Monday, July 13, 2015

Ventriloquists - revisited

I originally posted this a year ago after Mackenzie Bart won Miss Ohio.  I revisit it this summer with updated information during the international ventriloquists convention week.

Row, row, row your boat, ROW, gently, ROW, down, ROW, the stream, YOUR BOAT...

As entertainment and performance, ventriloquism is a 250+ year-old art form. As a religious practice, it has been around for thousands of years.

Let's consider the women who have brought a "friend" or two onstage with them in talent at Miss America.

Ventriloquism at Miss America peaked during the 1970's with seven contestants performing it as their talent and four of those making Top 10 (including TWO in 1971, the only year that two ventriloquists have made Top 10).

Vonda Kay Van Dyke
Miss Arizona 1964
Miss Congeniality
MISS AMERICA 1965
Together from GYPSY

Paige Phillips
Miss Alabama 1980
1st Runner-up & Prelim Talent winner
Rock-a-Bye Your Baby,
Swanee, & Mame
Patricia Brant
Miss Louisiana 1987
1st Runner-up & Prelim Talent winner
Row, Row, Row Your Boat & 
Arizona Yodeler
Alyse Eady
Miss Arkansas 2010
1st Runner-up
I Want to be a Cowboy's Sweetheart
Stacey Peterson
Miss Arizona 1975
4th Runner-up
Yankee Doodle Dandy
Cynthia Cook
Miss Georgia 1971
Top 10 & Prelim Talent winner
Impersonations of celebrities
Sandy Rings
Miss Kansas 1971
Top 10 & Prelim Talent winner
Toyland
Marie McLaughlin
Miss Pennsylvania 1976
Top 10
Together
Maria Wynne
Miss Pennsylvania 1990
Top 10
Together
Mackenzie Bart
Miss Ohio 2014
Top 10 & Prelim Talent Winner
Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious

Gloria Gilbert
Miss Texas 1982
Non-Finalist Talent
I've Been Everywhere
Barbara Crandall
Miss Michigan 1984
Non-Finalist Talent
Auctioneer's Song
Cheryl Hirst
Miss Rhode Island 1961
Non-Finalist Talent-Best Variety Act
Ventriloquism & Organ
This Can't Be Love
Pam Long
Miss Alabama 1974
selection unknown
Darby Moore
Miss Alaska 1974
Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious
Sharon Pelc
Miss Nebraska 1974
Those Were The Days
Angelina Johnson
Miss Tennessee 1981
Laverne and Shirley
Sandra Dornak
Miss Nevada 1992
Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious
Heather Dupree
Miss Louisiana 1998
Sold (The Grundy County Auction Incident)

Did I miss anyone?  Updates, corrections, and additional information may always posted on Facebook on the Crowned page or by sending me an email at crownedmissa@gmail.com.


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