World Peace, and Then Some: Pageants Have Come a Long Way

By Cassaundra Brooks

Photo of Leeann Dearing by Logan Vail
Photos of Brenna Sakas by Eric Fairchild
Photo of Brenna in swimsuit courtesy Miss Universe, LP, LLLP
Photos of pageant and Brittany Bell courtesy Casting Crown Productions

“It’s not a beauty pageant—it’s a scholarship program.” You might recognize these words from the Sandra Bullock chick-flick classic Miss Congeniality. Really, Miss USA, Miss America, and their married-woman and teen counterparts are, in the literal sense, both pageant and program—but yet they are much more. We all hear the horror stories of pageant moms barking orders at little girls with equal parts heavy makeup and bad attitude. But when approached properly, these competitions have a lot to offer young women. Just ask Brenna Sakas, the 2006 Miss Arizona USA titleholder and top-fifteen contender in the national 2006 Miss USA competition. Or talk to Leeann Dearing, first-time pageant participant and second runner-up in the 2009 Mrs. Arizona America competition.

MISS USA

Miss Arizona USA, a branch of the Miss USA pageant, is part of the Donald J. Trump-NBC Universal joint venture, the Miss Universe Organization (MUO). The pageant, which began in 1952 as a bathing-beauty competition sponsored by Catalina Swimwear, has undergone a metamorphosis in the past half-century. According to Miss Arizona USA pageant director Britt Boyse, the MUO is committed to increasing HIV/AIDS awareness and increasing awareness of breast and ovarian cancers through partnering with organizations dedicated to the research and education of these diseases. “The women who champion these causes during their reign personify the combination of beauty and intelligence that defines the twenty-first century,” Boyse says.

The state titleholders serve their communities through service with various other charitable organizations. Brenna Sakas, Miss Arizona USA 2006, has worked with the Special Olympics, Kiwanis, Adopt-a-Pilot, Voices Take Flight, Trot for Tots, the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and Best Buddies, among others. But her volunteer work began when she was just 8 years old, helping out in the children’s nursery and worship choir in her church as well as in several other capacities. At 16, she joined her family and the Catholic Coalition of Phoenix in the building of a home for Habitat for Humanity. This would begin a deeper relationship with the organization, as she became the Outreach Coordinator for ASU’s Habitat for Humanity Student Chapter and then began her active four-year participation with its Central Arizona public relations/marketing committee after winning Miss Arizona USA.

Sakas had dabbled in competing since the age of 11. After doing the local pageant circuit for a few years, she tried her luck at the age of 19 competing in local Miss America pageants, placing in Miss Arizona America’s top ten in 2004. In 2006, she entered the Miss Arizona USA pageant. A short while later, the Arizona native stood on the stage of downtown Phoenix’s historic Orpheum Theatre in her newly acquired evening gown, wearing a glittering crown and satin sash and clutching a floral bouquet.

Winning, however, took dedicated preparation: working out with a trainer several days a week and intensive mock interviews, for starters. Boyse, who competed herself in 1995, says that the preparation for these pageants helps participants cultivate skills and confidence. She says that this gave her “a definite edge” in her professional career in the health care industry. A key component to preparation from the side of the pageant, Boyse says, is to help the women identify, develop, and highlight their best attributes and to embrace their individuality with newfound confidence.

Sakas considers herself such a beneficiary. “Like most girls, I was a very awkward teenager,” she says. Competing in the Miss Arizona pageants helped her grow into a more secure woman. Though no stranger to performing in front of people, she built up her confidence and improved her speaking and presentation skills. Simply competing, she says, teaches dedication, perseverance, and time management. And the best part is that these benefits are available to all participants, win or lose. In fact, Boyse says, losing with class is just as important a lesson as winning with humility.

Pageants aren’t all glamour, of course. On the national level in particular, you enjoy precious few hours of sleep, endure twelve-hour TV rehearsals, fight homesickness, and sometimes battle illnesses. Competing at a national level in the company of fifty other gorgeous, driven women is, as Sakas puts it, “nerve-racking, intimidating, and dramatic,” especially when not every girl got the memo on sportsmanlike conduct.

