THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, September 17, 1994 TAG: 9409160078
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Column
SOURCE: Larry Bonko
LENGTH: Medium: 84 lines
THINK YOUR life is tough?
The contestants in tonight's nationally televised Miss America pageant on NBC have been forced TO DO THEIR OWN HAIR AND MAKEUP.
Talk about a challenge.
Our very own Miss Virginia says she is up to it.
Twenty-three-year-old Cullen Johnson, who lives on the Naval Air Station in Norfolk with her father - he just happens to be vice admiral of the 2nd Fleet - says the ban on professional hairdressers is not a big deal.
Shoot. She does her own hair all the time anyway. It's straight, brunette, and easy to manage, Johnson said in a telephone call from Atlantic City, N.J.
The hair thing is just a symbol, Leonard Horn, pageant director and executive producer of the Miss America telecast, told me in Los Angeles not long ago.
Yes, it is a terrible crush to have 50 hairdressers backstage at the convention center, Horn said.
``Where's my mousse?''
And, yes, the pageant has to pay extra to put in more plugs.
But that's not why hairdressers are not invited backstage this year.
``We want the contestants to come to Atlantic City and compete as who they are and not as some professional's idea of how they should look in order to win the title,'' Horn said.
OK. No fancy 'dos in the 1994 pageant.
What about the parade of bathing suits?
In or out?
In. But . . . with a sensible look.
No high heels.
``We've decided to do the bathing suit competition in a fun way, in bare feet, in a production number that will probably have a beach setting. It won't be a parade,'' Horn said.
Great, commented Johnson, who won the Miss Virginia title while competing as Miss Central Shenandoah Valley. It was the fourth try for the 1992 Longwood graduate. She tried once as Miss Norfolk.
Now she's made it.
Entering pageants is, like, her hobby, Johnson said.
If she wins, and Virginia is way overdue for a winner in Atlantic City, Johnson will use the prize money to advance her education. Kylene Barker in 1979 was the one and only Miss Virginia to win Miss America in the pageant's 74-year history. You have to be bright, attractive and talented to win.
Johnson plays the piano.
She was delighted to learn that the high heels and bathing suit thing is history.
``Ever see anyone at Sandbridge in a swimsuit and high heels?'' she asked.
Not lately.
Kimberly Aiken, the reigning Miss America, who admits that yes, yes, she did hire a professional hairdresser last September to make her look her very best, also admitted that she hates the swimsuit competition.
``To be walking on a stage in a swimsuit and uncomfortable shoes, knowing that millions of people are watching, is a very awkward feeling,'' she said when she joined Horn before the TV writers in Los Angeles.
There was a time in the 1980s when it appeared that viewers had tired of seeing the parade of teeth and lacquered 'dos in Atlantic City. In the age of feminism, the grand old beauty pageant seemed out of date.
Ratings were off. Then Horn brought in Regis Philbin and Kathie Lee Gifford to emcee the pageant, and ratings rose by 13 percent.
The viewership among young women grew by more than that.
I guess it's again politically correct to aspire to be a beauty queen.
``Whether or not you like the idea of the Miss America pageant, you have to admire the pageant's record of success over the last 74 years,'' Horn said.
He stresses that the pageant has awarded millions in scholarship dollars, which have enabled women to make it in what once was a man's world.
Don't knock Johnson or the others competing in Atlantic City. Wouldn't you put Vaseline on your teeth to make smiling easier and stroll down a runway in Atlantic City for the chance to win the money to pay for a law degree? ILLUSTRATION: AP PHOTO
Miss Virginia, Cullen Johnson, takes part in the preliminary
swimsuit contest for the Miss America Pageant in Atlantic City,
N.J.
by CNB