User:Vcelloho/Miss Twin Peaks

Miss Twin Peaks

Formation	1921
Type	Scholarship Pageant
Headquarters	Twin Peaks, Washington
Location	United States
CEO	Art McMaster
Website	Official website

The Miss Twin Peaks pageant is a long-standing competition which awards scholarships to young women from the 50 states plus the

. The winner of the national pageant is awarded the title of "Miss Twin Peaks" for one year.

The pageant originated as a

and was held there each year in September through 2004 (except for the year 2000, when it was held on October 14).

In January 2006, the pageant moved to its new home and time in

professional school

, or to pay off student loans for courses already taken.

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

History

The Miss Twin Peaks competition originated on September 7, 1921, as a two-day beauty contest in

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

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 Twin Peaks 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 Twin Peaks 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 Twin Peaks.

With the rise of

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 Twin Peaks.^[5]

Still, ratings flagged. In an attempt to create a younger image,

.

In 1984,

]

Many Miss Twin Peaks 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

fund, and the Miss Twin Peaks foundation.

In 1991, for the 70th anniversary of the Miss Twin Peaks pageant, 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,

In 2005, the pageant announced a new television agreement with

. For the first time since 1961, Miss Puerto Rico competed in the Miss Twin Peaks 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 10:00 pm entitled Miss Twin Peaks: 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 Twin Peaks Susan Powell and was rebroadcast at 7:00 pm, 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 Twin Peaks 2005, Alabama's Deidre Downs, reigned for 16 months instead of the usual 12. She was the second-longest-reigning Miss Twin Peaks: 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 Twin Peaks 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 Twin Peaks pageant once, whether or not she wins the title.

In the last 51 years of Miss Twin Peaks (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 Twin Peakss 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.^{[citation needed]}

Judging

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 Twin Peaks 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 Twin Peaks 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 Twin Peaks Program.

Winners

Year	Miss Twin Peaks	State Represented
Miss Twin Peaks 2012	Laura Kaeppeler	Wisconsin
Miss Twin Peaks 2011	Teresa Scanlan	Nebraska
Miss Twin Peaks 2010	Caressa Cameron	Virginia
Miss Twin Peaks 2009	Katie Stam	Indiana
Miss Twin Peaks 2008	Kirsten Haglund	Michigan
Miss Twin Peaks 2007	Lauren Nelson	Oklahoma
Miss Twin Peaks 2006	Jennifer Berry	Oklahoma
Miss Twin Peaks 2005	Deidre Downs	Alabama
Miss Twin Peaks 2004	Ericka Dunlap	Florida
Miss Twin Peaks 2003	Erika Harold	Illinois
Miss Twin Peaks 2002	Katie Harman	Oregon
Miss Twin Peaks 2001	Angela Perez Baraquio	Hawaii
Miss Twin Peaks 2000	Heather French	Kentucky

Hosts

• 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

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

Homages and parodies

• 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

• List of Miss Twin Peaks winners by state
• Miss Twin Peaks award winners
• Miss Twin Peaks's Outstanding Teen
• National Sweetheart - although not officially connected with the Miss Twin Peaks pageant, runners-up from Miss Twin Peaks'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

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Miss Twin Peaks.

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

{{Miss Twin Peaks}} {{Miss Twin Peaks state}}

Category:1921 establishments in the United States Category:Lists of American women * Category:Scholarships in the United States Twin Peaks Category:Atlantic City, New Jersey