Robin Meade: Reporting From Vegas!

Former Miss Ohio and CNN News Anchor Robin Meade is judging the Miss America pageant this weekend, and reporting on it as she goes!
Here’s her latest blog entry:

Monday, January 21, 2008

I’ve just been named the head judge! More on that later.

Now. My concern going into this as a judge…so many years after being here as a contestant is: will I have the stamina to give each contestant the same attention…whether she’s the 48th person I interview, or the 2nd?

And: will we pick a titleholder who is prepped and ready for the job? (The week after she wins…she’s a guest on news shows, talk shows, and meeting with congress members.)

Adding to the pressure: The Miss America folks have decided I’ll be the head judge.

Met the other judges. So far I’ve confused two of the male judges names…told another male judge “thank you for having us” thinking he was hosting us…and asked the female fitness trainer if she knew my doctor friend from ‘Celebrity Fit Club.’ “I’m on “The Biggest Loser”" she replied.

Oops.

I’ve done my homework on the contestants…looks like I should have done more on the other judges.

I especially love Jackie Joyner-Kersee. Besides the fact she’s a doll…she watches the show along with YOU!

‘What is the best way to make miss america more relevant to people your age?’

I noticed this was a question each Miss State was asked to answer on her resume. I asked the flight crew on my plane today “Is Miss America still relevent?” The male flight attendant blurted out no. A female flight attendant agreed saying today’s young audiences are more into reality stars…than pageant winners. But when I asked them what THEY thought made a good Miss America…no absence of answers.

The flight attendants chimed in again: someone elegant. Someone compassionate. Then the male flight attendant blurted out: “she’s gotta have great legs.”

Doesn’t that pretty much sum up some of the challenges here in choosing the new titleholder?

In an environment where celebs are born out of reality contests to see who can eat the most cockroaches in a sitting…..we’ve been assigned to find a special someone who can be the “it girl” for what I see as all the *classic reasons.*

She’s got to be elegant enough to fit the description….quick-witted enough to charm audiences…..smart enough to justify thousands in scholarships….yet beautiful enough that people don’t say incredulously: “THAT’S Miss America?”

That’s the pressure you feel as a judge.

Head judge.

CLICK HERE for a direct link to her blog; it’s also featured with photos on CNN.com. I don’t mean just any photos… click on the CNN link to see pictures of Robin as Miss Ohio 1993- complete with shoulder pads!