Miss America 2009

I bet a lot of people are wondering what has been going on with Miss Washington for the past 6 months. If it were not for the wonderful WA Ma to put up pictures every now and then there would be absolutely no record of all of the wonderful and exciting events I have been able to participate in this year! It really has been a fun year and I feel terrible for not keeping everyone in the loop, it was not at all intentional but if anybody caught the Miss America reality show on TLC, you would have seen me reveal my incredibly nerdy interest in numbers when I recited the first 60 digits of Pi. I have always been more of a numbers gal than a written word girl so it usually takes being reminded about 14 times to sit down and recount what’s been going on.

Where to even begin?! :) How about with the most incredible, fun, exhilarating, adventurous, challenging, and life-changing experience I have ever had: Miss America 2010! That was two weeks of my life that I will remember and treasure forever. I thoroughly enjoyed every single part of the process, which began way back in August when Peggy and I went shopping for gowns in Orlando. There were highs and lows throughout all of the shopping, interviewing, working out, practicing my piano, and on and on, but I have the best memories and have grown so much as a result. I have really tried so hard to pick a favorite part of all of it but I have determined that it is impossible. Everything was great for a different reason :)

That being said, I would say that in general, there has been one amazing THEME that has stood out, especially in the Miss America process, but has really been my favorite aspect of this entire year. That is the relationships I’ve developed and the intense love, support and encouragement I’ve felt. I took a lot of things away from Miss America but what continues to blow my mind and overwhelm me emotionally is how cared for I felt. My family, (pageant family and my biological family), friends, church and small group, my fans, supporters, and people that I have never even met have said and sent the kindest things to me. I literally went through moments where I would sit on the floor or my bed and stare off into space, before, during and after Miss America, wondering what I could have done to be treated so special. And in those moments, all I could think about was how thankful and blessed I was to have such an incredible opportunity. Thank you EVERYBODY who had any part in contributing to that once in a lifetime experience, whether it was by your physical presence, financial gift, thoughtful presents, words of encouragement, or prayers, you forever have a special place in my heart!

The ‘dream come true’ that was my Miss America experience began the morning that I left for the airport. Peggy, my family and I had been up later than we should have been the night before making sure that everything was packed to perfection. I woke up a little tired and anxious and was a bit in my own world as I got ready and moved towards the door. I would have had to be in my own world not to look out a single window in my house and notice the limo, fire truck, police cars, motorcycles, and the battalion chief outside my house waiting to escort me out of my fabulous hometown, Auburn! This is one of those cool moments I was talking about where I was overwhelmed by the love and support of the people around me… Even today, months later, I can hardly believe how unbelievable that was. And it only got better!! Hard to believe, I know :)

The motorcade and I pulled off Pike st SE and began the journey down Main St toward the freeway and Seatac airport. As if the limo, police, and fire escort weren’t cool enough, people had come out of their work and homes to stand on Main St and wave and cheer me on to Miss America. That was cloud 1-8, the 9th cloud came when I passed Washington Elementary, the school I attended from Kindergarten to 5th grade. All 400 students, staff, and my favorite custodian in the whole world, Mr. Berney, had lined up on the street waving handmade signs that read “Devanni is our Miss America”. I have never experienced or could ever imagine experiencing anything more touching, powerful, and inspiring than seeing 400 students screaming and cheering because they believe in you and look up to you. I was so moved by the love I was shown that morning that I felt like I didn’t even need to go to Miss America. In that moment I knew I was Miss America to those kids and it was more than enough for me. Anything that would come from actually being at Miss America was just icing on the cake.

On the day of arrival, I was so excited to find out the Miss West Virginia would be my roommate! The coolest thing of all was that we had an adjoining room with two other girls, Arizona and Illinois. I would be lying if I said wasn’t nervous to spend 11 days with these other 52 girls and was more than a little intimidated by many of their experience and resumes. It immediately turned out that that was a whole lot of wasted energy because they were the most fun and entertaining people I have ever met! I know it is sort of cliché to say that we all clicked and got along but it is 100% true! It goes back to that wonderful theme that has been my favorite part of the year, Relationships! I made the best friends at Miss America and the experience would not have been so off the charts if it weren’t for the other girls.

Pageant week started out with a whole lot of rehearsals, appearances and filming for TLC and Tall Pony productions. Filming was some of the weirdest but most hilarious moments with the other contestants. On the first day we revealed our hidden talents and pageant secrets. I was so excited that my memorization made the TV show but my pageant secret unfortunately didn’t make the cut. Apparently TLC didn’t feel like the world didn’t need to know about the power of hemorrhoid cream on blisters caused by long hours of dancing and walking in heels. Thank you to Momma Duck for passing on that nugget of knowledge to me and my Miss WA sisters :)

The other fantastic TV time came early Wednesday morning after the first night of preliminary competition. We were all so exhausted and coming down from the excitement of the night before and had to be hair and makeup ready by 7 am to start the 6 hour session they had scheduled. Everyone quietly dreaded this but it ended up being one of the memories that I share and laugh about the most! I don’t know if it was actually as funny as I think it is or if it was just because we were all delirious and couldn’t believe what they were making us do … hmmmm. The goal of the shoot was to show everyone how fun Miss America and Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas were. To do this they filmed us all over the hotel dancing to the song “We Came to Party” that was playing on an iPod that one of the camera crew was holding. *side note* My worst nightmare is dancing in public so for the first set of takes, when they were having us dance individually, I hid behind one of the columns in the lobby to avoid being chosen. But after dancing as a group up and down the escalator, in a crowd in the lobby, on the casino floor, and down the stairs to the buffet I was finally somewhat comfortable and ready for my moment in the spotlight! I even was asked to deliver a line, “Miss Washington is in the groove!” I totally thought I was a rock star but apparently Tall Pony did not agree because my solo dance performance and line were left on the cutting room floor along with my pageant secret :(

