The Road to Miss America

Great! But where do you start?

The road to the big show is actually quite long. The women who will take the Miss America stage begin their journeys at local competitions that are sanctioned by the Miss America Organization (MAO). These locals are either closed, which means only young women who live, work or go to school in the areas in which they are held are eligible to compete, or open, which means any young woman who lives, works or goes to school in the state may enter.

Winners of local pageants then move on to the state level. In some states, sweeps pageants are held. These are opportunities for young women who were runners-up at local pageants to compete again and possibly win a title.

The winners of the state pageants are the women you see at Miss America in January.

How are they scored?

The Miss America Organization has hard and fast scoring guidelines. As the local, state and national competitions begin, all contestants are on an even playing field.

They compete in five areas: Talent, which is worth 35 percent of their total score; personal, private interviews with the judges, which counts for 25 percent; evening wear, which is worth 20 percent; lifestyle and fitness in swimsuit, which is worth 15 percent; and an impromptu onstage question worth 5 percent. The judges score the contestants on a scale of 1 to 10 in each category, using only whole numbers.

At local programs, the winners and runners-up are announced out of the entire group of contestants. At state competitions, the field is narrowed down to a Top 10, and those women compete again in swimsuit and evening gown. At the national level, the first cut of the field is to a Top 15, who compete again in swimsuit.

Moving on at the state level

After the Top 10 has competed, they are scored and the Top 5 are named. Once this happens, all their scores go back to zero. The Top 5 contestants are now listed on what is referred to as the final ballot. All their names are listed on ballots that are handed to each of the judges.

The final thing the Top 5 women do before a winner is announced is answer a random onstage question. When this is completed, the judges rank the women in the order they believe they should finish, and the winner and order of runners-up are chosen based on those rankings.

Moving on at the national level

The Top 15 semi-finalists at MAO nationals compete again in swimsuit and are scored. From these scores, the Top 10 are announced. Those women move on and compete again and are scored in evening wear; those scores determine who the Top 5 finalists are.

Once the Top 5 are selected, the judges are given final ballot forms. Before they are filled out, the Top 5 finalists all perform their talents and answer an onstage question. After this, the judges fill out their final ballots, and the winner is announced.

A closer look at the final ballot

The process of the final ballot is explained to the judges before the pageant even starts. Judges are well aware that once the initial competitions are over and the auditors have determined who the finalists are, everyone starts back at the beginning and prior performances are not to be considered. Judges are also allowed to look over the final ballot form before the competition so they are familiar with it.

The final ballot is broken down into points. Each first place vote a contestant receives is worth 10 points; second place 5 points, third place 3 points, fourth place 2 points and fifth place 1 point. These points alone decide who the winner of an MAO competition will be.

In essence, the final ballot means that the person who did the best in talent or evening gown is not necessarily going to be the winner of the pageant. As long as a contestant can score enough points during the competition to make it to the Top 5, she still has a shot at the crown, even if she enters the finals in fifth place.

How fair is it?

Scoring MAO pageants, from the local to national level, is serious business.

The point totals are required to be run through auditors, and are checked and re-checked so there is virtually no room for error.