Miss America 2015 Kira Kazantsev

For a third year in a row, Miss New York has been crowned Miss America!  On Sunday, September 14th, Kira Kazantsev became the third contestant in a row from New York state to be crowned Miss America.  Overall, Ms. Kazantsev’s performance was good, but not stellar compared to some of her other competition, particularly in the talent portion.

Here is my post-Miss America wrap-up:

• Miss Massachusetts did not deserve her Top 5 placement. While her talent was solid, her attitude was not.  Her name dropping all night long was unimpressive.  And the whole “Call me Dr. Massachusetts” thing that she kept repeating over and over was really annoying.  I was relieved when she was called 4th runner up.
• Miss Mississippi was robbed of the Top 5 given her talent.  She can sing better than anyone I ever heard at a Miss America pageant having been in the Top 15 on American Idol.  During the talent portion, she was head and shoulders above the rest and it showed.  Judging by social media, I’m not alone in my reaction.
• Miss Florida gave a wonderful and memorable response to the Ray Rice controversy.  I thought she had a good shot at the crown.
• Miss Tennessee should have made the Top 5.  Her gown presentation was gorgeous and I believe she would have responded well to the onstage question.
• The production value was quite high.  The stage was stunning.  The host were unobtrusive and there was no onstage band overshadowing the contestants.  All-in-all, it was a wonderful show.