“I’m not going to lie and say everyone was super nice and helpful,” Sakas says. “There was a handful of girls who made ‘world peace’ a little difficult for the rest of us.”

But Sakas was serious about wanting the opportunity, the experience, and the job of being Miss Arizona USA. And being titleholder is worth the hard work. Sakas took a leave of absence from her undergraduate studies at ASU to concentrate on making public appearances, fund-raising, and preparing for Miss USA. Titleholders volunteer with nonprofits, act as spokespeople, serve as role models to their community, represent pageant sponsors and, for state winners, represent Arizona in the Miss USA competition.

Sakas represented Arizona in Miss USA 2006 all the way through the semifinals. It was the experience, however, and not the missed crown that she remembers. In fact, Sakas not only recommends the pageant to other women but also has taken on coaching and mentoring participants herself through her business, Crowning Concepts Pageant Consulting. She takes the tips and tricks she learned in her years on the pageant circuit, couples them with her lifelong passion for education and experience in leadership, and helps other ladies pursue their pageant dreams. In the past year, she has had clients place in second, third, and fourth runner-up positions.

The one possible drawback to competing is cost. Each contestant pays an entry fee of $1,100, which covers participation, coaching/informational workshops, two nights’ hotel accommodation, competition sash, opening number dress, goodies from sponsors, and all transportation and meals during pageant weekend. That’s where sponsorships come into play. Contestants are encouraged to solicit sponsorships, a process that is great practice for the interview portion of the competition, according to Britt Boyse.

Sakas agrees. “Asking for donated services for hair, nails, spray tans, wardrobe alterations, etc., also helps,” she says. “And don’t spend thousands of dollars on an evening gown! I won Miss Arizona USA in a gown I purchased on eBay for $250.” And planning ahead helps, too. “Don’t wait until the last minute to buy your wardrobe, have it altered, and break in your shoes,” Sakas says.

But a dazzling evening gown, flattering swimsuit, and carefully crafted interview answer are not enough to win a crown. These women are beautiful and articulate, but it’s the character that shines through the glitz and eloquence that sets the contestants apart from one another. Brenna Sakas turns heads, but it’s not her physical beauty that lights up every room she enters. It’s her warm smile and infectious personality. It’s her enviable work ethic and moral center. She is a woman who perseveres and strives daily to live a moral life—one, she adds, in accordance with God’s word. Sakas cites her faith in Jesus Christ, whom she credits as her inspiration. She doesn’t crave the high levels of fame (no crazed paparazzi, thank you!) to which some Hollywood hopefuls aspire. Sakas, who is signed with FORD/Robert Black Agency, would like to make a living acting and modeling and coaching; she has already achieved decent success modeling for companies like Dillard’s, Coach, Calvin Klein, and Barrett-Jackson and acting in national commercials for Go Daddy Genie, Blue Diamond Almonds, and Dickenson’s Witch Hazel. But she also considers returning to the world of academia for a master’s degree in family therapy so that she might counsel families in distress. In the meantime, you’ll find the well-rounded beauty queen showing off her silly side performing with professional short-form improv troupe Chaos Comedy and doing yoga, running, reading, cooking, baking, bargain shopping, and studying Scripture.

MRS. AMERICA

The Miss America pageant dates back to 1921, when East Coast newspapers sought a means to increase their circulation. Winners of individual newspaper photographic popularity contests were awarded an all-expense-paid trip to the second annual Fall Frolic festival in Atlantic City, where they were placed in an “Inter-City Beauty Contest” and judged in large part by appearance, personality, conversation with judges, and interaction with the crowds.

The pageant has come a long way from its beginnings. It was first telecast in 1954, and in 1989, the Miss America Organization (MAO) founded its familiar platform concept. No, “world peace” is not a platform—though certainly there is hope that it can be achieved through the efforts made on behalf of various platforms like homelessness, character education, domestic violence, and so forth. The current Miss Arizona America, for instance, focuses on enriching lives through higher education. According to the official Web site, it is also the leading provider of scholarships for young women in the world.

