THOUGHTS OF MISS USA
2004
The 'Show Me' state certainly showed us! The clear favorite and my prediction was the winner!
Shandi Finnessey had much support from lots of people so it was absolutely no surprise and
very refreshing to see that she indeed won the crown.
Shandi competed a few times before actually winning Miss Missouri USA. She was even
Miss Missouri America but didn't make the semifinals at Miss America. But this time,
you could tell that Shandi did her homework and proved herself worthy of the title of Miss USA.
Her dazzling smile and occasional laughter made her appear supremely confident. She chose a gown
that was unique in the good way and worked it well and she had great hair and a body to die for.
Of course, the recent hype around the state of Missouri seemed to further aid Shandi's win.
We all remember a certain show called "Average Joe" starring two former Miss
Missouri and Missouri Teen USAs, namely Larissa Meek and Melana Scantlin, giving Shandi
all the more popularity. It was simply Missouri's turn to finally win the crown. The
highest Missouri placed prior to Shandi's win was 2nd runner-up 3 times,
in 1952, 1963 and the most recent being in 1998, Melanie Breedlove (yet another former Miss
Missouri and Missouri Teen USA). It also seemed like a righteous payback for Larissa
Meek's fumble in 2001, which is said to have led to keeping a top five rather than
narrowing the field to three. In any case, Shandi certainly did perform exceptionally. She
has immediately become a frontrunner for Miss Universe.
Miss USA glammed it up this year by heading to the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood where the
Oscars are held. The intro where Donald Trump dismissed reigning Miss USA, Susie Castillo, in
"The Apprentice" style was funny. Susie totally understood and the Donald just kept milking his
revived fame. Prior to the show, we saw Miss Alabama capture the Miss Fear Factor title. The
intros were good. I liked the fact that there was a little more vamping adding to the glam appeal.
The outfits were good and you could really see the effort being put in to make the delegates look
good. Billy Bush & Nancy O'Dell were also decent hosts. Pretty generic for the most part but
not overbearing. The dancing was great and I loved the music as well.
On to the top 15. As you can see below in my predictions, I chose 9 of the 15 semifinalists plus
1 alternate and 1 honorable mention. The 4 that I missed were Oregon, New Mexico, Washington and
New Hampshire, none of whom were deserving semifinalists in my significant opinion. As for the 6
girls in my list that didn't make it: First, Nevada's Victoria Franklin was a memorable competitor
at Miss Teen USA 1998 and I really hoped that she would be given another opportunity. She probably
should have left her hair open during the preliminaries. I prophecied that DC's Tiara Dews
would return to Miss USA with a vengeance. She totally turned on the diva attitude and for each of
the little bits that we saw Tiara, I loved her style. I was also quite disappointed not to see
her in the semis because I know she would have really given us a show. Kansas had an amazing body
but I guess it wasn't enough to pull her into the semis. New York also a very unique and interesting
look but the judges didn't go for that either. Virginia's Kristi Glakas looked all woman this
time around but she didn't make it in spite of a strong performance and Massachusetts had a nice
body and gown but was not as attractive in the face.
ACTUAL TOP 15 |
MY PREDICTIONS |
Winner=Missouri-Shandi Finnessey |
Winner=Missouri-Shandi Finnessey* |
1st Runner Up=South Carolina-Amanda Pennekamp |
1st Runner Up=Nevada-Victoria Franklin |
2nd Runner Up=North Carolina-Ashley Puleo |
2nd Runner Up=District of Columbia-Tiara Dews |
3rd Runner Up=Oklahoma-Lindsay Hill |
3rd Runner Up=Kansas-Lisa Forbes |
4th Runner Up=Tennessee-Stephanie Culberson |
4th Runner Up=Arizona-Danielle Demski* |
FINALISTS (alpha'l) |
FINALISTS |
Alabama-Tara Darby |
New York-Jaclyn Nesheiwat |
Florida-Kristen Berset |
Texas-Stephanie Guerrero* |
Georgia-Caroline Medley |
South Carolina-Amanda Pennekamp* |
Idaho-Kimberly Weible |
North Carolina-Ashley Puleo* |
Oregon-Jennifer Murphy |
Virginia-Kristi Glakas |
SEMIFINALISTS (alpha'l) |
SEMIFINALISTS |
Arizona-Danielle Demski |
Tennessee-Stephanie Culberson* |
New Hampshire-Vanessa Bissanti |
Alabama-Tara Darby* |
New Mexico-Jenna Hardin |
Oklahoma-Lindsay Hill* |
