now known as Day Gardner, PhD. Currently has a radio show; from her talent here its no wonder that she is related to two nationally known singers - an uncle who was popular with Soul in the 60's and a 1st cousin who is mother to R & B singer known as Jaheim.
@@Parker528 Yep. She was also from NJ and lived about 30 minutes outside of AC. She was 2nd Runner-Up to Miss NJ the year before. I would have had her in top 5 over NY.
Phyllis George was (still is) such a beautiful Miss America 1971. It’s so nice to see her cohosting with Bert Parks. He only had less than 5 pageants left to host after this little did he know. Gary Collins would become host through much of the 80’s. Parks was dismissed in 1979.
6:52 and 1:38:08 Please! Bert...her name is NOT "Moron." Most contestants have spent multiple tries at their state pageants in order to win and be able to complete at Miss America. Dorothy (like Vanessa Williams in 1983) did it on her first win at the state pageant.
The announcement of the SF was quite interesting. You have SC called with loud applause. Then MN who is the favorite. And then PA who had the loudest applause followed by DE which was historic.
@@pageantsheyday Yes, in 1973, NJ was called with a roar and then PA was called which upped the crowd. In 1977, PA was called to a huge roar followed by Bert nearly singing NJ's Mary D'Arcy's name.
@@pageantsheyday bingo. exactly. Living within 2 hr drive from AC, only once have I been to the pageant, but yes, NJ, and PA plus often a couple southern states with large contingencies in convention hall were giving the loudest ovations. but thats not what wins in the end.
This pageant was the first ever and still only through 2020, in which the state title holders from all 3 states along the Delmarva peninsula make the top 10. (plus Pa to boot!)
@@renegaderunner332 that's very kind of you to say. I do not know of any. However, I can give you a name of a gentleman who I have seen often interviewed in various documentaries with regards to mainly the history of this pageant, perhaps he has one but that I'm not aware of? I believe, if I recall correctly, his name that was credited to him as Ric Ferencz. I may be wrong a bit in particular with the last two letters of his surname. Otherwise, I just get my info online through my own research.
@@johnorlando9839 thank you. appreciate that. will look into it. I should have replied I'm of course aware of the various autobiographies released after they won MA, written in whole or with help of a ghost writer, by former winners of the national program. I AM curious now and want to go in search on amazon of any sort of books that do give a decent in depth historical retrospective of the pageants history. as I may or may not have alluded to earlier, the MAO website, up until about 8 -10 years ago, had on it a "Community Hall" portion, which involved 5 or 6 categories. It was and still is my understanding that this portion of their website was looked over by or run, with MAO permission , by Mr Ric Ferencz.. I did learn a LOT of history on that site, as it encouraged not just anyone to enter info they had from first hand knowledge on state or national level contestants, to enter that info. also, every week Ric had a MAO history question of the week, usually a quote by a former winner, then once the first to answer correctly was announced, that person was acknowledged and then he sent that person some sort of "token" award via "snail mail". Also, this Ric is one of the main ppl who has been consistently interviewed in documentaries about this program, or at least two significant ones- the one which was a 2 hour show (the America Experience series) on pbs (includes interview clips of a wide range of ppl from Margaret Cho to Maryann Mobley). I have not been able to find it here on youtube. The other you can see here on youtube, it lasts one hour, running up to the Miss America 2006 pageant, the first when they go to Vegas. So if you or renegaderunner have not yet seen this, its pretty good. Just pull up as I have typed it Miss America 2006. not sure offhand if its in pageantshairday collection or another. let me know if you have trouble locating it. thanks for the heads up on books on amazon!! (I HAVE been in personal contact with the daughter of one of the most private ever winners, who never went back to AC after winning. Got fascinating info. Its a daughter of Colleen Hutchins- who was at the time the oldest winner, and until mid Deirdre Downs, the tallest winner. (she was well over 6 feet in short heels, stopping mid game two basketball games while entering: one at Penn's Palestra and the other at Madison Square Garden; 3 of her 4 kids became Olympians.).
the winner this year was sooo obvious. i was a child and even i got it right! but wish people wouldn't hate on miss sc. i still think lavenia cox is one of the most beautiful women to ever be in the map. its funny i name all my plants, love plants and map, after contestants. i have a palmetto palm named lavenia. one named sherry and kimberly. its state tree of sc. and yes my spelling sucks!
