Thank you for the kind comments! (Most of them anyway! LOL) I didn't know this video was on here until my husband mentioned it to me. Not my best performance. I had a few mistakes. I think that's acceptable considering the pressure I was under and the fact that I literally had tv cameras right in my face. I don't have my piano with me so I have not played in a while. However, the fingers are thankfully still in great shape!
I remember watching this performance and felt the emotion I still feel today when I hear it. I kick myself not connecting the dots when we worked together. I come watch this from time to time, amazing job.
One of the best piano performances I had seen in many years since I watched the pageant. I had remembered watching this pageant and Majorie Vincent playing this Chopin piece and it was simply amazing. I see why she not only won preliminary talent but also Miss America. She was also brilliant and smart as well.
I remember watching this live when I was 12 years old and just being completely stunned by her talent. I was in my 7th year of piano lessons by that time and this performance completely changed my mind about beauty pageants. I remembered she was from Illinois (and guessed at the year). The power of google is unbelievable. I sure hope Marjorie is still playing !!!
I watched this pagent as a little girl & I was only maybe 7 or so, so I remember very little, but always remembered this performance. I just was so mesmerized by her, I thought she was so beautiful & regal looking.
I met Marjorie the night she won. Although she wasn't a classic beauty, her talent and aura that night were out of this world. So whenever I think back and go "Marjorie Vincent Miss America WTF?!?!? " I just need to play this video. And that coat WAS out of this world. In person it looked very Liberace, but it's not showing as well on tv. The coat probably won her the title it made such an impact.
Liam Foreman i watched this pageant. My way of thinking was totally prejudicial. Miss Debbie Turner had won the precious yr. So i was actually watching in the beginning to see how many african american women were running that yr. It turned out she was the only one that yr. So at first i told myself , no she is not going to get it. But when i saw her talent and her ?ing her poised. It took me by storm. I knew than that she could not be denied. This was ine of my best miss american pageant. I loved her, i have never seen a better performance by a contestant on miss america till this date. She was amazing
i love watching this marg......i hope your doing fine all these years later ma'am......i'm in gary indiana and the city has went to the dogs....happy new year 2021
She plays as good as most famous pianists in 17th and 18th century. And with the very smart cocktail dress, just OH MY GOD!!! Like we say in French "Je suis sur le cul". I know why she won!
To xana and all others who confuse miss america as a beauty contest...it is and has always been a *talent contest* and may I say marjorie is the best they've ever had....
actually no it is not referred to as a talent contest, nor it is correct to say is "has always been" one. If you research about it on google, you will see that it started as a gimmick by local business, civic and political authorities to extend the summer business a few weeks past Labor day weekend, hence the pageant in almost every year until recently, being aired the second Saturday after Labor Day weekend, now the second Sunday after Labor Day. It was initially an "inner city bathing beauty" contest, separated into two groups, an amateur and a "professional" contest. The winners of the amateur group are now credited as being Miss America's. Talent was introduced as a part of the contest to give the event a more favorable reputation, sometime in the middle to late 1930's. The scholarships did not start until 1945. In general, the recognition it gained for being known as a "scholarship foundation" and/or "scholarship contest" came about several decades later, a good decade after the main sponsor Catalina swimwear, broke away and created Miss USA and Miss Universe as a beauty pageant. Then not until the talent portion performed the final night was scored as 50% of the final score did it begin to attract some truly amazing talented contestants, and instead of being known as a beauty pageant, was it acknowledged for and praised for both for the talent it brought and the scholarships for the sole purpose of continuing education or paying student loans for completed education expenses that it was giving away in large sums solely to women.
