awarded the title of "Miss America" for one year.

The pageant originated as a beauty contest in 1921, but now prefers to avoid this term since Swimsuit and Evening Wear comprise 35 percent of the overall score used to judge contestants. The pageant began in Atlantic City, New Jersey and was held there each year in September through 2004 (except for the year 2001, when it was held on October 14).

In January 2006, the pageant moved to its new home and time in Las Vegas, Nevada. The pageant presents itself as a "scholarship pageant," and the primary prizes for the winner and her runners-up are scholarships to the institution of her choice. The Miss America Scholarship program, along with its local and state affiliates, is the largest provider of scholarship money to young women in the United States and in the world. In 2006 it made available more than $45 million in cash and scholarship assistance.^[1] Since most of the contestants are college graduates already, or on the verge of graduating, most of their prize money is devoted to graduate school or professional school, or to pay off student loans for courses already taken.

The 91st and current Miss America is Laura Kaeppeler, from Wisconsin, who won the title on January 14, 2012.

History[link]

Margaret Gorman was the first Miss America Pageant winner in 1921.

The Miss America competition originated on September 7, 1921, as a two-day beauty contest in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The event that year was still called the Atlantic City Pageant, and the winner of the grand prize, the 3-foot Golden Mermaid trophy, was not called "Miss America" until 1922, when she re-entered the pageant. The pageant was initiated in an attempt to keep tourists in Atlantic City after the Labor Day weekend. The mayor at the time, Edward L. Bader, was a strong advocate of the idea.^[2]

In 1935, talent was added to the competition. At the time, non-white women were barred from competing, a restriction that was codified in the pageant's "Rule number seven," which stated that "contestants must be of good health and of the white race." No African American women participated until 1970, although African Americans did appear in musical numbers as far back as 1923, when they were cast as slaves. Until at least 1940, contestants were required to complete a biological questionnaire tracing their ancestry.^[3][4][5]

In the early years of the pageant, a beauty competition of the women wearing nmed laura lopez bathing suits was the main event. Yolande Betbeze, Miss America 1951, refused to pose for publicity pictures while wearing a swimsuit, citing that she wanted to be recognized as a serious opera singer. Catalina swimwear, one of the Miss America sponsors, withdrew and created the Miss USA/Universe pageants.

Lee Meriwether, the 1955 winner, was the first to receive her title during a televised pageant. Contestants from the same state have won the title of Miss America in consecutive years several times. This has occurred with contestants from Pennsylvania (1935 and 1936), Mississippi (1959 and 1960), and Oklahoma (2006 and 2007). Mary Katherine Campbell, Miss Columbus, Ohio, won in both 1922 and 1923, and was also first runner-up in 1924. The rules were changed to limit an entrant to participating in only one year.

The pageant has been nationally televised since 1954. It peaked in the early 1960s, when it was repeatedly the highest-rated program on American television.^[6] It was seen as a symbol of the United States, with Miss America often being referred to as the female equivalent of the President. The pageant stressed conservative values; contestants were not expected to have ambitions beyond being a good wife (there is also a Mrs. America pageant). Since the 1980s seven black women have been crowned Miss America.

With the rise of feminism and the civil rights movement the pageant became a target of protests, and its audience began to fade. In 1968, about 400 women from the New York Radical Women protested the event on the Atlantic City boardwalk by crowning a live sheep Miss America. They also symbolically trashed a number of feminine products. These included false eyelashes, high-heeled shoes, curlers, hairspray, makeup, girdles, corsets, and bras.^[7] Someone suggested burning the contents of a trash can, but a permit could not be obtained. The media seized on an analogy between draft resisters burning their draft cards and the women burning their bras. In fact, there was no bra burning, nor did anyone take off her bra.^[8]:4 The brochure distributed at the protest, "No More Miss America", was later canonized in feminist scholarship.^[9]

During the 1970s the pageant began admit blacks and encouraged a new type of professional woman. This was symbolized by the 1974 victory of Rebecca Ann King, a law student who publicly supported legalization of abortion in the United States while Miss America.^[5]

Still, ratings flagged. In an attempt to create a younger image, Bert Parks, the pageant's famous emcee from 1955 to 1979, was dismissed. Parks had virtually become an American icon, singing the show's signature song, There She Is, Miss America as the newly-crowned Miss America took her walk down the ramp at the end of each year's pageant. His dismissal prompted public criticism; in protest, Johnny Carson organized a letter-writing campaign to reinstate Parks, but it was unsuccessful. Former TV Tarzan and host of Face the Music, Ron Ely, hosted the pageant that year but was gone the next. Since Parks' departure, many have taken on the role of Miss America TV host. Since Ely, pageant hosts have included Regis Philbin and Kathie Lee Gifford, Gary Collins and Mary Ann Mobley (herself a former Miss America), Meredith Vieira, Boomer Esiason, Wayne Brady, Mario Lopez and James Denton. The 2011 pageant was hosted by Brooke Burke and Chris Harrison.