Miss Minnesota’s talent was the best in the history of the Miss America pageant. Maybe that’s why she won. Opera people must have been on the judging panel and pushed her to the top. She deserved it. Her singing should be taught in schools, how to sing an Italian aura right.
Dorothy had the complete package! While her talent is outstanding, there are equally talent opera singers who graced the Miss America stage, some never made Top 10. You can see the list of judges that year on Wikipedia- not opera heavy.
Notice how Bert says Miss PA's name twice. He knew PA people always packed Convention Hall. I'm sure Bert knew history was being made when he called Miss DE's name. Look at her strategic placement as 10th in the SF.
I noticed he changed the way he pronounced her LAST name, if thats what you are saying? thats a common thing I think, especially with a large population of Irish descendants on the east coast, and several surnames with varying pronunciations. some say "Mc Lock lin", some some say "Mc Loff Lin" and trust me, if you don''t get theirs correct, they'll let you know!!.
@@Parker528 I heard him pronounce her name the same both times. I think he said her name twice because she was the audience favorite. It's like he was saying to the audience, 'Hey, here she is,' and the audience would react, which they did. If you notice, SC's applause shrunk by SS time, but PA again drew the loudest.
@@Parker528 Bert at times flubbed the girls' names. In '73 he referred to Miss CA Susan Shipley as Susan Shirley. And I still am not sure about Miss America ,76, if it's Tawny Go-din or Gaw-dan! Then there was the time, also in '73, when he announced semifinalist Lesley Ann Mays as "Miss Wiswashington."
@@malcolmmarshall5946 My error, I listened again, and it was her LAST name he pronounced incorrectly. He said, Maria, and then he corrected and said Marie. I also believe he mispronounced Miss PA's name the following year when he called her into the Top 10. Her name was Lynne and he kept saying Linda.
the girls didn't have to wear the same gown in evening gown that they were announced in; and I think back then they also could switch to another gown for final 5 winners announcement. But if you mean that red sequined gown, she wears it in evening gown and then for final winners announcement.
Yes, and she looked beautiful in it. She stood out from the rest which I'm sure was planned. I thought her black gown in the beginning was terrific, too.
Watching this telecast, Dorothy Benham was the most attractive Miss America of all time. This competition wasn’t close. And she got big air time in the opening of the 1977 telecast the following year. The Let Em In with Bert Parks is still hysterical after these years. It was funny watching it live as a kid. Debby Ward who appeared in four Miss America telecasts, had a terrific voice. She was Miss Louisiana 1973 who was third runner up.
I thought Texas or South Carolina should've won, or maybe Delaware or North Dakota. Minnesota however looked stunning in that red gown and was an above average opera singer.
seriously? North Dakota??? Well, I'll just say it was a tough obstacle to overcome for everyone among top ten THIS night, and going into finals night, I'm sure the bets MUST have clearly been on the two double prelim winners. I believe that this is the ONLY year in which two double prelim winners finished between 2nd runner up and winner. Never before to my knowledge has that ever occurred, mostly because of how easy it is to find such rare occasions when there have been TWO double prelim winners in a year, let alone that also make top ten.
Interesting that you say Dorothy Benham was an above average opera singer. From what angle are you speaking as far as credentials and in terms of knowledge of her operatic background, ever since that pageant occurred but not only that but based on that performance that night? It's just intriguing that you would actually make that statement if you did not in fact know before making that statement just how much she's done in national performances and performed with that operatic voice that you are saying is above average. I think it's pretty spectacular. I'm having trouble even going back and listening to it and hearing where she's may be off key. So maybe perhaps you could give me some insight into your conclusion. Furthermore I'm still just having a lot of trouble with the North Dakota possibility of her being listed by your own right your right to free speech nonetheless but that she should have possibly been one of the winners. Let alone in the top five.
@@Parker528 Oops. I got the piano players in the pageant confused. I meant to say Miss Maryland, not North Dakota whom I feel came in a distant last place in talent. Regarding Dorothy Benham"s performance, well I noticed a richness to her vocals that is often missing from pageant opera singers, plus, she had excellent phrasing and enunciation, you could actually decipher the lyrics. Too many Miss America contestants doing opera sound like a wailing banshee, like many of the pageant pianists just bang on the keys furiously with little or no melody. I think Dorothy also must have done very well in the unseen judges' interview, she was quite articulate in her evening gown speech.
