Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, July 22, 1993                   TAG: 9307220036
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-6   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: ATLANTIC CITY, N.J.                                LENGTH: Medium

MISS AMERICA PAGEANT IS LOOSENING UP A BIT

This fall, for the first time in the 73-year-old pageant, contestants will have to style their own hair and apply their own cosmetics.

The change, along with a new producer for the Sept. 18 television show and a more relaxed dress code, is aimed at updating the pageant and attracting younger viewers, said pageant director Leonard Horn.

The show's Nielsen ratings have been slipping, from No. 1 in 1988 and 1990 to No. 10 last year.

Contestants say the changes, which allow evening wear - including pants - in addition to the floor-length, beaded gown of yesteryear, reflect the new woman.

"In the past there was more of a mold that they were looking to fill, and now they're looking for a woman who can make her own mold," Miss Michigan, 23-year-old Stacey Heisler of Livonia, said Wednesday.

Miss New Jersey agreed, but both contestants said they weren't ready to dispose of some traditions.

"I enjoy wearing the gown. That's probably my favorite part," said Michele Sexton, 24, of Spring Lake Heights. "That's what makes the pageant special."

The pageant has hired producer-director Jeff Margolis to replace John Koushouris, who had supervised the television show for 31 of its 40 years.

Margolis said he plans to bring the pageant into the '90s and leave behind the look of "The Stepford Wives."

Makeup artist Jane White, who has painted Miss Arkansas and other national contestants for the past 12 years, took exception to Margolis' reference to the Ira Levin novel about automatons who replace suburban housewives.

"When a girl sits down in my chair - every girl is different," said White, of Little Rock, Ark. "I don't make them up to look all alike."

White said the changes represent added pressure for the contestants, many of whom don't know how to apply makeup that works under the glare of television lights.

Margolis, who has produced five Academy Awards shows and other TV specials, said the pageant musical numbers will compete with the best of the Oscars.

"They're really going to have a whole different flavor and style," he said.

In another change, each contestant must shoot a three- to five-minute home video describing her life. The tapes will be edited to about 30 seconds and the 10 finalists' tapes will be broadcast while they parade on stage.