Great job - and you're right - that's immense pressure to perform under and the TV cameras would make it all the more difficult. I find the talent portion of the contest difficult to watch because I either think the performance is too simple (like the science experiment last year) or too flawed (and it ends up embarrassing the performer, especially singers when they sing out of tune). I also think the judges are usually ill-equipped to judge such a variety of performances and accurately determine the quality of each or the degree of difficulty. To me, MAO telecast should focus more on getting to know the candidates and select the top 3 scores (perhaps from prelims if prelims have qualified judges) to perform on TV night (announcing them). Pageants should be about celebrating women, not finding opportunities to mock them. (Sorry, I went on a bit of a rant). But you were very deserving of the win - MAO got it right that year! Congratulations!
I remember being very excited but stunned that she won. It had nothing to do with her looks, talent, or interview answer. I admit I just did not have that much faith in America at the time. I just could not believe 4 groups of judges in 2 years would admit a Black contestant was the best. One of those times when I like being wrong!!!
IT'S ASHAMED THAT "MISS AMERICA PAGENT HASN'T BEEN TELEVISED SINCE THE "PAGENT" MOVED LOCATION IN THE LATTER YEARS!!... ACTIONS ARE CRIMINAL!!!!(INTEGRETY HAS BEEN LOST!!...
talent was 50% of the final score until this year. the next year, the %age pf talent towards the final score went down, but its always always been THE VERY IMPORTANT PRELIM INTERVIEW WITH THE Judges THAT IS AND HAS BEEN KEY TO WINNING SINCE THE LATE 70'S- EARLY 80'S, THANKS IN PART TO A FORMER WINNER pushing for the always included interview to actually received a SCORE as part of the prelim composite score that determined the top 10 every year. the interview is essentially a job interview; if you can't impress on your toes with answers with 6 to 10 prelim judges in a 10 to 15 minute interview, you're NOT getting in the top 10, let alone winning. Because the winner has 12 months of sometimes 3 a day talks or press interviews a day. This essentially means, and in fact has happened numerous times, that someone who does not win a single prelim- either swim suit, or talent, or when they started doing evening gown and on stage interview prelims, and still have someone win. one example is Kylene Barker, '79, Leanza Cornett, '93. at the same time, there have been years when DOUBLE prelim winners have either not won a top 5 spot or won the whole thing. that happened to 2 girls in the same year- the 96 pageant when tara holland won. Miss Hawaii and Miss Oregon BOTH won their talent and swimsuit prelims, but Hawaii had a botched swimsuit issue night of finals and didnt make final 5, and Oregon, who was my choice for the win, was 2nd runner up. so thats why the winner can often be a mystery and cause confusion. in addition, the pageant has chosen to never announce or release the prelim interview scores. However, they still do give out best non finalist interview winner with a scholarship equal to or greater than talent. Talent has usually been twice the prize value of swimsuit. interview in the past i've seen as high as 2,500. that year, new york gave a GREAT on stage final night interview answer that she needed to answer in 20 seconds. it had NOTHING to with her platform issue, and was impressive- she knew her stuff. As for her winning- the one platform issue that remains a constant that each winner has to pursue on top of her separate chosen one is the Childrens Miracle Network- meaning, working with kids. getting down on the floor right in front of the judges and doing something that she could easily do on the spot in ANY childrens hospital- that was actually brilliant on her part, because again she is trying out for a job. do kids want to see a classical pianist or someone playing an easily relatable and entertaining cup game singing an upbeat tune? her prelim interview would have revealed to those same final night judges that she was a polyglot- she speaks fluently more than 3 languages, one included spanish, an increasingly emerging language among our populace in kids who may or may not speak that as their main language in some of those hospitals. But i knew she won the seconds after she finished that on stage interview question about sexual assault increase in the military. first, she paused at least 2 seconds considering her answer, answered it with the facts, knew name of the leading female senator heading the committee to bring make it easier for men or women to self report without fear of reprimand, and then at 20 seconds- her time limit, the camera goes right to Lee Merriwether, 80 yrs old that year and miss america '55 and you could just tell in Lee's smile that she was impressed and knew she just heard the newest one to join that "sorority". Lee usually has a great poker face.