The organization has also spawned the first and largest married-woman pageant to date: Mrs. America, established in 1977. According to its official Web site, the competition is “devoted to emphasizing that America’s 70 million married women are extraordinarily beautiful, poised, articulate, and versatile.” Contestants for this married-woman counterpart range in age from the twenties to the fifties, and compete in three areas: personal interview, (personality and communication skills), swimsuit (fitness and health), and evening gown (poise and grace). Unlike Miss America contestants, participants do not compete in a talent portion.

Leeann Dearing, second runner-up to Mrs. Arizona America 2009 (who was Tucson’s Elisa Rister), might have been even more formidable a competitor if there were a judging for talent. The beautiful, witty blonde is a trained pianist who composes her own music. She is also a talented vocalist, skilled actor, and improvisational performer. Her platform—arts education—is one she advocates strongly. “Artists are not expendable,” she says.

And landing in third place was a thrill for the first-time competitor. She didn’t expect to capture the crown in her pageant debut. It gave her a taste of the pageant world, and her overall experience with the competition has prompted her to enter this realm once again.

But what was it that made the newly married former East Coaster enter the pageant in the first place? True, it was at the suggestion of her friend and coach, Brenna Sakas, but the “America system” itself also drew her in. It wasn’t just about beauty, she says. The pageant stresses charity work and family, among other key values. Through MAO, she was afforded the opportunity to participate in the Child Help USA fashion show benefit and the Leukemia Night at Devil’s Martini. But her interest in charity work had already deepened several years earlier in central Thailand, where she spent time working in schools, farms, and church communities. One of her most vivid memories is a visit to a leprosy recovery clinic, where, through a translator, she was able to have what she describes as “beautiful conversations with the patients.”

Dearing says, “It sounds overly simplistic, but to observe the discrepancy in the quality of life in America as opposed to rural Thailand was awakening. This experience fostered a deeper gratefulness within me for my country and the opportunities provided here.”

One such opportunity was trying her luck with Mrs. Arizona America. Like Sakas, she was accustomed to the stage, and her strong background in theater and performance perhaps bolstered her nerves. However, there were many skills that did not cross over, and the preparation and competition gave her the chance to improve her public speaking and improvisation skills as well as fitness, poise, and confidence—key assets in the acting world. The hefty entry fee (similar to that of Miss Arizona USA and also often funded through sponsorships) was well worth her experience. Her mentor, former Mrs. Arizona Rosalie Michaels, gave her a piece of advice that really stuck: “Don’t worry about the crown. See the journey.”

That journey began with preparation, to which coach Brenna Sakas was more than accustomed. Training included perfecting “the walk” and running through a series of tough mock interviews. “I had kind of a duck walk,” says Dearing. “[Brenna] was able to point out exactly what I was doing and how to fix it.” And thanks to hours of prep work, she felt as though she nailed her interview.

The competition did bring at least one nerve-racking event for which nothing can really prepare a contestant: the swimsuit round. There are not many situations which require strutting across a stage in front of a large audience in a swimsuit and high heels. Going through it, however, helps secure a level of confidence few other situations could provide. “If you can smile and laugh in a swimsuit and heels,” Dearing says, “you can nail any presentation or any audition!”

And she has. You may recognize her, in fact, from this year’s Go Daddy Super Bowl commercials, which starred race car driver Danica Patrick. She earned a small role in the Lifetime project Maneater with Sarah Chalke (Scrubs) and Judy Greer (27 Dresses, The Village), which premiered nationally last year. She is set to shoot the short film Domestic Dispute this spring and can soon be seen co-starring in Personalized Medicine. You can also catch Dearing at Arizona Virtual Studios on Saturday nights portraying a colorful assortment of zany characters for improv troupe Chaos Comedy—which is directed by her husband Matthew—or playing the piano at Highlands Church in Scottsdale.

