Post by samuel on Jun 8, 2014 2:08:18 GMT -5
Hey all, I hope there are some passionate pageant fans that are still reading this forum!! I cannot forgot the old days where Chinese pageant fans got together to talk about MSHK and MCI. Now... it's mostly American, Latina American, and Far Eastern fans (Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, and Vietnam) speaking about pageants nowadays....
Miss USA 2014 will be held in Baton Rogue, Louisiana on June 8, 2014. That is only 2 days away!!
Since I graduated already and have some free time this year, I decided to do one thing I haven't done since probably 2009 - evaluate each girl and score them individually!! I had such a fun time doing this and I think it's interesting to post my final predictions and thoughts about the contestants vying for the crown/title Miss USA 2014!
For the first time in history - 20 contestants will make the semifinals this year. That is most number of semifinalists ever. While the prestige of making the top 15 or 12 or even 10 is diminished since there's 20 spots, it allows more girls to compete and shine - making it very interesting this year. I am sure there will be surprises in the top 20 (like every year) but hopefully not too many..
Like I said before, this has to be the first edition I started following closely in a long time!! I haven't been able to score each contestant on headshot, portrait, swimsuit photo, evening gown photo, and road to crown videos in a long time!!
I want to share with you all my rankings and how I find it interesting in which they changed. Of course - my final list of predictions changed because of many factors and were not based solely on the rankings above. Preliminaries played a major factor. With that said, let me reveal my top 20 contestants BASED ON HEADSHOT, ROAD TO CROWN VIDEO, FADIL PORTRAIT, SWIMSUIT/EVENING GOWN PHOTOS:
1. Alabama
2. New York
3. Florida
4. Utah
5. Georgia
6. Minnesota
7. Nevada
8. Indiana
9. Tennessee
10. North Dakota
11. Texas
12. South Carolina
13. Connecticut
14. California
15. Alaska
16. Iowa
17. Illinois
18. Ohio
19. Hawaii
20. New Jersey
Afterwards, I started to pick my top 20 contestants. TO DO THIS, I looked at my ranking and at the preliminaries. But - in a special way - I first picked out the shoo-ins, girls I think will get the call regardless of what ranking I gave them. With all factors considered (including the opinions of fans), the shoo-ins I believe are:
Alabama
Florida
Georgia
Minnesota
Nevada
North Dakota
Utah
Afterwards, I added girls which I think are strong overall (may miss the cut because of various reasons, e.g. bad gowns or not-as-strong prelim. performances to the top 20). These girls are:
California (particularly the excessive hype + strong sash)
Texas (strong sash)
South Carolina
Louisiana (mainly homefield advantage)
New York (my sentimental favorite, I wouldn't be surprised if she wins because NY has a hidden chain going!)
And, that's still only 12! This proves that this year's pageant is very competitive because 8 spots are still up for grabs.
This is when the hard part comes and I'm sure you can all relate - looking at the possible contestants left and choosing which have the possibility of making the cut. After determining which contestants are BUBBLES and evaulating them in the preliminaries (I scored each girl but compared scores with girls in my previous top 20, bubbles list, and girls that I think are darkhorses), my other 8 girls that make my list are:
Michigan (this is a gamble I took, I really think Trump will like her and hence I'm risking a spot for her)
Massachusetts (I think she has a pretty face, also a possible trump pick)
Tennessee (I know many said her prelim. performance wasn't that good and I do think she needs a gown change BUT there's no denying she's facially strong and since there's 20 spots this year, I think she has a good chance in making it. Also possible Trump pick)
Of course many other contestants are possible Trump picks - Maryland, Oklahoma, Utah (who I added already), and New Jersey.
In the end, I looked at the remaining girls and focused on their preliminary performances. The other 5 girls which did good in preliminaries and were selected are:
Miss USA 2014 will be held in Baton Rogue, Louisiana on June 8, 2014. That is only 2 days away!!
Since I graduated already and have some free time this year, I decided to do one thing I haven't done since probably 2009 - evaluate each girl and score them individually!! I had such a fun time doing this and I think it's interesting to post my final predictions and thoughts about the contestants vying for the crown/title Miss USA 2014!
For the first time in history - 20 contestants will make the semifinals this year. That is most number of semifinalists ever. While the prestige of making the top 15 or 12 or even 10 is diminished since there's 20 spots, it allows more girls to compete and shine - making it very interesting this year. I am sure there will be surprises in the top 20 (like every year) but hopefully not too many..
Like I said before, this has to be the first edition I started following closely in a long time!! I haven't been able to score each contestant on headshot, portrait, swimsuit photo, evening gown photo, and road to crown videos in a long time!!
I want to share with you all my rankings and how I find it interesting in which they changed. Of course - my final list of predictions changed because of many factors and were not based solely on the rankings above. Preliminaries played a major factor. With that said, let me reveal my top 20 contestants BASED ON HEADSHOT, ROAD TO CROWN VIDEO, FADIL PORTRAIT, SWIMSUIT/EVENING GOWN PHOTOS:
1. Alabama
2. New York
3. Florida
4. Utah
5. Georgia
6. Minnesota
7. Nevada
8. Indiana
9. Tennessee
10. North Dakota
11. Texas
12. South Carolina
13. Connecticut
14. California
15. Alaska
16. Iowa
17. Illinois
18. Ohio
19. Hawaii
20. New Jersey
Afterwards, I started to pick my top 20 contestants. TO DO THIS, I looked at my ranking and at the preliminaries. But - in a special way - I first picked out the shoo-ins, girls I think will get the call regardless of what ranking I gave them. With all factors considered (including the opinions of fans), the shoo-ins I believe are:
Alabama
Florida
Georgia
Minnesota
Nevada
North Dakota
Utah
Afterwards, I added girls which I think are strong overall (may miss the cut because of various reasons, e.g. bad gowns or not-as-strong prelim. performances to the top 20). These girls are:
California (particularly the excessive hype + strong sash)
Texas (strong sash)
South Carolina
Louisiana (mainly homefield advantage)
New York (my sentimental favorite, I wouldn't be surprised if she wins because NY has a hidden chain going!)
And, that's still only 12! This proves that this year's pageant is very competitive because 8 spots are still up for grabs.
This is when the hard part comes and I'm sure you can all relate - looking at the possible contestants left and choosing which have the possibility of making the cut. After determining which contestants are BUBBLES and evaulating them in the preliminaries (I scored each girl but compared scores with girls in my previous top 20, bubbles list, and girls that I think are darkhorses), my other 8 girls that make my list are:
Michigan (this is a gamble I took, I really think Trump will like her and hence I'm risking a spot for her)
Massachusetts (I think she has a pretty face, also a possible trump pick)
Tennessee (I know many said her prelim. performance wasn't that good and I do think she needs a gown change BUT there's no denying she's facially strong and since there's 20 spots this year, I think she has a good chance in making it. Also possible Trump pick)
Of course many other contestants are possible Trump picks - Maryland, Oklahoma, Utah (who I added already), and New Jersey.
In the end, I looked at the remaining girls and focused on their preliminary performances. The other 5 girls which did good in preliminaries and were selected are: