Miss America 2000 - Heather Renee French, Kentucky - Entertainment - http://maxpages.com/beautypageants/Miss_America

Photo Above of Miss Kentucky, Heather Renee French, courtesy of the Miss America Organization.

Miss America Pageant Comes to a end:

Donny and Marie Osmond were very entertaining hosts. Though, I think that the singing portion that Donny did was to take up time. I would have rather seen the other 5 semi-finalists compete in Talent. Otherwise good job. I like the joke they made that next year, the new Miss America will have to split her win 50/50 with her ex-husband.

What About the Show:

The opening number was good. It was the same format as last year. I am glad the Organization got rid of that 360 degree turn for swimsuits but they put it in the Evening Wear Competition. I liked the stage, I always think the stage is more spectacular than the girls. A 3 Hour show can get very boring. I just think that Miss America doesn't have the excitement as other National Pageants. I really liked seeing all 79 Miss America winners, that was truly a special moment.

Miss America 2000 Contestants:

Following the contestants age, is her Platform Issue.

Alabama: Julie Smith, 23: Breast Cancer Awareness

Alaska: Shannon Kelly, 21: Options for Kids

Arizona: Lori Whiting, 20: Asthma Awareness

Arkansas: Brandy Rhodes, 22: Cancer: Prevention and Detection

California: MaryAnne Sapio, 21: Breast Cancer Education and Awareness

Colorado: Erin C. Mac Gregor, 23: Financing Higher Education

Connecticut: Sylvia Gomes, 20: Promoting the Peer Tutoring Program

Delaware: Kama Katherine Boland, 22: Supporting Grieving Children

District of Columbia: Toyia T. Taylor, 24: Youth Leadership Development

Florida: Kelli Meierhenry, 24: Dropout Prevention

Georgia: Osjha Anderson, 24: Character Education

Hawaii: Candes Meijide Gentry, 22: Adversity Builds Character

Idaho: Mellisa Kae Paul, 20: Cancer Research

Illinois: Jade Smalls, 21: Preventing Youth Suicide

Indiana: Kelly Lloyd, 22: Asthma Awareness

Iowa: Jennifer Nicole Caudle, 21: Music in Education

Kansas: Leah Maureen Darby, 21: Depression Awareness

Kentucky: Heather Renee French, 24: Homeless Veterans Outreach

Louisiana: Julie Lawrence, 22: Pediatric Cancer Awareness

Maine: Rebecca Pelkey, 21: Student Service Learning

Maryland: Keri Schrader, 24: Domestic Violence

Massachusetts: April Marie Thibeault, 21: Prevention of Child Abuse

Michigan: Audrie Chernauckas, 23: Be Tobacco Free

Minnesota: Natalie Lund, 21: Volunteerism

Mississippi: Heather Soriano, 22: Literacy

Missouri: Patryce CoRae King, 23: Empowering Today's Youth

Montana: Elissa Ann Schwarz, 19: Music Education in Schools

Nebraska: Becky Smith, 20: Wellness Advocacy for Youth

Nevada: Gina Giacinto, 24: Eating Disorder Awareness

New Hampshire: Brandee N. Helbick, 24: Educational Disabilities Awareness

New Jersey: Victoria Andrews Paige, 20: Child Advocacy

New Mexico: Katie Linda Amalia Kelley, 19: Literacy Awareness

New York: Brandi Burkhardt, 20: America's Promise

North Carolina: Kelly Trogdon, 23: Birth Defects/Infant Mortality

North Dakota: Kay Picconatto, 21: Literacy for Life

Ohio: Tiffany Baumann, 22: Youth Volunteering and Mentoring

