Miss America talks to KETV's Brandi Petersen
UPDATED 6:44 PM CDT May 29, 2016
The following is an excerpt from Brandi's blog, Anchor's Away.
Betty Cantrell is Miss America 2016. To anyone who thinks all beauty queens do is wave their hands and smile.. STEP BACK.
"A normal day for me is getting up super early, putting on a lot of makeup, making sure my hair looks nice, and doing a full day of events," Betty told me earlier this month. "Usually a full day is about 12 hours; I'm always ready to crash by the end of the day."
Betty's journey to Miss America started in 2013, when she entered a local pageant in her home state, hoping to become Miss Georgia. Betty finished as 1st or 2nd runner-up three times before winning a local title, and went on to place 2nd runner up at the 2014 Miss Georgia Pageant. Betty tried again just weeks later, becoming Miss Warner Robbins 2015. Representing her hometown, Betty was crowned Miss Georgia 2015, winning $15,000 in scholarship money and a ticket to compete at Miss America.
"I decided to begin competing in pageants for the scholarship opportunities offered by the Miss America Organization and because I love to sing and I really enjoyed competing in talent competitions," said Betty. "I just really loved everything this organization stood for: Scholarship, Service, Style and Success. (Those are the four points of the crown, the 4 S's.)"
Betty had less than three months to prepare for Miss America; she tells me she prepped the same as she did for Miss Georgia (just stressed out a little bit more.) Immediately, she caught the attention of the Twitterverse that follows Miss America, and everyone following the chatter at home, by winning one of only 3 preliminary talent awards with her powerful vocal performance of 'Tu? Tu? Piccolo iddio!' from Madama Butterfly.
"I loved winning preliminary talent at Miss America," said Betty. "If I hadn't won the competition, winning talent would have been enough for me. I love to perform, so being validated on my talent on a national level was amazing. I also made SOOO many friends at Miss America and I'm so grateful for those friendships because I know they will last forever."
FINALS NIGHT.. with approximately 7-million people watching across the country, Miss Georgia Betty Cantrell was crowned Miss America 2016. She is only the second Georgia representative to win the title, taking home $52,000 in scholarship money.
"I couldn't believe that I had just won," said Betty. "I was so thankful to the judges for picking me and for seeing through my imperfections. They saw that I'm the real deal and could be a good role model for young people everywhere."
Those 'imperfections'.... during her final moments before she won the title, Betty responded to a complicated question on stage regarding 'Deflategate', and had a minor trip in her evening gown.
First.. how many times have you tripped in the office, at the mall, or anywhere else... we all do it! (I'm amazed I haven't fallen down yet today..) Second.. all of the Top 7 finalists at this year's competition were put on the spot about some of the hottest topics and issues we face today. Regardless of how any of us think they answered, they had courage under fire, responding in front of 7-MILLION people!
Still, haters gonna hate.. and Betty (like many Miss Americas before her) faced almost immediate criticism that the judges made the wrong choice. Despite an overwhelming, and sometimes hateful social and mainstream media storm, Betty focused on her job and IMMEDIATELY got to work, ready to make a difference as Miss America 2016.
CLICK HERE to read Brandi's full interview with Miss America 2016 Betty Cantrell, including videos and photos from Betty.
The 2016 Miss Nebraska Scholarship Pageant takes place June 8-11 in North Platte, Nebraska. Learn more on their website or Facebook page. KETV's Brandi Petersen is co-hosting this year's pageant, the official state preliminary to Miss America.
http://www.ketv.com/news/miss-america-talks-to-ketvs-brandi-petersen/39782628
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