Its a well known Chopin composition called Fantasie Impromptu. At some point in the middle 1900's, this made into a popular song "Always chasing rainbows" or something to that effect. I am not familiar with Tetris, but if the melodies sound similar, I wouldn't think you are correct, and likely to be the song version as opposed to the piano only piece!
What a fantastic performance! She may not have been the most beautiful contestant that evening but Marjorie easily won the title due to that talent alone, along with her strong interview as well.
YES! Her answer to that on stage evening gown/interview question that she gets from Phyllis George was THE best, IMO,far and above all others. Let alone her excellent fingering on display as seen above!
Thank you for the kind comments! (Most of them anyway! LOL) I didn't know this video was on here until my husband mentioned it to me. Not my best performance. I had a few mistakes. I think that's acceptable considering the pressure I was under and the fact that I literally had tv cameras right in my face. I don't have my piano with me so I have not played in a while. However, the fingers are thankfully still in great shape!
You did a fantastic job! congratulations on winning the Miss America title!
I remember watching this the very night it aired and how thrilled our family was to see you win! Flawless performance in my opinion.
Did not notice any mistakes at all. Fantastic job!
I remember watching this performance and felt the emotion I still feel today when I hear it. I kick myself not connecting the dots when we worked together. I come watch this from time to time, amazing job.
Stunning!
With her brains, beauty and talent...she had the pageant in the bag. An exceptional Miss America for sure.
This will always be my favorite MIss America performances. Such elegance.
One of mine too!
One of the best piano performances I had seen in many years since I watched the pageant. I had remembered watching this pageant and Majorie Vincent playing this Chopin piece and it was simply amazing. I see why she not only won preliminary talent but also Miss America. She was also brilliant and smart as well.
its really like watching someone making love to the piano! astounding with her fingering!
A beautiful woman with an amazing talent!!!! 🐔💯
I never forget the dress and the piano .
Outstanding.
One of the best Miss America talent performances to date. Amazing!!!
Agreed!
I totally agree!
Best Miss America talent ever. She is the real deal. Glad she won.
Stunning and Intelligent. I love it! Go ahead miss Illinois~
BEAUTIFUL 😍
I remember watching this live when I was 12 years old and just being completely stunned by her talent. I was in my 7th year of piano lessons by that time and this performance completely changed my mind about beauty pageants. I remembered she was from Illinois (and guessed at the year). The power of google is unbelievable. I sure hope Marjorie is still playing !!!
Wonderful performance. Beautiful, talented, smart and exemplary character.
Miss Americas' are no joke.
except for that one performace of Sarasate's Zapateado by Miss Mississippi
I used to perform this same piece when I competed. Thanks for posting it! Brings back memories.
spectacular lady awesome talent gorgeous miss america.
""""Own it, sealed the deal...... ✨✨✨Black girl magic ✨✨✨✨👏
#LivingBlackBarbieDolls
Yesssssss 💯 percent
I remember this proformance she killed it
Wow 😲😳
One of my favorite Chopin pieces! She did great!
I watched this pagent as a little girl & I was only maybe 7 or so, so I remember very little, but always remembered this performance. I just was so mesmerized by her, I thought she was so beautiful & regal looking.
That was amazing!
Damn she was awesome!~
AMAZING.
I met Marjorie the night she won. Although she wasn't a classic beauty, her talent and aura that night were out of this world. So whenever I think back and go "Marjorie Vincent Miss America WTF?!?!? " I just need to play this video.
And that coat WAS out of this world. In person it looked very Liberace, but it's not showing as well on tv. The coat probably won her the title it made such an impact.
Liam Foreman i watched this pageant. My way of thinking was totally prejudicial. Miss Debbie Turner had won the precious yr. So i was actually watching in the beginning to see how many african american women were running that yr. It turned out she was the only one that yr. So at first i told myself , no she is not going to get it. But when i saw her talent and her ?ing her poised. It took me by storm. I knew than that she could not be denied. This was ine of my best miss american pageant. I loved her, i have never seen a better performance by a contestant on miss america till this date. She was amazing
One of the best displays of talent in the history of the pagent!!