Texas-Stephanie Guerrero |
Florida-Kirsten Berset* |
Washington-Tina McCormick |
Massachusetts-Maria Lekkakos |
|
ALTERNATES: Rhode Island, California, Alaska, Louisiana, Idaho* |
|
HONORABLE MENTIONS: Ohio, Indiana, Pennsylvania, Nebraska, Georgia* |
|
* = made actual top ten |
On to the evening gown competition beginning with Arizona. She chose a gown that didn't really
flatter her mid-section. Her choice at Miss Teen USA 99 was much smarter. Missouri's gown was
very fascinating and unique with the seethrough mid-section showing off her great abs and the blue
sparkles matching the underskirt on a skin-tone bodice was an interesting blend. Shandi worked
this gown well and the large jangly earrings were a nice touch. I think she could have worn her
hair open for this competition but it didn't really matter. Everything about Shandi screamed
winner! Texas' Stephanie Guerrero is another experienced pageant girl having competed several
times before getting the title. I would also like to note that in the very competitive Miss
Texas USA pageant, former Miss Teen USA Christie Woods was unable to capture the Texan crown on
her third try and she has now aged out. Stephanie chose to go with the Lady-in-Red look and it
did work very well with her skin tone but it wasn't enough to pull her into the top ten. North
Carolina's gown was simple and elegant but what I liked most of all was how it showed off her
great legs. New Hampshire had too much of a teen look and a boring basic black gown. This girl
robbed more deserving delegates of a semifinalist spot. South Carolina had a very billowy furry
bottom of her gown which when split apart didn't really look all that great but the great thing
about this gown was that it accentuated her nice curves. Amanda's style (the hair, the poses, etc.)
was also very Aishwarya Rai. As Florida stepped on stage, you could just taste the strawberries
and cherries exploding in your mouth. This gown had a very flavorful appeal and reminded me of the
gown that Carole Gist, Miss USA 1990 wore at Miss Universe--a gown which you would swear was the
sexiest strawberry fruit-roll-up you had ever seen. Alabama's dark gown could have been a little
better. I was expecting a little more from her performance. Oregon had a black gown with silver
sparkles which was just there and not particularly outstanding. I really didn't like the color of
Georgia's gown. The flourescent greenish-yellow was a little bit of an eyestrain. New Mexico's
turquoise satin number from 15 years ago was another disaster. And if you're talking disaster gowns,
look no further than Washington. The fact that anyone would seriously wear something this hideous
in a competition is just mind-boggling. It almost seemed as if she was just let into the top 15 to
reveal this monstrosity. Idaho proved herself to be very worthy of a top spot after stepping out
in this gown. I had an inkling that she was going to make it, not only because she adapted her
look to resemble Jessica Simpson but also because Brandi Sherwood (also from Idaho and a Miss and Teen
titleholder) was a judge. Idaho's gown and hair looked lovely. On to Oklahoma. Now, you would
think that someone with such a great body would be given a great gown but this inkstained number
was hardly flattering. I wasn't impressed with this gown. Finally, Tennessee worked her white gown
well. It was a step up from the one she chose to wear in the preliminaries.
On to the swimsuit competition, complete with flag dancers and gold chastity belts. First up
was Georgia and although she looked finely toned, you probably could grate cheese on those ribs.
Oklahoma worked her lovely supermodel body. Alabama also had a good body but she just didn't
really stand out. North Carolina has a very nice body. I'm glad she didn't overdo it on the
flexing this time because in the preliminaries, it looked like one of her thigh muscle would pop
out. Idaho looked very good during swimsuit. I was pleasantly surprised because in all the
pictures I saw of her I thought she was a bit on the stubby side but she looked better on TV.
Florida had a nice body, very feminine. Missouri was simply a vision. The hair, the finely
toned body and those great thighs. Everything was excellent. Oregon clearly had the worst body
of the ten, she was a bit thick. South Carolina certainly wasn't afraid to show off her nicely
curved buttocks. Tennessee showed off her very thin waist. Something about her forehead bugs
me though.