@@malcolmmarshall5946 agreed on The comments regarding yes specifically regarding Dorothy's performance here and that she probably did do well in the preliminary interview. And now it makes sense to me Yes I think that Miss Maryland I'm surprised actually that she was not in top five but then again you made a really vital an important point when you bring up the fact that you know there's that interview in the prelims that is never scored and the scores while they're scored but we don't ever find out how they're ranked. And that's basically a job interview. So that's why there are often many winners that are never a prelim winner
@@pageantsheyday excellent point! I think it's unfair to make the assumption that Nelsonhmhpub made above, ESPECIALLY since by then the prelim interviews importance in the preliminary composite score was in its earliest years, thanks to the lobbying efforts of Miss America 74 Rebecca King (reportedly). So no one ever knows exactly how well ANY of the top ten finalists did in their prelim interview as far as points wise against all others. Also, except for a few years in the early 2000's, for the longest time period, the public was NEVER made aware of how the contestants were scored in prelim evening gown. So any scores/marks and exactly how much weight in terms of percentage towards the overall prelim score for evening gown- that we will never know and can't look back at and play Monday morning quarterback. Delaware is my adopted home state now for over 25 years, so please don't take this in anyway as me being in disagreement with regards to his point as far as the now Dr Day Gardner having a solid reasoning for being in the top 5. It also may have had to do with politics, and finances for the MAO in terms of corporate sponsorships. The first ever African American to make top 5, Miss Arkansas the year Susan Powell won, IMHO, was horrendously underscored finals night and I still feel strongly deserved 2nd runner up.
@@Nelsonhmhpub You know that as an ACTUAL fact? Are they actually in fact all on record as being prejudicial in their judging? Or is it perhaps just a matter of the sign of the times more so and the fact that corporate sponsorships were needed in order to give out scholarships to the women and so the corporations could threaten to pull out. it may in fact have been the Miss America pageant organization more so than the judges that were practiced back then. So I would be very careful in making such a statement without any sort of strong solid well researched data that you can bring back to us.. That's a pretty harsh strong statement to make that needs to be backed up by factual well-researched data and quotes that can back up your claim. I'm not questioning where you are coming from, nor you're own right to an OPINION, BUT YOUR STATEMENT WAS NOT AN OPINION. AND THAT'S A REALLY BIG CRUCIAL THING THAT YOU NEED TO UNDERSTAND. So if you're going to make that sort of a statement you need to back it up with quotes and proof. Right here at now on this thread. Because otherwise that's an extremely inflammatory statement to make if you can't prove it.
I agree with having chosen Miss Minnesota (Dorothy Denham) as Miss America that year. Her voice was amazing, her red evening gown set her apart and her swimsuit look was extremely poise. She was called "Miss A-Miracle" because she kept her swimsuit body... even after having children. Debra Lipford was the first woman of color to make it into the Top10. My only gripe was that I thought Miss Pennsylvania (Marie McLaughlin) should have placed higher (1st Runner Up).
I think you're close but not exactly correct but I think the term that her Miss America sisters use when they referred to her starting maybe around like her fifth of the six kids that she had and she maintained that incredible frame, was something more like our Miss America Wonder woman or something like that. I know it's small and it's minutae, but You're just doesn't sound right If mine isn't wrong it's something similar for sure. The last time I think I saw her on stage she still looked just as good! Because she just celebrated her 40th anniversary and I think they acknowledged her at some point a couple of years ago during the pageant week
Miss Delaware is the first Black contestant to break into the Top 10
now known as Day Gardner, PhD. Currently has a radio show; from her talent here its no wonder that she is related to two nationally known singers - an uncle who was popular with Soul in the 60's and a 1st cousin who is mother to R & B singer known as Jaheim.
@@Parker528 Yep. She was also from NJ and lived about 30 minutes outside of AC. She was 2nd Runner-Up to Miss NJ the year before. I would have had her in top 5 over NY.
Black women were not going to place in the top 5 during that time. Top 10/15 yes, top 5 no. That would not change until the 1980s.
Miss Minnesota won both Miss America and Miss USA that year, and both were from the same Minneapolis suburb of Edina.
And Dorothy was far the better of the two.
What did they all do to their eyebrows 😮
Thanks for the upload. Played this tape repeatedly growing up as I was a huge George Phyllis fan & my mother went to school with Carmen.
I was 15- my next door neighbor was Lavinia Cox...our little town of 1200 in SC was so excited when she took 1st RU-
Phyllis George was (still is) such a beautiful Miss America 1971. It’s so nice to see her cohosting with Bert Parks. He only had less than 5 pageants left to host after this little did he know. Gary Collins would become host through much of the 80’s. Parks was dismissed in 1979.
