There she goes: Miss America pageant driven to CMT by us know-it-alls

BostonHerald.com - Lifestyle: There she goes: Miss America pageant driven to CMT by us know-it-alls: By Beth Teitell
Wednesday, January 18, 2006

Video killed the radio star, so the song goes. But who bumped off Miss America? You did, apparently. Well maybe not you - you may be a very nice person. But I certainly did. And others like me.

Or so I’ve learned from a certain judgmental - sorry, but it’s true - vice president of programming and development for the schmaltzy cable station that agreed to take in a homeless Miss America pageant, the Country Music Television channel. “Our audience is by and large not a cynical audience,” Paul Villadolid told the Gannet News Service. (And it’s not a big one, either. The channel averaged 324,000 prime-time viewers last year.)

“What is it, the rube audience?” one of my friends asked.

“It’s remarks like that that are part of the problem,” I said.

We sophisticates allowed ourselves a small laugh at the expense of the CMT-loving simpletons. This Saturday night, while we’re challenging ourselves with “Frasier” reruns or perhaps a figure skating competition, the CMT crowd will be tuned into the pageant. And what a doozy it should be.

In an attempt to fend off obsolescence, the Miss America pageant is losing the cheesy reality-TV elements of the past few years (which were a miserable failure, garnering only 9.8 million viewers on ABC last year). Instead, it’s returning to its roots, bringing back the beloved state sashes, the retro gowns, the Miss Congeniality competition. "

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TKPN
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