Exclusive! Laura Marano, Flip Phone User and 'Miss Congeniality' Superfan, Is Judging Miss America

Lindzi ScharfAugust 22, 2016

Laura Marano Miss America

You heard it here first: Laura Marano is joining the judges’ panel at this year’s Miss America competition, which will be held at Atlantic City’s Boardwalk Hall and will be broadcast live on Sunday, Sept. 11, at 9 p.m. ET/PT on ABC.

The former Austin & Ally star will be in good company alongside fellow judges entrepreneur Mark Cuban, VH1 star Sara Foster, singer-songwriter Cole Swindell, former Miss America Sharlene Wells Hawkes, and — as of today’s news — Olympic gymnast Gabby Douglas.

Yahoo Style caught up with Marano to get the scoop on why she’s excited to get involved with the pageant, what she’ll be looking for from contestants, her advice to Douglas and others on handling social media bullies, and what fans can expect from her upcoming album and clothing line.

Yahoo Style: What made you want to get involved with the Miss America pageant?

Laura Marano: I am so excited. You have no idea. When I found out a month ago, I was freaking out. I’m going to be honest. Miss Congeniality is one of my favorite movies. Ever since watching it, I’ve been more and more obsessed with beauty pageants because of the aspect that it’s not just a beauty pageant. It’s more about the overall character of these awesome ladies. What I love about it is that idea of giving back and how these ladies are talking about social platforms that are important to them and important to the rest of us.

How are you preparing? Have you been watching old pageants? Or rewatching Miss Congeniality?

It’s an awesome panel of judges this year. It’s a very diverse group from all walks of life. For me, how I’m preparing — of course, I’m watching Miss Congeniality every day, because what else are you supposed to do but watch Sandra Bullock?

You’ll be asked to evaluate the contestants’ performances based on the following categories: Lifestyle and Fitness in Swimwear, Evening Wear, Talent, Interview, and Onstage Questions. But what will you personally be looking for in a winner?

I’m going to be looking for a couple things. One: passion. Passion about the platforms that the girls are interested in and talking about. I want to see that they’re really passionate about it and why are they passionate about it. Second of all, I think eloquence is an important thing when you’re talking about important things. It’s important to be able to communicate with the mass majority.

What advice do you have for the contestants?

Keep in mind, I haven’t been a part of pageants before, so I feel there are definitely things I’m going to be learning as well as being a judge. But the one thing I can speak about is talking about things you care about to people who may or may not be listening and how you get them to listen. Any advice I would give them is to be short, concise, and meaningful with anything you say. It’s very easy to ramble. It’s very easy to not make a clear point sometimes. The best thing is to know what you’re going to say and find a meaningful way of saying it.

Will you get a chance to meet any of the contestants ahead of time?

I don’t know actually. I’m hoping I can meet them beforehand, because I really want to. I’m crossing my fingers I’ll get to meet them.

What are your thoughts on Erin O’Flaherty, the first openly gay Miss America contestant? 

It’s awesome. Listen, Miss America and any of these competitions are about diversity and are about showing the true look of what America is about. America is all about diversity. I think it’s absolutely awesome that we’re going to have our first openly gay Miss America contestant.

How do your peers view pageants? Are they considered empowering?

I think it’s how each individual pageant handles themselves. For me, there are some pageants out there that are really empowering to women and are really empowering to my generation. My generation is the social media generation. We’re the generation that loves bringing awareness to so many different awesome things. That’s a really cool aspect of pageants — that they can bring awareness to things that you might not know about. I do think that sometimes, depending on the pageant, there’s been the connotation of being “just a beauty contest.” The way Miss America handles it is awesome. It’s more about the different things the girls are saying and talking about that makes it more about their leadership skills and their character. That’s when it becomes more empowering. It’s not just, “Look how they look in a bathing suit,” which sometimes, hey, if you look good in a bathing suit, you should flaunt it too. That’s not a problem either.

https://www.yahoo.com/style/laura-marano-is-judging-miss-america-with-gabby-douglas-112122461.html