Sadly, Miss George has passed away.
New York was in the miss USA pageant the year before and had worked on Broadway.
Tawny looks so different from when she won. Always lovely and intelligent. Dorothy Benham just lovely
Terry Alden, Miss Tennessee, is the sister of Ginger Alden, the woman reportedly the fiancee of Elvis Presley at the time of his death in 1977.
South Carolina was stunning...
Her hair was a helmet.
Obvious crowd favorite!
6:52 and 1:38:08 Please! Bert...her name is NOT "Moron." Most contestants have spent multiple tries at their state pageants in order to win and be able to complete at Miss America. Dorothy (like Vanessa Williams in 1983) did it on her first win at the state pageant.
The announcement of the SF was quite interesting. You have SC called with loud applause. Then MN who is the favorite. And then PA who had the loudest applause followed by DE which was historic.
It's GEO related. NJ PA DE usually get off the chain applause in AC.
@@pageantsheyday Yes, in 1973, NJ was called with a roar and then PA was called which upped the crowd. In 1977, PA was called to a huge roar followed by Bert nearly singing NJ's Mary D'Arcy's name.
@@pageantsheyday bingo. exactly. Living within 2 hr drive from AC, only once have I been to the pageant, but yes, NJ, and PA plus often a couple southern states with large contingencies in convention hall were giving the loudest ovations. but thats not what wins in the end.
And Miss DE was from Mullica Twsp NJ right outside of AC. She was runner up in NJ the previous year, so she had a large group in Convention Hall.
@@Parker528 Yes, that doesn't win in the end as PA unfortunately knows since 1954.
This pageant was the first ever and still only through 2020, in which the state title holders from all 3 states along the Delmarva peninsula make the top 10. (plus Pa to boot!)
You seem to be a pageant honcho. Do you have any books you can suggest on the pageant?
@@renegaderunner332 that's very kind of you to say. I do not know of any. However, I can give you a name of a gentleman who I have seen often interviewed in various documentaries with regards to mainly the history of this pageant, perhaps he has one but that I'm not aware of?
I believe, if I recall correctly, his name that was credited to him as Ric Ferencz. I may be wrong a bit in particular with the last two letters of his surname.
Otherwise, I just get my info online through my own research.
You are welcomed. I came across several on Amazon.com. You might be interested in them. You should check them out.
@@renegaderunner332 There are several books written about the MA pageant. Just do a search and you'll see a list.
@@johnorlando9839 thank you. appreciate that. will look into it. I should have replied I'm of course aware of the various autobiographies released after they won MA, written in whole or with help of a ghost writer, by former winners of the national program. I AM curious now and want to go in search on amazon of any sort of books that do give a decent in depth historical retrospective of the pageants history. as I may or may not have alluded to earlier, the MAO website, up until about 8 -10 years ago, had on it a "Community Hall" portion, which involved 5 or 6 categories. It was and still is my understanding that this portion of their website was looked over by or run, with MAO permission , by Mr Ric Ferencz.. I did learn a LOT of history on that site, as it encouraged not just anyone to enter info they had from first hand knowledge on state or national level contestants, to enter that info. also, every week Ric had a MAO history question of the week, usually a quote by a former winner, then once the first to answer correctly was announced, that person was acknowledged and then he sent that person some sort of "token" award via "snail mail". Also, this Ric is one of the main ppl who has been consistently interviewed in documentaries about this program, or at least two significant ones- the one which was a 2 hour show (the America Experience series) on pbs (includes interview clips of a wide range of ppl from Margaret Cho to Maryann Mobley). I have not been able to find it here on youtube. The other you can see here on youtube, it lasts one hour, running up to the Miss America 2006 pageant, the first when they go to Vegas. So if you or renegaderunner have not yet seen this, its pretty good. Just pull up as I have typed it Miss America 2006. not sure offhand if its in pageantshairday collection or another. let me know if you have trouble locating it. thanks for the heads up on books on amazon!! (I HAVE been in personal contact with the daughter of one of the most private ever winners, who never went back to AC after winning. Got fascinating info. Its a daughter of Colleen Hutchins- who was at the time the oldest winner, and until mid Deirdre Downs, the tallest winner. (she was well over 6 feet in short heels, stopping mid game two basketball games while entering: one at Penn's Palestra and the other at Madison Square Garden; 3 of her 4 kids became Olympians.).
the winner this year was sooo obvious. i was a child and even i got it right! but wish people wouldn't hate on miss sc. i still think lavenia cox is one of the most beautiful women to ever be in the map. its funny i name all my plants, love plants and map, after contestants. i have a palmetto palm named lavenia. one named sherry and kimberly. its state tree of sc. and yes my spelling sucks!
