Here she is, Miss America!
That’s right, folks, Miss New York — the former Miss Brooklyn, Leigh-Taylor Smith — is going to win the coveted tiara on Saturday night in Las Vegas.
If not, a crime against humanity — OK, a crime against New York, at least — has occurred.
Yes, we’ve been here before — 24 times before, to be exact, since Vanessa Williams became the last Miss New York to win it all.
Our best shot came in 2007 when the pride of Bay Ridge, Bethlene Pancoast, became runway roadkill because — and on this point, there can be no argument — the rest of the country hates New York.
It wasn’t Miss Oklahoma’s fault that she won that year, I suppose. Lauren Nelson was the latest in a long line of airy blondes with middle-aged-lady hairstyles, a talent for baton-twirling and vaguely Southern accents who have hijacked the notion of American beauty.
With the raven-haired, tap-dancing, no-nonsense Pancoast, it was supposed to be different. New York was saying “no” to the beauty queen-industrial complex that drives this, our nation’s most illustrious pageant.
Unfortunately, the pageant said “no” right back.
But this year, we’re fighting back with Smith. She’s got talent! She’s got brains! She prays at the Brooklyn Tabernacle in Downtown. And no one pulls off a bikini like she does (I’m speaking figuratively, alas)!
In fact, the Miss America Organization seems to be coming along; Smith won a preliminary swimsuit competition on Thursday night — so she’s going into Saturday night’s show in a good position to win it all.
Think I’m kidding myself? Just look at her main competition (pictured below — under the great photos of our future Miss America)!
Make sure to root for Miss New York, Leigh-Taylor Smith, on Saturday night. Check local listings.
UPDATE ON 1/25 AT 6:20 PM: Story altered to correct a geographical typo. Yes, of COURSE, we know that Branson is in Missouri, not Arkansas. Do you think we’re urban snobs or something?
