Reigning Miss America Jennifer Berry carefully sidestepped the Miss USA controversy at a "Rocky Balboa" reception Tuesday night. But it wasn’t difficult to miss her point. While Berry and Miss America organizers are "choosing not to comment," Berry said the Tara Conner brouhaha has helped shed light on the differences between the two pageant programs. Miss USA is a for-profit enterprise owned by Donald Trump and NBC. Miss America is a nonprofit scholarship program. Trump announced Tuesday that he would give Conner a second chance, instead of dethroning her for inappropriate behavior, including underage drinking. Meanwhile, the schedule for next month’s Miss America contest (Jan. 26-29) at the Aladdin/Planet Hollywood is coming together. A key change: The finals have been moved from the traditional Saturday TV telecast to Monday in hopes of boosting ratings. Saturday has long been a ratings challenge.
Norm Clark (story) and CMT (photo)
Me-ow and ouch, but at least now I know the difference!