Miss Minnesota’s talent was the best in the history of the Miss America pageant. Maybe that’s why she won. Opera people must have been on the judging panel and pushed her to the top. She deserved it. Her singing should be taught in schools, how to sing an Italian aura right.
Dorothy had the complete package! While her talent is outstanding, there are equally talent opera singers who graced the Miss America stage, some never made Top 10. You can see the list of judges that year on Wikipedia- not opera heavy.
did carmen mc just say we hold our fort worth pageant in texas?
Yes she did and thus a 2nd RU placement.
Notice how Bert says Miss PA's name twice. He knew PA people always packed Convention Hall. I'm sure Bert knew history was being made when he called Miss DE's name. Look at her strategic placement as 10th in the SF.
I noticed he changed the way he pronounced her LAST name, if thats what you are saying? thats a common thing I think, especially with a large population of Irish descendants on the east coast, and several surnames with varying pronunciations. some say "Mc Lock lin", some some say "Mc Loff Lin" and trust me, if you don''t get theirs correct, they'll let you know!!.
@@Parker528 I heard him pronounce her name the same both times. I think he said her name twice because she was the audience favorite. It's like he was saying to the audience, 'Hey, here she is,' and the audience would react, which they did. If you notice, SC's applause shrunk by SS time, but PA again drew the loudest.
@@Parker528 Bert at times flubbed the girls' names. In '73 he referred to Miss CA Susan Shipley as Susan Shirley. And I still am not sure about Miss America ,76, if it's Tawny Go-din or Gaw-dan! Then there was the time, also in '73, when he announced semifinalist Lesley Ann Mays as "Miss Wiswashington."
@@malcolmmarshall5946 My error, I listened again, and it was her LAST name he pronounced incorrectly. He said, Maria, and then he corrected and said Marie. I also believe he mispronounced Miss PA's name the following year when he called her into the Top 10. Her name was Lynne and he kept saying Linda.
26:50. Come on, this is the real reason you're here.
Did Dorothy wear the first all sparkling gown in the top 10 ever?
the girls didn't have to wear the same gown in evening gown that they were announced in; and I think back then they also could switch to another gown for final 5 winners announcement. But if you mean that red sequined gown, she wears it in evening gown and then for final winners announcement.
Yes, and she looked beautiful in it. She stood out from the rest which I'm sure was planned. I thought her black gown in the beginning was terrific, too.
Dorothy
58:10
Watching this telecast, Dorothy Benham was the most attractive Miss America of all time. This competition wasn’t close. And she got big air time in the opening of the 1977 telecast the following year. The Let Em In with Bert Parks is still hysterical after these years. It was funny watching it live as a kid. Debby Ward who appeared in four Miss America telecasts, had a terrific voice. She was Miss Louisiana 1973 who was third runner up.
Dorothy Benham had a great voice , pretty but with pronounced upper teeth.
I always thought Debbie Ward of Louisiana should've won in '73.
I thought Texas or South Carolina should've won, or maybe Delaware or North Dakota. Minnesota however looked stunning in that red gown and was an above average opera singer.
Interesting
seriously? North Dakota??? Well, I'll just say it was a tough obstacle to overcome for everyone among top ten THIS night, and going into finals night, I'm sure the bets MUST have clearly been on the two double prelim winners. I believe that this is the ONLY year in which two double prelim winners finished between 2nd runner up and winner. Never before to my knowledge has that ever occurred, mostly because of how easy it is to find such rare occasions when there have been TWO double prelim winners in a year, let alone that also make top ten.
Interesting that you say Dorothy Benham was an above average opera singer. From what angle are you speaking as far as credentials and in terms of knowledge of her operatic background, ever since that pageant occurred but not only that but based on that performance that night? It's just intriguing that you would actually make that statement if you did not in fact know before making that statement just how much she's done in national performances and performed with that operatic voice that you are saying is above average. I think it's pretty spectacular. I'm having trouble even going back and listening to it and hearing where she's may be off key. So maybe perhaps you could give me some insight into your conclusion. Furthermore I'm still just having a lot of trouble with the North Dakota possibility of her being listed by your own right your right to free speech nonetheless but that she should have possibly been one of the winners. Let alone in the top five.