In 1984, Vanessa Williams became the first African-American woman to be crowned Miss America, but resigned from her duties after nude photos of her surfaced in Penthouse. The job was subsequently filled by first runner-up Suzette Charles who carried out the remaining seven weeks as Miss America 1984. Both women are now included on the canonical list of Miss America laureates; Williams is officially designated Miss America 1984 and Charles is officially designated Miss America 1984b.^{[citation needed]}

Many Miss America winners live after their reigns in relative obscurity, but Vanessa Williams has made an internationally prominent career as a singer selling millions of albums worldwide and achieving critical acclaim as an actress on stage, in film and on television. Others who have had prominent careers in show business include Bess Myerson, Mary Ann Mobley, Lee Meriwether, and Phyllis George. The 1989 winner, Gretchen Carlson, went on to have a career in television journalism. Terry Meeuwsen, 1973 winner, went on to co-host the Christian talk show The 700 Club. Myerson, who was the first (and to date only) Jewish Miss America, was selected in 1945, in the face of official antisemitism, including a request by pageant director Lenora Slaughter that she change her name to one less Jewish-sounding.^[5] In the 1990s, the pageant was reformed into The Miss America Organization, a not-for-profit corporation with three divisions: the Miss America Pageant, a scholarship fund, and the Miss America foundation.

In 1991, for the 70th anniversary of the Miss America pagaent, host Julie introduced Bert Parks to sing Who I Am". It was the last time Parks performed this song live before his death the following year.

Since the pageant's peak in the early 1960s, its audience has eroded significantly. In 2004, when its audience fell to fewer than 10 million viewers (a huge drop from 33 million viewers just six years before), its broadcaster, ABC, decided to drop the pageant.^[10] "Broadcasters show data proving that the talent show and the interviews, the pageant's answers to feminist criticism, were the least popular portions of the pageant, while the swimsuit part still had the power to bring viewers back from the kitchen," said New York Times reporter Iver Peterson. "So pageant officials - who still require chaperons for contestants when they are in Atlantic City - are thinking about showing a little more."^[11]

Miss America contestants visit Andrews Air Force Base in 2003

In 2005, the pageant announced a new television agreement with MTV Networks' Country Music Television. In addition to the move to CMT, there was a switch in the pageant's schedule from September to January 21, 2006, and a move away from Atlantic City and Boardwalk Hall after 85 years to the Las Vegas Strip and the Theatre for the Performing Arts at the Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino. The show was hosted by James Denton, a star of the television show Desperate Housewives. The pageant remained in Las Vegas for 2007 and was again broadcast on CMT. In March 2007, CMT announced that it would not exercise options for the remainder of its contract through 2011.^[12] Discovery Networks then picked up the pageant a few months after to air in January on TLC, along with an associated show, Countdown to the Crown which aired on Friday nights leading up to the actual 2009 pageant.^[13] It was the same year Miss America welcomes back Puerto Rico. For the first time since 1961, Miss Puerto Rico competes in the Miss America Pageant. On January 30, 2010, the pageant was again staged at Las Vegas's Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino. The previous day, TLC aired a one hour preview show at 10:00pm entitled Miss America: Behind the Curtain, which featured some of the contestants and scenes from the preliminary competition. This show was hosted by Clinton Kelly and former Miss America Susan Powell and was rebroadcast at 7:00pm, one hour before the live (EST) pageant coverage on January 30. After seven years, ABC resumed broadcasting the pageant on January 15, 2011.^[14] In 2011 and 2012, the telecast became the highest rated non-sports event in its time-slot across all networks signaling a return of its fan base and support. Due to the altered schedule, Miss America 2005, Alabama's Deidre Downs, reigned for 16 months instead of the usual 12. She was only the second longest-reigning Miss America: in the early days of the pageant, Mary Katherine Campbell from Ohio won the pageant twice, in 1922 and again in 1923. Campbell was also first-runner-up in the 1924 pageant, and when the judge's scores revealed that she had almost won the crown a third time, the pageant created a new rule that a contestant may only win the title of Miss America once (but still allowed a contestant to compete more than once.) Later, the rule was changed so that a contestant may only compete in the Miss America pageant once, whether or not she wins the title.

In the last 51 years of Miss America (through 2008), 27 winners have been blonde, 12 were brown-haired, 9 had black-hair, and 4 were redheads. The average number of steps that a contestant takes during a pageant day is 8939, according to organizers. Several Miss Americas travel in excess of 20,000 miles a month making personal appearances. Many have earned over $100,000 in personal appearance fees during their reign.