Oklahoma: Daneka Danyell Allenm 23: Prevention and Awareness of Drug Abuse

Oregon: Angela Reed, 23: School to Work

Pennsylvania: Susan S. Spafford, 24: Music Education

Rhode Island: Karen Lindsay, 24: Prevention of Teen Pregnancies & Diseases

South Carolina: Danielle Davis, 18: Volunteerism

South Dakota: Trisha Haroldson, 22: Youth Mentoring

Tennessee: Allison Alderson, 22: Read to Succeed

Texas: Yanci Yarbrough, 24: Drug Prevention

Utah: Vanessa Ballam, 20: Art Programs in Schools

Vermont: Katy Johnson, 21: Character Education

Virginia: Crystal Lewis, 21: Volunteerism in America's Classrooms

Washington: Tina Willis, 20: America's Promise

West Virginia: Lucy Joanna Ours, 22: Mentoring

Wisconsin: Mary-Louise Kurey, 24: Promoting Sexual Abstinence

Wyoming: Elaine Dabney, 20: Sexual Abstinence Until Marriage

Official Miss America top 10:

(Last time state made semi-finals)

Maryland: Keri Schrader, 24 (1988, Semi-Finalist)

Connecticut: Sylvia Gomes, 20 (1981, Semi-Finalist)

Arkansas: Brandy Rhodes, 22 (1998, Semi-Finalist)

Illinois: Jade Smalls, 21 (1997, Miss America)

Wisconsin: Mary-Louise Kurey, 24 (1994, Semi-Finalist)

New Jersey: Victoria Andrews Paige, 20 (1995, 2nd Runner Up)

Alabama: Julie Smith, 23 (1997, 3rd Runner Up)

Pennsylvania: Susan S. Spafford, 24 (1991, Semi-Finalist)

Kentucky: Heather Renee French, 24 (1998, 4th Runner Up)

Texas: Yanci Yarbrough, 24 (1997, Semi-Finalist)

I think that the top 10 was great. Though no former Miss Teen USA's made the cut. I was rooting for Indiana. But, most likely she will be competing for the Miss Indiana USA title in the future. Congratulations to all 51 women.

Miss America Pageant Awards:

Bert Parks Non-Finalist Talent Winners:

New York: Brandi Burkhardt, Vocal: "Take Me As I Am"

Louisiana: Julie Lawrence, Ballet: "Man of LaMancha"

California: MaryAnne Sapio, Tap Dance: "Go Daddy O"

Utah: Vanessa Ballam, Vocal: "When I Look At You"

Iowa: Jennifer Nicole Caudle, Cello: "Sabre Dance"

Georgia: Osjha Anderson, Vocal: "Can't Help Lovin' That Man"

Massachusetts: April Marie Thibeault, Ballet: "Reflections of Passion" by Yanni

District of Colombia: Toyia T. Taylor, Public Address: "Wake Up"

Mississippi: Heather Soriano, Vocal/Dance: "Trouble"

Virginia: Crystal Lewis, Vocal: "I Believe in You and Me"

Waterford Crystal Business Award: Tennessee, Allison Alderson

Quality of Life Award: New Hampshire, Brandee Helbick

1st runner up: Kentucky, Heather French
2nd runner up: Alabama, Julie Smith

Miss America Scholar Award: Louisiana, Julie Lawrence

Preliminary Night Winners:

Swimsuit:
Kentucky, Heather French
Rhode Island, Karen Lindsay
Nevada, Gina Giacinto

Talent:
Wisconsin, Mary-Louise Kurey
Louisiana, Julie Lawrence
Virginia, Crystal Lewis

Final Results:

4th Runner Up: Texas, Yanci Yarbrough, 24

3rd Runner Up: Maryland, Keri Schrader, 24

2nd Runner Up: Pennsylvania, Susan S. Spafford, 24

1st Runner Up: Illinois, Jade Smalls, 21

Miss America 2000: Kentucky, Heather Renee French, 24

I would like to congratulate Miss America 2000, Heather Renee French as she joins the Miss America family. She won over $40,000 in Scholarship money. I was hoping Illinois would win but Heather will make a great Miss America.