No doubt! Add her to Shani Nielsen, Terri Meeuwsen, Patricia Brandt, Helen Goldsby, Marisol Montalvo
Parker528 I would add her to Kellye Cash as well !
Smooth...🎶🎹
WOW GO GIRL...
Anyone who thinks this pageant should return to Atlantic City, RAISE YOUR HAND.
I just realized I know her so I came here to view. Beautiful talent with a personality to match..
Class act. I watched the night she won. She was the only Brown woman in the pageant. She was then crowned by a Black woman.
i love watching this marg......i hope your doing fine all these years later ma'am......i'm in gary indiana and the city has went to the dogs....happy new year 2021
GREAT ACCOMPLISHMENT MAJORY VINCENT,TOBOU COMBO MADE A SONG ABOUT YOU FOR BEING GREAT@ WHAT YOU 'VE DONE.
I see the comments and wonder how can anyone criticize this. Please. Give the girl her due.
She plays as good as most famous pianists in 17th and 18th century. And with the very smart cocktail dress, just OH MY GOD!!! Like we say in French "Je suis sur le cul". I know why she won!
❤️
Such grace and class! excuse the chicken! lol, typo
Compelling!!!!
To xana and all others who confuse miss america as a beauty contest...it is and has always been a *talent contest* and may I say marjorie is the best they've ever had....
actually no it is not referred to as a talent contest, nor it is correct to say is "has always been" one. If you research about it on google, you will see that it started as a gimmick by local business, civic and political authorities to extend the summer business a few weeks past Labor day weekend, hence the pageant in almost every year until recently, being aired the second Saturday after Labor Day weekend, now the second Sunday after Labor Day. It was initially an "inner city bathing beauty" contest, separated into two groups, an amateur and a "professional" contest. The winners of the amateur group are now credited as being Miss America's. Talent was introduced as a part of the contest to give the event a more favorable reputation, sometime in the middle to late 1930's. The scholarships did not start until 1945. In general, the recognition it gained for being known as a "scholarship foundation" and/or "scholarship contest" came about several decades later, a good decade after the main sponsor Catalina swimwear, broke away and created Miss USA and Miss Universe as a beauty pageant. Then not until the talent portion performed the final night was scored as 50% of the final score did it begin to attract some truly amazing talented contestants, and instead of being known as a beauty pageant, was it acknowledged for and praised for both for the talent it brought and the scholarships for the sole purpose of continuing education or paying student loans for completed education expenses that it was giving away in large sums solely to women.
@Parker528 Me too Parker ... major crush on Shani and sad when she didn't make top 5.
Great job - and you're right - that's immense pressure to perform under and the TV cameras would make it all the more difficult. I find the talent portion of the contest difficult to watch because I either think the performance is too simple (like the science experiment last year) or too flawed (and it ends up embarrassing the performer, especially singers when they sing out of tune). I also think the judges are usually ill-equipped to judge such a variety of performances and accurately determine the quality of each or the degree of difficulty. To me, MAO telecast should focus more on getting to know the candidates and select the top 3 scores (perhaps from prelims if prelims have qualified judges) to perform on TV night (announcing them). Pageants should be about celebrating women, not finding opportunities to mock them. (Sorry, I went on a bit of a rant). But you were very deserving of the win - MAO got it right that year! Congratulations!
@Parker528 Excuse me, but the pageant used to be held after Labor Day, not Memorial Day.
I remember being very excited but stunned that she won. It had nothing to do with her looks, talent, or interview answer. I admit I just did not have that much faith in America at the time. I just could not believe 4 groups of judges in 2 years would admit a Black contestant was the best. One of those times when I like being wrong!!!
My mom was on dance team with her!
So did she win
Yes!
IT'S ASHAMED THAT "MISS AMERICA PAGENT HASN'T BEEN
TELEVISED SINCE THE "PAGENT" MOVED LOCATION IN THE LATTER YEARS!!... ACTIONS ARE
CRIMINAL!!!!(INTEGRETY HAS BEEN LOST!!...