Judging[link]

Contestants line up in swimsuits at the Miss America 1953 pageant

The following portions of the competition are what the contestants are judged on:

1. Personal Interview In the Personal Interview portion of the competition each contestant converses with the judges on a variety of topics, from frivolous trivia to serious political and social issues. The contestant is awarded points for being well spoken, polite, articulate, and confident. This competition is less known by the general public than other aspects of the pageant, since unlike the other three, it does not take place on a theater stage, nor is it usually televised. The Personal Interview counts for 25% of the contestant's overall score.
2. Talent In the Talent portion of the competition the contestant performs on stage before the judges and an audience. The most common talents are singing or dancing, but a variety of other talents may be exhibited at the contestant's choosing; some have demonstrated juggling, playing musical instruments, ventriloquism, quick-draw painting. The Talent portion of the competition counts for 35% of the contestant's overall score.
3. Lifestyle & Fitness in Swimsuit In the Swimsuit portion of the competition contestants walk on the stage in swimsuits and high-heeled shoes. The Miss America pageant regulates certain minimum standards of modesty the swimwear must comply with. Judging for this portion of the competition focuses on overall physical fitness, poise and posture. Before 1997, the contestants were required to wear identical, somewhat dated, one-piece suits. In 1996 the pageant held a phone-in poll asking the public to weigh in on whether or not the Swimsuit competition should be continued. 87% of callers voted to retain the swimsuit portion. In 1997 the organization decided to allow contestants to choose their own more revealing two-piece suits, bikinis, or traditional one-piece suits. The Swimsuit competition counts for 15% of the contestant's overall score.
4. Evening Wear In the Evening Wear portion of the competition, the contestants are judged on poise and bearing as they walk across the stage. The Evening Wear portion of the competition counts for 20% of the contestant's overall score.
5. Onstage Question During the Evening Wear competition the contestants are asked a random question from a pre-determined list that they must then answer onstage with no preparation. Questions are topical and usually involve current events. The questions require the contestant to have knowledge of the event and provide an opinion. The Onstage Question counts for 5% of the contestant's total score

Short-lived section: A casual wear section was added to the Miss America competition in 2003, and was filtering down to state and local competitions; however, the "casual wear" section was canceled in 2006 and is no longer in use at any level of the Miss America Program.

Winners[link]

Teresa Scanlan, Miss America 2011

Hosts[link]

• Bob Russell: 1940–1946, 1948–1950, 1954
• Bert Parks: 1955–1979
• Bess Myerson: 1964–1967
• Phyllis George: 1975–1978
• Mary Ann Mobley: 1979
• Ron Ely and Dorothy Benham: 1980–1981
• Gary Collins: 1982–1991
• Mary Ann Mobley: 1985–1988
• Phyllis George: 1989–1991
• Regis Philbin: 1992–1996
• Kathie Lee Gifford: 1992–1995
• Eva LaRue and John Callahan: 1997
• Boomer Esiason and Meredith Vieira: 1998
• Donny and Marie Osmond: 1999–2000
• Angela Pillas: 2000
• Tony Danza: 2001
• Wayne Brady: 2002
• Tom Bergeron: 2003–2004
• Chris Harrison: 2005, 2011, 2012 2013
• Brooke Burke Charvet: 2011, 2012, 2013
• James Denton: 2006
• Mario Lopez 2007, 2009–2010
• Mark Steines: 2008

Television broadcasters[link]

• ABC: 1954–1956
• CBS: 1957–1965
• NBC: 1966–1996
• ABC: 1997–2005
• CMT: 2006–2007
• TLC: 2008–2010 ^[15]
• ABC: 2011–2013^[16]

A Miss America application, which will feature condensed Miss America pageants, delegate profiles, as well as updates, photos and videos from the reigning Miss America, will be released for iOS and Android mobile devices and on the Xbox 360 console late 2012.

Homages and parodies[link]

• Sesame Street parodied the Miss America pageant as the "Letter Of The Day" pageant hosted by Guy Smiley; the five finalists were the vowels and the pageant winner was the letter E.
• In the Seinfeld episode The Chaperone, Jerry dates one of the finalists albeit with his neighbor chaperoning.

See also[link]

• List of Miss America winners by state
• Miss America award winners
• Miss America's Outstanding Teen
• National Sweetheart - although not officially connected with the Miss America pageant, runners-up from Miss America's state pageants have been invited to the National Sweetheart pageant in Hoopeston, Illinois since the 1940s.
• Miss Congeniality (2000), movie with a parody of the pageant as the background ("Miss United States")

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Miss America

• Miss America 2011
• Miss America official site
• Photo Essay: America's Pageant A look back at more than 80 years of the Miss America competition on Time.com (a division of Time Magazine)
• Pageant Almanac: Miss America
• 1968-69 No More Miss America protests
• Audio Podcast special from Miss America 2006 - Episode #6, Episode #7, Episode #8: all include recordings of press conferences from that week