Miss America Pageant 2000 Viewer Comments:

Mindy: I am very disappointed to see so many negative comments about some of the girls. I believe all the girls were beautiful, and any one of them would have made a great Miss America. I am from Oklahoma, and although my girl did not make the top 10, I was excited to see that Miss Texas Yanci Yarbrough got in there. She did great, and I picked her to either win or place 1st-runner up, but Miss Kentucky will do a great job. All the girls looked great in their swimsuits and evening gowns. I personally loved Miss Texas's swimsuit. I think every girl did great, and I think they all deserved to be Miss America. They all were great, beautiful, and talented, and I can't stress that enough. What a great Miss America pageant. Congratulations to all the girls.

Yvette: I attended the Miss America Pageant on Friday and Sat. On Friday I attended a pageant trade show and let me tell you about it. First of all, if you were not tall, thin and beautiful, they did not have the right time of day for you. I never in my whole life met such a bunch of snobs. I was totally floored by all of this. This was almost everyone who had a booth at this trade show. Another thing, their products were over priced beyond belief. Never again would I attend such a function.

Alouette: I really enjoyed Donny & Marie hosting the pageant-- I was writing a report and missed most of it as I was glancing over my shoulder from time to time from the computer! I was behind Miss Illinois-- I thought that she was well spoken and a knock-out (although my husband claims that he didn't notice!) Miss Texas should have been smarter in her choice for her swimsuit-- I cannot believe that she JIGGLED as she walked across the stage in that atrocious flowered swimsuit!

Janice Berry: Between the strike and hurricane it was quite a tense week. I had a ball! The prelims were great! We became very friendly with KY, LA, IL, and WA families. Great! Great! families. Very down to earth. Glad to see New England do something this year. The parade was a blast. We sat with the IL family and they were a fantastic group of people. Miss WA's family were wonderful. At the black tie function on Sat afternoon the whole family was just fun to be around. We danced until we dropped. Miss KY's parents were GREAT! So down to earth. Made everyone feel comfortable, especially her Mom. It was very easy to see why Miss KY won the pageant. I had her and Miss IL going for the crown all week. Miss IL's talent was wonderful too. I was one of the lucky ones to get two Miss America teddy bears with a case. They allowed two for each person. They made 2,500 in all and they wewe gone in an hour.

April-Dawn Price: Twelve years ago I competed in the Miss South Carolina Pageant. Over twenty years ago I started watching the Miss America Pageant. This year has truly been great! Donnie and Marie were a great fresh new look for the pageant. They are funny, talented, and easy to listen to. The crown was beautiful. The stage perfect. The confetti and streamer great. Seeing the girls upclose and personal was a perfect addition. This way we can judge her by her personality. In the past the judges were the only ones to see this side of the contestants. What was wrong, We only had a few brief moments to actually see the evening gown competition. The production numbers were long and boring. Donnie and Marie are great, but we watch to see the girls. If the Miss America Pageant wants to boost the ratings, cut down on the extra stuff. Keep the top 5 talent, keep the upclose and personal, keep the longer question part, keep the fresh new look, keep Donnie and Marie, drop all the other stuff. I know from experience that it doesn't take 45 minutes to change from a swimsuit into an evening gown. Why did it take soooooo long for them to introduce the 51 contestants and then to pull out the top 10. Between those two things alone, it could have cut over an hour from the pageant and the viewers wouldn't get so board with the commercials and the long wait from one competition to the other. Also, the crown.....let this start a new tradition. For 2001 go back to the silver Miss America Crown but each year personalize the crown by adding/changing the gemstones. i.e. blue one year, pink one year, emerald one year, etc. Even mix the colors or just change the placement of the gems to make each and every year special. This was, each winner will have the traditional crown but it will be her personal look that no one before or after will have. Please get moving and cut the time on the pageant!

PageantRevue01: I must say I did enjoy The Miss America Pageant better than last year. The changes were for the better. Well, I had 4 out of my top ten to get in there. Out of the ten I knew it would be between Kentucky and Alabama. I also thought Julie, Miss Alabama had an awesome interview. She was a wonderful speaker. GO Miss Alabama. Heather, Miss Kentucky was full of life in interview, she made me feel very comfortable. That's what it's all about. I could not believe that Miss North Carolina did not make the top 10. She was definitely one of my picks. I believe that our new Miss America will be a wonderful role model. Congratulations to Heather French, Miss Kentucky on becoming our new MISS AMERICA.

