Opera singers in Top 10

Who sang that aria? You know, the one with all the high notes. 

Here's a look back at the 60+ women who have sung a classical selection on the Miss America broadcast as a finalist. A more complete list to include Non-Finalist Talent award winners and opera selections by all contestants will be a great post-Miss America project, so, let's call this Part I.

What States have had the most Top 10s with opera singers?

In the last 57 years, 30 different states have seen their opera-singing titleholder make the Top 10. Alabama, Louisiana, New York, and Ohio have 4 each.

The South has 27, the West has 15, the Midwest 12, and the Northeast 8.

In 40 of those 57 years, at least one opera singer has made Top 10, with 1995 holding the record with 4 classical vocalists in the Top 10.  Years with 3 include 60, 61, 65, 75, 81 & 96.

What aria(s) have been sung most often by classical singers?

Over the years we've had several (2 or 3) of these arias

'Adele's Laughing Song' (DOROTHY BENHAM) from Die Fledermaus

'Caro Nome' from Rigoletto

'Habanera' (ERIKA HAROLD) from Carmen

'Il Bacio' (LAURA KAEPPELER) by Arditi

'Italian Street Song' from Naughty Marietta

'The Jewel Song' from Faust

'Ou va la jeune Hindoue' (The Bell Song)(TARA HOLLAND) from Lakme

'Che il bel sogno di Doretta' from La Rondine

'Sempre Libera' from La Traviata

'Un Bel Di' from Madama Butterly

'Visi d'Arte' from Tosca.

And the arias sung most often by finalists are:

"Una Voce Poco Fa" from Barber of Seville

Myra Barginear, Miss Mississippi, 1997, 2nd RU

Michelle Kline, Miss Pennsylvania 1989, Top 10

Lori Kelley, Miss Oklahoma 1988, 2nd RU & Prelim Talent

Tommye Glaze, Miss Indiana 1960, 4th RU & Prelim Talent

Lori Kelley
Miss Oklahoma 1988

"Ah, Je Veux Vivre" from Romeo and Juliet

Kerri Rosenberg, Miss Iowa 1990, Top 10

Dawn Smith, Miss South Carolina 1986, 2nd RU

Deborah O'Brien, Miss Massachusetts 1971, 2nd RU

Joan Vine, Miss Hawaii 1961, Top 10 (as a medley with "Thou Swell")

Dawn Smith
Miss South Carolina 1986

"Quando m'en vo" from La Boheme

Amy Keller, Miss Kansas 1995, Top 10

Rebecca Blouin, Miss Mississippi 1994, Top 10

Maureen Wimmer, Miss Pennsylvania 1971, 3rd RU & Prelim Talent

Karen Johnson, Miss Maine 1970, 2nd RU

DONNA AXUM, Miss Arkansas 1963, MISS AMERICA 1964 

(sung by Donna as a medley with "I Love Paris")

Karen Johnson
Miss Maine 1970

Three well-known arias that have never been sung by a finalist include 'Die Holle Rache' (Queen of the Night's vengeance aria) from The Magic Flute and 'Art Is Calling For Me' (I Want to be a Prima Donna) from The Enchantress, although both have been sung by contestants over the years.

Visit YouTube to see Tony and Emmy-award winning Kristen Chenoweth singing 'Art Is Calling Me' in competition at Miss Pennsylvania 1992 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GAdsZ2R6tGg

and Miss Oklahoma 1991

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1GYSVO2WFjk

Kristen Chenoweth
sorry for the blurry YouTube screen grab

Selections of our other opera-singing Miss America's

KATIE HARMAN, Miss Oregon 2001, MISS AMERICA 2002 & Prelim Talent  

"Oh Mio Babbino Caro" from Gianni Schicchi

SUSAN POWELL, Miss Oklahoma 1980, MISS AMERICA 1981 & Prelim Talent

"Lucy's Aria" from The Telephone

Susan Powell
Miss Oklahoma 1980
MISS AMERICA 1981

Here's an anecdote about one of the most famous opera-singing Miss Americas:

YOLANDE BETBEZE, Miss Alabama 1950 and MISS AMERICA 1951

from Frank DeFord's "There She Is, The Life and Times of Miss America"

"When she sang 'Sempre Libera' from La Traviata, she and the Miss America orchestra, basically a jazz band, began playing against each other.  After a trumpet player cut in on a high trill, Yolande froze the man with a stare, stopped singing, and snapped, 'I'll finish alone,' which she did. For the finals, she located a piano accompanist in Philadelphia and switched to 'Caro Nome' from Rigoletto, an even more difficult selection. 'You're not supposed to switch talent' Yolande says, 'but at that point, rules were the last thing I was interested in.' She and the accompanist practiced no more than twenty minutes. 'She was very good,' Yolande says, 'but I did the hell out of that number.' As she finished, Deems Taylor [blogger's note: Deems is the narrator in Disney's 1940 Fantasia] one of the judges, slapped his loose-leaf book shut, and in the silent moment before the applause began, could be heard plainly to say, 'Ladies and gentlemen, that's it.' For perhaps the only time in the history of the Pageant, a performer was called back for two curtain calls."

Yolande Betbeze
Miss Alabama 1950
MISS AMERICA 1951

Questions? Comments?  Suggestions?  Corrections?  email me at crownedmissa@gmail.com or comment on the Facebook page for Crowned.