What’s hot,
what’s not

“Big hair is back,” says Brian, “but not the big teased 80s hair.” Big, loose, sexy hair is the thing these days—well, either that or sleek, flat and shiny. Regardless, the hair should move—bye-bye teasing comb. And, to his chagrin, “The ponytail is not dead. I’m waiting, though.” What’s interesting is that many of the contestants were sporting hair that they didn’t technically grow themselves. “Lots of the girls had hair extensions,” Brian confides. “Some to the tune of $1,500.” What else is faux, dare I ask? “A lot of the girls pad their bras and a couple of them have had enhancements,” he says.

Except for the pads in the bras and the rampant fake hair thing, Brian assured me that these girls are down to earth. They all have their little beauty pageant secrets, though: Butt glue is real, teeth whitener is a standard and tanning spray has become the cosmetic du jour. It’s apparently a big hit with the girls and a big problem for the wardrobe guys. Brian assured me that it was on everything by the end of the pageant. The miracle cure? Baby wipes. Go figure.

Speaking of wardrobe, I wanted the low down on the clothing choices the girls made. They get a lot of input from their state pageant directors, and some even get their evening gowns donated by sponsors, such as a dress shop or boutique from their hometown. That would certainly come in handy, since the custom-made gowns alone cost anywhere from $1,000 to $3,000. No wonder they’re so anxious to win that college scholarship! Add to the cost of the evening gown the assortment of clothes, shoes, accessories, jewelry and cosmetics—not to mention the hair and bra pads—needed for the three weeks of a pageant production and you can see that pageantry is big business. But Brian insists that despite their savvy sense of style, they’re really just a bunch of drop-dead-gorgeous teenage girls.

More than just
a pretty face

For 21 days, Brian and his gifted colleague, Sojourner Parks, were responsible for the heads of 51 teen beauty queens. It’s obvious that he loved every minute of it. “They’re just teenage girls who happen to be beautiful,” he shrugged, when I asked what the girls were like in person. He definitely had his favorites, though. Whom did he pick to win? Miss Kansas, who also happened to be Miss Photogenic. “She was a sweetheart.” He also loved Miss Maine. “Very down-to-earth. She hit a moose with her car once!” And he enjoyed Miss Nevada’s spunk. “It was strongly suggested that she change the pants she chose for the opening dance number.” Some deemed them a bit too sexy. “She said, ‘No, if my mother approves of them, I’m wearing them.’ And she did.” Brian also told the story of Miss Minnesota, who didn’t even plan to compete in her state pageant; she was just tagging along with her big sister. When her sister was told she was too old, Lauren Hindi grabbed her sister’s bikini and evening gown and took the crown. Really, Brian loved them all, saying, “They have so much energy!”

Girl town

I was curious about the atmosphere behind the scenes during the preliminary and final judging. I pictured 51 girls fighting with their mothers, set against a backdrop of clothes, shoes and cosmetics strewn everywhere. Brian confirmed that, yes, there were clothes, shoes and cosmetics—but no mothers. “On the day they arrived, each girl was assigned a professional chaperone to keep them in line and on top of what they were supposed to be doing,” he explained. The delegates actually have limited contact with family and friends for the 21 days they’re preparing for the pageant. Their chaperone is their surrogate mom. “You can hear them telling their girls to ‘stop that and put your shoes on.’ I think that’s why everything runs so smoothly; these women know what they’re doing.”

The preparation for the live show is so thorough that the production aspect runs like a machine. “Everything else is chaos,” Brian says with a laugh. “During commercial breaks, we were literally doing five girls’ hair at once in a little spot against the wall as the stage stairs were being carried by. It was crazy.”

Though it took a lot of hours and hard work to polish the production and the contestants, the girls were thoroughly entertained throughout their stay in Baton Rouge. “They loved it!” Brian beamed. From the plantations to the swamp tour to the beautiful LSU campus, the girls saw it all. However, it seems as though the girls from the northern states were particularly impressed by the southern charm of the boys from Baton Rouge. A waiter gave his phone number to Miss Maine as she dined at a local restaurant with her family, but didn’t ask for hers in return. His good manners netted him a date with the young lady after the pageant.

Smile and say cheese

The schedule was grueling, but necessary. For several of the girls, their first nationally televised pageant was also their first pageant ever. For others it was old hat, but the TV cameras got the attention of even the most blasé beauty queen. The contestants’ three weeks in Baton Rouge were carefully choreographed by a team of professional pageant production people. (Say that three times fast!)

The first two days were spent shooting publicity photographs. Renowned fashion photographer Fadil Berisha worked his magic and created some incredibly beautiful photographs of the girls, which were used for the pageant’s program and for publicity. (Incidentally, he picked Miss Ohio to make the top 15 from the beginning.) Brian and Sojo were up to their elbows in hair and hair extensions during all the photo shoots; three additional hair stylists were brought in to help, but not until the preliminary pageant. To complete each girl’s look, talented make-up artist Isabel Perez worked her magic.

Three days were spent taping the show’s seven-minute intro. You know: “Morgan Maulden … eighteen … Lou-WEEE-ZEEE-ANNAAA!”… hand on hip … toss the hair … next. It sure made me wonder, with our fabulous 98 percent humidity, how they managed to film that project outside without the delegates appearing as though they had taken a dip in the water hazard on the Country Club of Louisiana golf course, which was one of the sites of the introduction segment.

Show time

The preliminaries were held on the Wednesday before the live telecast, and the top 15 contestants were selected at that time. That list was a closely held secret; the announcement came as a complete surprise to all the girls on live television the night of the final pageant. Most of the last week in Baton Rouge was spent preparing for the finals. The opening dance number took a lot of work, because the choreography had to accommodate dancers and non-dancers alike. I took it for granted that all the girls were natural dancers, but Brian set me straight on that score. “Some of them couldn’t dance at all,” he confided in a lowered voice. “If you were paying attention, you may have noticed that a few of girls from the back would walk to the front of the stage, do a little turn, and walk right back to the back again …” He let the sentence dangle with a knowing look.
Once the top 15 were announced, the hair stylists concentrated only on the finalists.

During commercial breaks, the girls were frantically changing clothes and hairstyles. As the number of contestants was reduced, the tension mounted. I asked Brian how the other girls handled the disappointment. “For the most part, they were excited for their friends. Most of them were just happy they made it to the pageant at all.” According to our sources, only one girl had a temper tantrum after failing to make the list of 15. What did the other 35 contestants do when their names weren’t called? “They started eating,” Brian said, “They ate everything in sight.” I asked what, exactly, and he just shook his head. “Anything they could get their hands on,” He replied. One starved contestant wailed, “I don’t even like Oreos,” as she crammed a cookie into her mouth.

When the pageant was over, they all moved on to graze on spicy Louisiana delicacies at the Coronation Ball. A couple of the girls, Miss Vermont and Miss New Jersey, went to Brian immediately after missing the cut and begged for bangs. He whipped out his scissors and obliged them. Other contestants came to him wanting a whole new look. He declined that request, however. “I was afraid of their mothers.”

Big sigh, group hug

“It was a great experience for them,” Brian said, and he assured me it was a great experience for him, as well. He loved the girls and they loved him back. “A lot of moms and dads came to thank me for looking after their daughters. They told me that their girls mentioned me often. I thought that was pretty neat.” He was very impressed with many of the young ladies he met. “You’ll be seeing a lot of these girls again.” In more beauty pageants? “You will see some of them in the Miss USA pageant, yes. Others will show up as high profile models, I guarantee it. I expect great things from a lot of these girls; they’re very energetic and goal-oriented and most of all, real.”
Definitely more than just another pretty face.