The appearances we did during the week were just incredible: Dinner at PF Changs, the gondola ride at the Venetian, walking the runway at Fashion Show mall, Buca de Beppo, racing at Pole Position Raceways, seeing Phantom of the Opera live and meeting the actors afterwards, and the Evening of Dreams on Friday night! One of my favorites was probably Pole Position Raceways because it revealed the competitive side of each of the contestants, me included! I wanted to win that darn race so bad that it took every fiber of my being not bump and crash the other contestants! It took a lot of deep breathing and reminding myself that it was all for fun. I know for a fact that other contestants felt the same way because during the finals race things got a little heated and during one of the far turns on the actual track there was a huge crash involving Miss DC and my roomie, Miss West Virginia! All we heard were the cars colliding and then we saw the operators and chaperones running out onto the track to make sure everyone was okay. Nobody was hurt which makes it okay to laugh out loud at as hard as you want at, which I definitely did :)

The actual competition was off-the-charts amazing. I can’t put into words what it felt like to be on that stage each night, to look out into the audience and see everyone cheering for you and the banners hanging from the balcony’s, it was indescribable. There is so much excitement and anticipation in addition to the awe of being at Miss America; I was so proud to be there.

There are so many highlights from the pageant but I’ll just share a couple. First of all, I LOVED our production number dance to the song “I’ve Gotta Feeling”. We rehearsed to the song 8 hours a day for a week and a half and performed it on stage all four nights of competition and I miraculously NEVER got tired of it :) It also helped that I was just crazy about our choreographers, Barry, Stacy and Brian! On the first night of competition I performed my talent. For those of you who don’t already know, I am someone who normally gets extremely nervous before I perform, despite the fact that I have been performing most of my life. I 100% rely on Momma Duck to hold my hands before I walk out on stage to shake out all of the butterflies, which was a luxury I was not afforded in Vegas. At Miss America though, I didn’t experience any of the anxious feelings that I normally get. When I walked out to play Malaguena in that incredible red dress from Regalia, I felt completely confident and at peace. When I was done it would have been impossible to wipe the smile off my face because I was so happy and felt like it was the best I had every performed it! It seemed the Black Eyed Peas were right about their feeling that it was gonna be a good night! (I crack myself up)

The second night of competition was on-stage question and it went by so fast that it barely felt like I did anything at all! It is crazy how time efficient they are with the competition each night, especially after you experience how much hurry up and wait they put you through in rehearsals :)

The third and final night of preliminaries was a different story though- it was both swimsuit and evening gown competition for me and surprisingly what I was the most nervous about! The stage floor was super slippery and my heel slipped more than once in rehearsal, so I was terrified that I was going to fall down the stairs during the show! Thank the Lord that did not happen! In fact, I ended up having the most wonderful and memorable moments of the entire week that evening. The ticket situation at Miss America was a bit of a bummer as the entire Miss WA section got seated off to the side of the theatre with half the stage being blocked by the huge props on the actual stage. Two angels, known as my Aunt Leslie and Uncle Jerry, showed up at Miss America a day earlier than they’d planned and decided to try and get tickets for the show that night. The tickets they bought last minute were in about the fourth row, center stage and they gifted those seats to my mom and dad. I of course had no idea until I spun around in the opening production number and saw my mom and dad’s beaming faces looking right back at me from so close! It was so awesome and took everything I had not to burst into tears from the power of that moment.

Finals night at Miss America, though it didn’t go just like I dreamed that it would, was still a totally awesome experience. I did not make the first cut into the Top 15 but it allowed me to experience a different side of the competition in the best seats in the entire house :) I was so concerned that it would be miserable and insulting to sit up there but it ended up being a blast. Every other girl sitting there was in the same situation as I and it allowed us to connect on a whole new level and just be together for the first time without having to think about the competition. Also, we got to hang out with Mario Lopez, no big deal. In case anyone was wondering, he looks just as good in person as he does on TV! He also smells really good which I told him to his face. He appreciated the compliment and proceeded to hug me, TWICE!

Clearly, I loved competing at Miss America and had so many fabulous experiences while I was there. There is one thing, however, that I have not shared yet that without a doubt was my greatest memory/honor/achievement from the national pageant. All 53 contestants had the opportunity to vote for the four girls that we thought possessed the qualities of a Miss America and deserved to be in the Top 15. Before the show Saturday night, Sam Haskell announced the 12 girls that had received the most votes and when I heard him say “Washington” my heart literally felt like it was going to jump out of my chest. While I was there, I truly considered myself to be surrounded with the very best of the best; With 52 of the most beautiful, talented, intelligent and accomplished people that I had ever met, and just to be associated with them and a part of that group was such an honor. So for that elite group of women to believe in me and respect me so much that they would vote for me just blew my mind. I was so thankful and it was a feeling similar to when I drove past the students at Washington Elementary on my way to the airport. In that exact moment the outcome didn’t matter because as far as I was concerned, I had already received the greatest honor of all!

Whew! That is a long entry and yet just a small taste of everything I got to do at Miss America! If I think of anything else I’ll put up a part II! Thank you again to everyone who shared in this experience with me, it was out of this world awesome!! :)

With lots and lots of love and laughter,

Devanni Partridge

Miss Washington 2009