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The thing is they had to be funny in the first place! :p</p>
<p>I agree with, musica. Bad opera trumps bad comedy. Bad comedy is just painful.</p>
<p>@mini What does classical dance pertain to? Have you studied every dance type out there?</p>
<p>No. Just Indian (as an accompaniest). Specifically (and only) Bharat Natyam. A very, very long time ago.</p>
<p>Anyway, she billed it as “classical fusion”. I expect because she thought (quite rightly, I think) that the audience (and judges) weren’t ready for what she actually knew (classical), and so went out to the west coast to learn another shtick (for which she probably spent thousands) that she believed would work. And it did. Miss Kansas was equally courageous (and, it seems, with a much smaller budget and less time), and it didn’t. Doesn’t mean much in either case. Miss New York will never be a Bollywood dancer, and Miss Kansas will never be an opera singer. That’s showbiz.</p>
<p>mini - as you know, if someone knows bharatha natyam, they can just wing the Bollywood dances. People are too easily impressed by the fancy stuff.</p>
<p>I think the problem with doing classical stuff is there are many experts. I am sure Joshua Bell was equally detrimental to Ms. Kansas.</p>
<p>@mini Oh, ok. When you said classical dance, ballet of some sort came to mind and I though, “What would she know about Bollywood dancing”. Now, I am aware that you have studied this type of dance.</p>
<p>Take it easy on the contestants. It’s a beauty pageant guys not an audition for the lead or even supporting role at the Met Opera or Broadway or a world-renowned dance troupe. Although, I must admit I wish I had ear plugs on during Ms. Vail’s debut performance as an “opera singer”.</p>
<p>Mini, what do you think of this Bollywood routine I saw back in SYTYCD 2008 season? I thought it was pretty impressive. [SYTYCD4</a> - Katee & Joshua - Bollywood (Dhoom Taana) [HD] - YouTube](<a href=“SYTYCD4 - Katee & Joshua - Bollywood (Dhoom Taana) [HD] - YouTube”>SYTYCD4 - Katee & Joshua - Bollywood (Dhoom Taana) [HD] - YouTube)</p>
<p>[Ice</a> Skating to bollywood music… [HQ].mp4 - YouTube](<a href=“- YouTube”>- YouTube)</p>
<p>This is an acceptable level of difficulty. :p</p>
<p>I thought the show, overall, was very entertaining and very different from My Mother’s Miss America Pageant. (Or even anything I used to watch when I was a teenager/in my twenties.) I thought it moved quickly, was fairly “modern,” and made some of the “girls” into real people. I watched it for the full two hours and have no regrets.</p>
<p>But that’s just me. ;)</p>
<p>Did anyone catch the interview with the out-going Miss America when she talked about having to diet for the competition? She’s 5’ 6" and she said when she won Miss NY she weighed 158 pounds. She knew she had to get thinner for the Miss America swimsuit competition and she did, but then right after that she put the weight back on. She was no skinny-mini at Sunday night’s pageant – she was a normal, healthy-looking girl.</p>
<p>Very happy-and the new Miss America has been criticized for calling the outgoing Miss America “fat as f**k”. This occurred prior to the pageant and she has apologized.</p>
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<p>That is not exactly accurate. It was reported that after the Miss New York competition a contestant heard those remaks and recorded them. It was determined that it was not her but one of her supporters. It was fully investigated and she was cleared of any wrongdoing. She apologized to the outgoing Miss America for the situation, but not for saying something she didn’t say.</p>
<p>Talent, if you don’t have one, can be an issue. Back in the day (when I watched Miss America religiously - I’m guessing in the 60s) there was a contestant who demonstrated packing a suitcase properly as her talent. I don’t think she won.</p>
<p>Hmmm, so to truly see if Miss Kansas’ opera was as ear bleed inducing as people made it sound, I watched it. There were moments it which she sounded ok. Other movement in which you could tell she couldn’t perform well. On the bright side, her video did bring me to The Phantom of the Opera’s “Music of the Night”. Now, that’s spme nice sounding opera!</p>
<p>Phantom of the Opera is not opera. Lovely, but not opera.</p>
<p>Close enough!</p>
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<p>The “racial stuff” was present and in many ways…much more blatantly ugly and more widely accepted back in the day even with the ever present emphasis on America being the “melting pot”. </p>
<p>Some older friends who came of age in the '50s and '60s as racial/ethnic minorities recounted much worse instances of bullying and harassment not only from their classmates, but even from other parents and teachers/admins. </p>
<p>And I’ve not included some horror stories from older neighbors who grew up in the American South during the height of Jim Crow. </p>
<p>The melting pot idea was still being taught while I was being bullied in first and second grade back in the early '80s for being one of only 2 Asian-American kids in a NYC Catholic school dominated mostly by White and Hispanic kids…until I decided to fight back and stone one of the bullies as a 6 year old second grader. At least the Principal and teachers were on my side, but weren’t able to “get anything” on the bullies until that day when the principal read the riot act to the parents of the bully who were COMPLAINING about my fighting back. My older friends didn’t have that. </p>
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<p>It is not about giving the racist ignoramuses a platform so much as shining a bright light to expose the level of racism and the fact such ignoramuses exist in some numbers even in 2013. While the US has made much progress in the last several decades, those tweets along with recent incidents like the unjust* police shooting in North Carolina of a Black man who was trying to seek help after a traffic accident. </p>
<p>While many would prefer this to be swept under the rug, I’m more of the view of someone who once said the best form of disinfectant is to expose these ignoramuses to the harsh bright shining light so we as an entire society and see them for who they are and to judge them as we see fit. </p>
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<li>[N.C</a>. police officer charged with fatal shooting of unarmed man due in court - U.S. News](<a href=“U.S. News: Latest Breaking Stories, Video, and Photos on American Politics, Economy, and Society | NBC News”>U.S. News: Latest Breaking Stories, Video, and Photos on American Politics, Economy, and Society | NBC News)</li>
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<p>I did not watch the show, but after reading this thread I looked up the Irish Dancing of Miss Connecticut. That was excellent. I did Irish dancing for 10 years (8-18) and she is the real deal. You can’t dance at that level and only pick it up in the past year.</p>
<p>I didn’t watch, either, but I just looked up a few performances on youtube. I agree, nj2011mom, the Irish dancer was spectacular! Clearly, she has a great deal of training. I also watched the ballet dancer, Miss California. She was beautiful, but her performance was content-free! Not one step! All she did was bourree around en pointe, moving her arms gracefully. She did an attitude and a couple of arabesques, but at an angle so that they couldn’t be seen. </p>
<p>I thought Ms. Kansas had a very good voice, but not for that piece. It’s too bad she didn’t sing something more suitable, because it could have been one of the better performances. Instead, it was awful.</p>