@@Parker528 Oops. I got the piano players in the pageant confused. I meant to say Miss Maryland, not North Dakota whom I feel came in a distant last place in talent. Regarding Dorothy Benham"s performance, well I noticed a richness to her vocals that is often missing from pageant opera singers, plus, she had excellent phrasing and enunciation, you could actually decipher the lyrics. Too many Miss America contestants doing opera sound like a wailing banshee, like many of the pageant pianists just bang on the keys furiously with little or no melody. I think Dorothy also must have done very well in the unseen judges' interview, she was quite articulate in her evening gown speech.
@@malcolmmarshall5946 agreed on The comments regarding yes specifically regarding Dorothy's performance here and that she probably did do well in the preliminary interview. And now it makes sense to me Yes I think that Miss Maryland I'm surprised actually that she was not in top five but then again you made a really vital an important point when you bring up the fact that you know there's that interview in the prelims that is never scored and the scores while they're scored but we don't ever find out how they're ranked. And that's basically a job interview. So that's why there are often many winners that are never a prelim winner
the thumbnail is so fucking creepy
All white Judges, so the first Black girl to make it in the Top 10 did not have a chance to make it in the Top 5 despite being excellent
I don't think that mattered - it was a strong top 5. In 1983, all white judges and the top 2 were black.
@@pageantsheyday The white judges in 1983 were not prejudice unlike 1976
@@pageantsheyday excellent point! I think it's unfair to make the assumption that Nelsonhmhpub made above, ESPECIALLY since by then the prelim interviews importance in the preliminary composite score was in its earliest years, thanks to the lobbying efforts of Miss America 74 Rebecca King (reportedly). So no one ever knows exactly how well ANY of the top ten finalists did in their prelim interview as far as points wise against all others. Also, except for a few years in the early 2000's, for the longest time period, the public was NEVER made aware of how the contestants were scored in prelim evening gown. So any scores/marks and exactly how much weight in terms of percentage towards the overall prelim score for evening gown- that we will never know and can't look back at and play Monday morning quarterback. Delaware is my adopted home state now for over 25 years, so please don't take this in anyway as me being in disagreement with regards to his point as far as the now Dr Day Gardner having a solid reasoning for being in the top 5. It also may have had to do with politics, and finances for the MAO in terms of corporate sponsorships. The first ever African American to make top 5, Miss Arkansas the year Susan Powell won, IMHO, was horrendously underscored finals night and I still feel strongly deserved 2nd runner up.
@@Nelsonhmhpub You know that as an ACTUAL fact? Are they actually in fact all on record as being prejudicial in their judging? Or is it perhaps just a matter of the sign of the times more so and the fact that corporate sponsorships were needed in order to give out scholarships to the women and so the corporations could threaten to pull out. it may in fact have been the Miss America pageant organization more so than the judges that were practiced back then. So I would be very careful in making such a statement without any sort of strong solid well researched data that you can bring back to us.. That's a pretty harsh strong statement to make that needs to be backed up by factual well-researched data and quotes that can back up your claim. I'm not questioning where you are coming from, nor you're own right to an OPINION, BUT YOUR STATEMENT WAS NOT AN OPINION. AND THAT'S A REALLY BIG CRUCIAL THING THAT YOU NEED TO UNDERSTAND. So if you're going to make that sort of a statement you need to back it up with quotes and proof. Right here at now on this thread. Because otherwise that's an extremely inflammatory statement to make if you can't prove it.
I would have given her 4th or 3rd runner up. She was talented, dont think the choice to perform her song somewhat manically would play well here tho.
I agree with having chosen Miss Minnesota (Dorothy Denham) as Miss America that year. Her voice was amazing, her red evening gown set her apart and her swimsuit look was extremely poise. She was called "Miss A-Miracle" because she kept her swimsuit body... even after having children. Debra Lipford was the first woman of color to make it into the Top10. My only gripe was that I thought Miss Pennsylvania (Marie McLaughlin) should have placed higher (1st Runner Up).
I think you're close but not exactly correct but I think the term that her Miss America sisters use when they referred to her starting maybe around like her fifth of the six kids that she had and she maintained that incredible frame, was something more like our Miss America Wonder woman or something like that. I know it's small and it's minutae, but You're just doesn't sound right If mine isn't wrong it's something similar for sure. The last time I think I saw her on stage she still looked just as good! Because she just celebrated her 40th anniversary and I think they acknowledged her at some point a couple of years ago during the pageant week