Miss America judges debate swimsuits and ‘Jersey Shore’

When Joy Behar speaks of the swimsuit competition in the 2011 Miss America Pageant, she winces a little. It is likely an involuntary response, as Behar is a necessary participant in the competition process as one of the pageant judges for Saturday’s show at Planet Hollywood’s Theater for the Performing Arts.

She judges it, yes. As a requirement. But you feel if the show were entirely in Behar’s hands, the swimsuit competition would be tossed into the hamper.

“It’s not my favorite part of the competition. I’m more interested in seeing the talent, I’m more interested in what they have to say,” Behar, co-host of “The View” on ABC and pilot of her own show on CNN sister station ULN, said this week during a news conference where all of this year’s judges took questions as a unit for the only time in the lead-up to the pageant.

2011 Miss America Pageant: 1/11/11 Prelims

2011 Miss America Pageant: 1/12/11 Prelims

2011 Miss America Pageant: 1/13/11 Prelims

The show is set to air, tape delayed, on Saturday night at 9 on ABC.

Joining Behar were Miss America Organization President and CEO Sam Haskell III and judges Dr. Debbye Turner Bell (a veterinarian and 1991 Miss America), Marc Cherry (creator and executive producer of “Desperate Housewives”), shoe designer Taryn Rose, “Dancing With the Stars” professional dancer Tony Dovolani, author and actress Marilu Henner and country music star Mark Wills.

These events are usually fairly tame, as Haskell asks that questions address only the pageant or issues related to the broadcast or the Miss America Organization. That’s why even the presence of Miss America judge Rush Limbaugh last year failed to cause much of a ripple. But this week’s session was probably the liveliest since the show moved from Atlantic City to Planet Hollywood in 2006.

Early in the conversation, Behar had mentioned that she was not always a fan of every element of the pageant process, saying she’d long believed that the swimsuit competition “objectified” women. She is hardly alone. Millions of observers have argued against that category, and the pageant considered lopping it from the program altogether. In 1996, the pageant held a phone poll asking callers to vote on whether to keep the competition. Eighty-seven percent voted to retain swimsuits.

When asked if being a judge helped evolve her perception of the competition, Behar said, “Kind of, but I thought they looked incredible in those long gowns (Tuesday) night, they were just beautiful to look at,” she said. “I mean, they looked really good in their bathing suits. I really couldn’t figure out who looked better. They all looked the same, and the way they explain it is, they’re toned and they’re healthy.”

She added, “But, you know, I still don’t think it’s necessary. But I think people like it, so it’s fine with me, and I’m not going to badmouth that part of the competition. But to me, it’s not a necessary part.”

Is it the most difficult category to judge?

“Yeah, I have a lot of trouble with it,” Behar said. “But again, they all look good. It was very difficult to judge on that basis. They are all toned, beautiful girls, they all had the same bathing suits on, it was hard for me.”

That answer led to a rarity -- a question from a judge to a judge, as Cherry turned to Bell and asked, “Debbye, you were in the pageant, how did you feel about walking out there in a swimsuit?”

Bell said she didn’t much feel like walking around in a swimsuit.

“Much like Joy, this was my least favorite part of the competition because, quite frankly, I had no aspirations to show my butt on national television,” she said. “I wanted to be a veterinarian. Nothing in my life had prepared me to do that. But, I will say this, the beginning of me being conscious about my health, and my body, started with the Miss America system. It was the first time I started paying attention to whether I should put a Dorito in my mouth started with, ‘Oh my God, I’ve gotta be onstage in a swimsuit. So maybe I should have a piece of celery instead.’ ”

Over the years, the swimsuit competition has invited a host of problem for the pageant, in terms of perception and the contestants’ willingness to sacrifice health for appearance.

“Quite frankly, contestants did whatever they had to do to just be thin,” Bell continued. “I stopped eating two weeks before the pageant just so I could get down and be just as thin as the other contestants. Now it is called Health and Fitness, you have to have muscle tone, they have shiny skin and shiny hair -- they have guns, they have ‘The Situation’ goin’ on (an apparent reference to tonality in the abdomen) -- and that’s fantastic. Health is an important part of our lives, and the swimsuit competition serves to reinforce that.”

A longtime swimsuit wearer herself, Henner interjected, “There is a self-confidence that they have. They might not have the greatest body in the lineup, but some girls just exuded such a self-confidence. …. This is a girl who is really working it. She’s got this big smile, self-presence, and score highly for that, as well.”

Cherry also engaged a bit of pontificating when comparing the Miss America contestants to their more famous counterparts who dominate entertainment media.

“We asked a whole bunch of girls questions about ‘Jersey Shore,’ because that’s something that’s going on right now. ‘What do you think about Snooki?’ ” he said. “Some watched the show, and some didn’t. And it really got me to thinking about the kinds of women who the media cover, Paris Hilton and Snooki, and I am so touched by these women. Some of them have heart-wrenching stories. And, yeah, a couple of them might put that story out there to get points, but some of them are so excruciating to listen to, and you see this woman who is now so confident and understand where she came from, and I think about what this organization does in putting women of substance in front of the public. … The Miss America Organization is putting Miss America out in front and saying, ‘Pay attention here. There is an example of another type of young woman you can use as an inspiration, and she’s not just some drunk, addled actress who has squandered her opportunities, she’s not some idiot in front of a reality TV camera, and she’s not some rich heiress who only thinks about shopping. She’s educated, she’s confident, and she’s ambitious.”

Of course, Cherry created a TV show that is rarely credited for improving the intellect or helping mold the character of young women across the country. He did say, “I’ve been surprised that ‘Desperate Housewives’ is controversial,” adding that the show provides a compelling depiction of suburban America, and if most of network television were intelligently executed, “ ‘Jersey Shore’ might be more palatable.”

And, worth noting, Miss America has actually returned to health, in large part, as result of the reality TV culture. When the show was under contract (a pretty lousy contract, as MAO officials say, retrospectively) with TLC, the network carried a Miss America reality TV show as a lead-up to the pageant.

“I didn’t like it,” Haskell said. “I though it was awkward to put these girls who are contestants in Miss America in a situation where they get thrown into a pool if they miss a question, something you’d see on ‘Survivor.’ ”

But the reality TV show helped draw younger viewers, and a lot of them. The pageant had fallen from 8 million to 9 million viewers on ABC in 2004 (a number that was actually viewed as too low for the network to keep the show) down to 2 million on cable. With a boost from the reality TV show, the total viewership climbed to more than 4.5 million, and the age demographic dropped from an average age of 58 to 37.

And the show is back on the network, though the organization is paying ABC to carry the pageant -- essentially four-walling the 2-hour block of airtime to reach an audience.

“If we get more than 4.5 million to watch, it’ll be a huge success,” Haskell said.

Whatever the number, those viewers will catch a show that professes to be fit in every way that counts.

Follow John Katsilometes on Twitter at twitter.com/JohnnyKats.