. miss america's talent this year involved a cup. and clapping. what the f happened?
talent was 50% of the final score until this year. the next year, the %age pf talent towards the final score went down, but its always always been THE VERY IMPORTANT PRELIM INTERVIEW WITH THE Judges THAT IS AND HAS BEEN KEY TO WINNING SINCE THE LATE 70'S- EARLY 80'S, THANKS IN PART TO A FORMER WINNER pushing for the always included interview to actually received a SCORE as part of the prelim composite score that determined the top 10 every year. the interview is essentially a job interview; if you can't impress on your toes with answers with 6 to 10 prelim judges in a 10 to 15 minute interview, you're NOT getting in the top 10, let alone winning. Because the winner has 12 months of sometimes 3 a day talks or press interviews a day. This essentially means, and in fact has happened numerous times, that someone who does not win a single prelim- either swim suit, or talent, or when they started doing evening gown and on stage interview prelims, and still have someone win. one example is Kylene Barker, '79, Leanza Cornett, '93. at the same time, there have been years when DOUBLE prelim winners have either not won a top 5 spot or won the whole thing. that happened to 2 girls in the same year- the 96 pageant when tara holland won. Miss Hawaii and Miss Oregon BOTH won their talent and swimsuit prelims, but Hawaii had a botched swimsuit issue night of finals and didnt make final 5, and Oregon, who was my choice for the win, was 2nd runner up. so thats why the winner can often be a mystery and cause confusion. in addition, the pageant has chosen to never announce or release the prelim interview scores. However, they still do give out best non finalist interview winner with a scholarship equal to or greater than talent. Talent has usually been twice the prize value of swimsuit. interview in the past i've seen as high as 2,500. that year, new york gave a GREAT on stage final night interview answer that she needed to answer in 20 seconds. it had NOTHING to with her platform issue, and was impressive- she knew her stuff. As for her winning- the one platform issue that remains a constant that each winner has to pursue on top of her separate chosen one is the Childrens Miracle Network- meaning, working with kids. getting down on the floor right in front of the judges and doing something that she could easily do on the spot in ANY childrens hospital- that was actually brilliant on her part, because again she is trying out for a job. do kids want to see a classical pianist or someone playing an easily relatable and entertaining cup game singing an upbeat tune? her prelim interview would have revealed to those same final night judges that she was a polyglot- she speaks fluently more than 3 languages, one included spanish, an increasingly emerging language among our populace in kids who may or may not speak that as their main language in some of those hospitals. But i knew she won the seconds after she finished that on stage interview question about sexual assault increase in the military. first, she paused at least 2 seconds considering her answer, answered it with the facts, knew name of the leading female senator heading the committee to bring make it easier for men or women to self report without fear of reprimand, and then at 20 seconds- her time limit, the camera goes right to Lee Merriwether, 80 yrs old that year and miss america '55 and you could just tell in Lee's smile that she was impressed and knew she just heard the newest one to join that "sorority". Lee usually has a great poker face.
HAHAHAH DIZ IZ A WIKID ORIGINAL INTERP. n da tech iz zolid thru out. REZPEC DIZ BIATCH!!!!
is'nt this song in Tetris? im being serious.
Its a well known Chopin composition called Fantasie Impromptu. At some point in the middle 1900's, this made into a popular song "Always chasing rainbows" or something to that effect. I am not familiar with Tetris, but if the melodies sound similar, I wouldn't think you are correct, and likely to be the song version as opposed to the piano only piece!
What a fantastic performance! She may not have been the most beautiful contestant that evening but Marjorie easily won the title due to that talent alone, along with her strong interview as well.
YES! Her answer to that on stage evening gown/interview question that she gets from Phyllis George was THE best, IMO,far and above all others. Let alone her excellent fingering on display as seen above!
Yup.. she wont this year