Kim Schwannecke: The funniest moment came when they were showing out takes. They were taping the home interview with Miss Virginia when in the background you can clearly see a dog crouch down to do his "business"! I was watching the Pageant with friends and we laughed so hard we had trouble catching our breath.

Charles King: I missed the first two minutes, but the rest was fine. I really like Donny and Marie as hosts and hope they come back, though we could really do without the long singing number (especially after hearing Donny cover a song originally performed by the Artist). I really liked the outtakes, which surprised me, and count me as one who supports the change in the talent competition. I think we probably did see the best overall five in talent. 98 degrees was used effectively, unlike N'Sync in MTUSA, and as hokey as the interview section looks after the crowning, it somehow fits the mood of the production. Overall, this was one of the better productions of the pageants, especially showing all of the past winners. The results: This pageant proves two things for me: 1). It's not all about beauty (though Miss Kentucky is very attractive) and 2). Winning a preliminary talent or swimsuit guarantees nothing - the preliminary interview is tantamount to getting top ten, and this was one of rare occasions that so many prelim winners did not get top ten. Pennsylvania, Illinois and Kentucky separated themselves from the other two contestants after talent, with a virtual tie of those three in that phase of the competition. Jade Smalls had one of the best performances on piano in quite some time; Susan Spafford (who was probably on few top ten lists) did a performance on violin that rivaled Gretchen Carlson's when she won. Heather Renee French blew me away with her voice. However, Heather won that competition on her interview, though I had Jade as the winner because her platform was, in my opinion, a little more relevant, with Heather as 1st runnerup (though I felt it was a tossup). I was correct with the other places. It was great to finally see that the pageant would not have gone wrong with either women as Miss America (though Jade Smalls seem to think that Heather would win -- and actually mouthed "you won" to her).

Unofficial Miss America Top Choices Final Results:

Top 5 Choices:

Mississippi: Heather Soriano, 22

Texas: Yanci Yarbrough, 24

Arizona: Lori Whiting, 20

California: MaryAnne Sapio, 21

Illinois: Jade Smalls, 21

Remaining Choices:

Hawaii: Candes Meijide Gentry, 22

Indiana: Kelly Lloyd, 22

Maryland: Keri Schrader, 24

New Jersey: Victoria Andrews Paige, 20

New York: Brandi Burkhardt, 20

North Dakota: Kay Picconatto, 21

Oklahoma: Daneka Danyell Allenm, 23

South Carolina: Danielle Davis, 18

Tennessee: Allison Alderson, 22

Utah: Vanessa Ballam, 20

Beauty Pageants 101 Viewers got 40% of the official top 10. Thats pretty good.

Jamil's Miss America Top 10:

Illinois: Jade Smalls (1st Runner Up)

Indiana: Kelly Lloyd

Kentucky: Heather Renee French (Miss America)

Maine: Rebecca Pelkey

Mississippi: Heather Soriano

New York: Brandi Burkhardt

Oklahoma: Daneka Danyell Allenm

Pennsylvania: Susan S. Spafford (2nd Runner Up))

Tennessee: Allison Alderson

Washington: Tina Willis

5 Other Posiblilities:

Alabama: Julie Smith (Semi-Finalist)

Colorado: Erin C. Mac Gregor

Rhode Island: Karen Lindsay

Texas: Yanci Yarbrough (4th Runner Up)

Virginia: Crystal Lewis

I can't belive I actually got 50% of the actual top 10. This is the best I have done the whole year. I am getting better at this.

Miss America Pageant on the Net:

Official Miss America site: Official site.

Meet the 2000 Miss America Contestants: 1999 Contestants

CREDITS: DETeenager, James Thibeault, MBrown2318, Cello.

Questions, Comments, Updates:

beauty_pageant99@hotmail.com

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Page Updated Sun Jan 14, 2001 3:33am EST