In Puerto Rico, a beauty pageant contestant claimed someone sabotaged her by putting pepper spray in her makeup. In California, the state?s beauty pageant has been marred by a judging that led to the contestant who was initially crowned giving up her title.
The Examiner interviewed Marina Harrison-Cooper, former Miss Maryland in both the Miss USA and Miss America pageants between 2003 and 2005. The 26-year-old is now a special assistant to Anne Arundel County Executive John R. Leopold.
How competitive are pageant contestants?
It can get really ugly.
People can be passive-aggressive ? nothing like blatant sabotage, but more like purposely giving bad advice on makeup and hair. When I competed in the Miss USA pageant, Miss Nevada decided to throw out the choreography the night before the pageant. She wanted to be front and center, which would put her in front of me. The girls who focus so much energy trying to put down someone else?s game lose focus on themselves.
Are judges fair?
Pageant judging is really complicated. I?ve judged pageants where they told us to give out very few tens, others where they didn?t give us a guideline. In these contests, the winner could be decided by just a couple of points.
What advice could you give to aspiring pageant contestants?
The biggest and most important thing is to focus on why am I doing this ? what is my overall goal beyond the crown? For me, I honed my speaking skills and my professional image. I?ve always seen those who know where they are and where they are going rise to the top.