Now on to the top 5, Tennessee, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma and South Carolina. Tennessee
was first asked why she liked "Gone With the Wind." You could hear a bit of her accent as she said
she liked history and Shakespeare/Romeo & Juliet. When asked if she had any beauty secrets to share,
she said that she didn't consider herself a pro and that this was one of her first pageants. I'm
sure I don't need to tell you that she also competed in Miss America a few years ago and people
could tell that wasn't necessarily all that true. She said she started as a senior in college and
claimed to be more of a tomboy and into football. The best thing she said she did in Hollywood was
hang out with the Marines. On to Missouri, who started off humorously by suggesting they get a
box for Billy Bush to stand on while interviewing all these tall women. Shandi talked about her
children's book, "Fur Tales" which she said was inspired because she felt a need for stories about
helping to integrate people with differences like retardation and down syndrome. She stressed that
there weren't many books in elementary schools geared toward that subject and she was proud that
it was doing well and what she wanted it to do and it was integrated into a girl scout program. Don't
forget, it was "integrated." Shandi then said that the best thing about Missouri was that it is
the heart of America not only geographically but you can see it in the eyes and souls of Missouri's
citizens. Next came North Carolina who talked about meeting former president Jimmy Carter while with
the Habitats for Humanity program. She was impressed that he helped build a house swinging a hammer
just like the rest of them. When asked if sleep or exercise is more important, she said both and
threw in that she was the best multitasker and can go running at 11. When asked about any dramatic
moments between the girls, she said it was pretty good and humorously added that her earrings broke
and her gown fell apart and was held together with duct tape. Next up was Oklahoma, at which point
Billy demanded to get a phone book for him to stand on. She was asked what type of music she liked
and she said that was hard since she listens to everything except country. When asked if she felt
like a movie star in Hollywood, she said that she did at times and that security was cool. Not
exactly the strongest or most convincing interview possibly because she still seemed quite young in
spite of a tall body. Finally, South Carolina was asked about being a healing species advocate
which Amanda explained as taking stray dogs and stray children and bringing them together to teach
love and compassion. She also talked about bringing her teddy bear named Elvis along with her while
talking about her love for Elvis that she wanted to marry him, but she didn't know he was dead. And she
said, Elvis was alive (in the form of her teddy bear) and in her hotel room.
Finally, it came down to the final questions. Tennessee picked Missouri's question, "If you could
relive any moment of your past and change an aspect of it, what would it be?" This question
sounded quite similar to the Miss Universe 2001 final question. Tennessee said that she would
change nothing except the size of her feet because she hates saying she's a size 9. It was pretty
funny but she had pretty much sealed her fate after claiming she was new to pageants. Missouri was next
and chose North Carolina's question asking whether education or experience serves you better in life.
Without hesitation, Shandi said that you could have all the book knowledge in the world but to have the
knowledge from experience and knowledge from living each life...living each experience you gain more
knowledge than anything you could possibly read in a book. Miss Canada 95, Lana Buchberger also
spoke about experiencing life and the importance of education during the 1995 Miss Universe pageant
and this question reminded me of that. While it may have been a bit of a risky answer to choose
experience over education, she successfully incorporated the two by implying that education comes
from experience. North Carolina chose Susie Castillo's question which asked what one thing she would
take during her year as Miss USA. Ashley replied that she would take her 11-year-old sister Blair
since she is her sidekick/partner-in-crime and that she teaches her to live each day to the fullest
and would be a good role model for the journey of Miss USA. After that, they went to a shot of Blair
in the audience which reminded how much I miss the family shots of all of the proud parents during
the interviews. Oklahoma chose South Carolina's question which asked who in the world she would like
to have dinner with and what would they ask them. Lindsay said Justin Timberlake so that she could
teach her some dance moves and they could hang out and get to know each other. A lot of people
knocked Lindsay for saying something this 'teen' but she was totally being herself and honest.
Finally, South Carolina chose Tennessee's question asking if it was acceptable for celebrities to
voice their opinions on political issues. Amanda immediately said that it absolutely wasn't acceptable.
She said they should be given the same rights as us and that we voice our opinions by boting and they
should encourage us to vote. But then she said "and share opinions...so it's fine." It almost
seemed like a contradiction at the end but her point came across.
At the finale, Susie Castillo looked lovely as she bid us farewell and finally Tennessee was 4th runner up,
Oklahoma-3rd runner up, North Carolina-2nd runner up, South Carolina-1st runner up and Missouri was
proclaimed Miss USA 2004! One thing I really appreciated was that Billy actually said her name
"Shandi Finnessey" at the end which they never did in several recent pageants. But we could pretty much
see it coming. Shandi really did everything right and had the right look and so the door was open
for her to win. Let's see if Shandi becomes the USA's 8th Miss Universe.
BACK TO FRONT PAGE