I watched the pageant tonite, out of curiosity, because they said they were going back to the old format, rather than what it's been lately, which was over-hyped superficial trashiness. Contrary to what some have said here on this thread, I thought the pageant was fast moving, I enjoyed the format they used, and I was pleasantly surprised. I thought their choices when going from 10 to 5 to 3 were reasonable and fair, and there were some very pretty women contestants. It struck me though, that last year's Miss America looked so much like this year's choice. Take a look at the two of them; they could be sisters.
I might add, the best part of watching the pageant this year was that it was on CMT, which I didn't even know I had on my cable service. After the pageant ended they had a couple of other programs following it that I got hooked on, and enjoyed a lot. So, now I have another channel to tune into when bored with what's on the other ones. I like country music anyway, and it's so much more palatable than a lot of stuff on TV, like the horrid MTV. It will be a pleasant new option for me.
I definitely agree with you on how horrid MTV has gotten. I'm glad that CMT decided to pick the pageant up as it got disastrous ratings last year on ABC (due to the stupid deviations they made from the old format).
Last year's Miss America does look a little like the new one. I saw both of them in real life earlier this week and they are both very tall, thin brunettes. They both are incredibly beautiful, but Deidre Downs (old) has crystal blue eyes and Jennifer Berry (new) has dark brown eyes.