Dearing embodies the characteristics sought out by the Mrs. America Organization. She possesses class in spades and is already a personal role model for scores of aspiring actors across the Valley who have studied their craft under her instruction and mentoring. Three years ago, she and her husband started up the Dearing Acting Studio, which she describes as one of the greatest joys of her life.

“I don’t know if [my students] realize how much they give me,” she says. “It recharges me.”

She says it’s difficult not to get sucked into the self-dominating vortex of the entertainment industry, and while she has begun to take on larger-scale projects with some bigger industry names, she is happy here in the Grand Canyon State. “I’m in no rush to LA or New York,” she says. “I believe in Arizona. I believe in our market.”

Dearing is driven by her faith and her desire to live up to the work ethic, selflessness, and compassion of her own real-life inspirations like her parents and her husband. She is just the sort of woman a Mrs. America contestant should be.

“My goals are to keep God at the center, to love and honor my husband Matt, and to create art that is interesting, honest, and real,” she says. And, on a smaller scale, to eventually obtain the coveted crown—and the job that goes along with it.

Despite occasional poor press as well as spoofs courtesy the entertainment industry, major pageants have produced more than a string of beauty queens. That these women are beautiful is undeniable, but they are, in general, also intelligent, driven, compassionate human beings with good sense and important messages to convey to the public. They undergo the scrutiny of audiences that sometimes number in the millions and perform beautifully under immense pressure. And forget plastic smiles and dull personalities—Sakas and Dearing are proof to the contrary. Their passion for helping others pursue their own dreams is not only evident through their eloquent speeches but also through their selfless acts, which prove time and again that these special ladies are the genuine article: women, in their most admirable form.

The Miss Arizona USA 2010 competition was held in November. The Mrs. Arizona America competition will be held on May 21–22 at the Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts. For more information on these organizations, visit missarizonausa.com and mrsarizonaamerica.com. For more information on the Miss Universe Organization, visit missuniverse.org. For more information on the Miss America Organization, visit missamerica.org. To learn more about Brenna Sakas’s coaching and current projects, visit brennasakas.com. To learn more about Leeann Dearing’s current projects, visit leeanndearing.com or dearingstudio.com.

SIDEBARS

Miss Arizona USA 2010

Brittany Sheree Bell was crowned Miss Arizona USA 2010 and Miss Congeniality at the Ikea Theater at the Mesa Center for the Arts last November, and will compete for the title of Miss USA in April of this year. The 22-year-old is a graduate of ASU with a bachelor’s degree in broadcast journalism. For the past three years, she was a dancer for the Phoenix Suns. As the reigning Miss Arizona USA, she is using her title to draw attention to two of her favorite charities: Phoenix Youth at Risk and Face in the Mirror. She is using networking contacts she made as a university student and Suns dancer to hone opportunities for partnerships, sponsorships, and volunteering. As for her experience with the pageant, Bell says, “The Miss USA pageant, in my opinion, is about your personality, your success, the way you carry yourself, your poise, your ethics, and pretty much everything about you being an all-around driven, classy, and confident young woman.”

PAGEANTS

Miss Arizona USA

There are three competitive components, each judged using the following criteria:

Swimsuit: physical fitness, stage presence, and overall impression

Evening gown: grace, poise, style, stage presence, confidence, and overall impression

Interview: communication skills and personality (not opinions or personal beliefs)

Prizes: Contestants who achieve at least runner-up status may receive prizes that include substantial scholarships, gift certificates, and discounts, while winners also enjoy an engraved crystal trophy, custom crown and sash, and a Miss Arizona USA official banner.

Mrs. Arizona America

There are three competitive components, as follows:

Presentation and Community Achievement (Interview) – 50 percent of the total score

Presence and Poise (Evening Wear) – 25 percent of the total score

Lifestyle and Fitness (Swimsuit) – 25 percent of the total score

Prizes: The Miss Arizona pageant is generous in scholarships, while the Mrs. Arizona pageant includes sizable prize packages filled with goodies from numerous pageant sponsors along with certain official memorabilia.