Last week we learn that the main duty of beauty queens is to judge other beauty queens. Whether its official (Riyo judging the Miss Indonesia pageant; Rachel judging the Turks and Caicos pageant) or unofficial (Rachel judging Katie; Rachel and Katie judging Tara), these queens are experts at throwing stones in glass houses. We also learn that nobody, and that’s NOBODY, calls Katie a teeny bopper. Of course, calling her Miss Teen Burpy Belcherson is totally fair game.
Rachel and Katie get ready in the morning after their big fight. Katie is still upset about Rachel calling her a teeny bopper, and she thinks Rachel is stuck up, arrogant, and full of herself, because, well, Rachel is stuck up, arrogant, and full of herself. Tara comes over to get the girls out of the apartment, and she acknowledges the tension between her and Katie. “There’s a lot of pretending between Katie and I…There’s a lot of things I’d like to discuss.â€
Katie and Rachel are off to a charity event at the Gay Men’s Health Crisis Center, where it appears that they are doing charity kitchen prep work. Rachel offers to do the dishes and Katie peels carrots. Rachel doesn’t think Katie has ever worked a day in her life since being crowned Miss Teen USA. Rachel says that she’s worked every day of her life: “It does the body good.†So now we can add demeaning to Rachel’s list of attributes.
After the charity event we get a new insight into Katie and Josh’s relationship: they only see each other once every 2 weeks and no more than 2 and half weeks. Wait, what? Don’t they live in the same city? Why do I feel like that is more Josh’s doing than Katie’s?
Anyhow, Riyo is back and Katie bought her a tee shirt. It’s pink and cute and I’m sure Riyo will love it. Katie also buys Josh a few shirts. I hate when people buy me clothes, ESPECIALLY tee shirts, Josh doesn’t like anyone of them. He thinks the orange tie-dyed shirt “almost a little gay for me.†Hey Josh, I’ve got news for you, dating a pageant queen is kind of gay.
In two weeks Katie is going to Pasadena to crown the next Miss Teen USA. During lunch the girls talk about Katie’s post-pageantry life. Katie’s not starting college right away because it’s too late to start freshman year, but she has things in the works that she’s not going to talk about. Rachel keeps prying. “Singing and acting?†Katie basically acknowledges that she wants to be in entertainment, and that she’s not ruling out being a singer. Rachel’s mind is blown. “I’ve heard Katie Sign…hey, technology’s great.†Why is Rachel such a B*tch? Also, what’s wrong with using technology? The new Britney Spears album is great, and there is not one human voice on the entire thing.
Katie rides home from the restaurant with Josh. She talks about being perfectly happy as a clueless 19 year-old, and that she’s sick of people asking her about her future. She clearly has no idea that being pestered about your future is part of the teenage experience. Josh thinks Rachel is jealous. “She wants to be Oprah.†I think Josh might be mistaking self-worshipping egomania with jealousy (Before I get a lot of Oprah fanatics sending me hate mail, I want to make clear that I love Oprah, but also that I’m not going to act like Oprah doesn’t also love Oprah).
Back at Pageant Place, Tara and Rachel are lying on the bed and talking about Katie. Rachel is upset about Katie’s debased cleanliness, and she doesn’t think their fight the previous day was civilized. Tara thinks Katie wants to be treated like an adult, but that she also likes to fall back on the ‘I’m only 19-years-old’ excuse. “My biggest advice,†says Tara “is to just talk to her about it.†Rachel, picking up on the Tara/Katie tension responds, “Perhaps you should take your own advice.†I really hate Rachel.
The next day Tara calls Katie to set up a talk time to hash things out on camera. Katie doesn’t want to go through the confrontation all over again, but she agrees to meet Tara and goes to the apartment with one empty iced coffee and one full iced coffee.
I’ve been waiting for the Tara Vs. Katie duel all season, but it isn’t that dramatic. â€We can let this thing ride out,†starts Tara, “but I would rather just get everything out in the open.†Katie starts to cry a little, but Tara, being the ranking queen, starts sobbing. She cries about the media, and how she was locked in the apartment before rehab, and that now she’s only known for being the Miss USA who went to rehab. How can she ever forgive Katie, but without Katie she wouldn’t be eight months sober? Tara comes to the only logical conclusion: “Even though you’re a bitch I love you with all my heart.†Tara is a class act.
Finally we get some Riyo time. She goes to her English language instructor. Today’s lesson: idioms. Now, it’s been a while since I took grammar class, but I guess idioms are just informal expressions. I’ve heard that English expressions are what make the learning the language so difficult. The first idiom is “[blank] is a good egg,†the last is “cool as a cucumber.†Put those two idioms together on top of some romaine lettuce and you’ve got a nifty salad.
Meanwhile, Katie is trying on dresses to prepare for the Pasadena pageant. She doesn’t like any of the dresses; some look too much like Paris Hilton, while others just don’t suit her personality. The wardrobe workers think she’s handling the situation like a 19-year-old, and they especially don’t appreciate the big belch that Katie lets out during the fitting. Katie defends herself by claiming to have a stomach problem, but the wardrobe ladies don’t buy it. “It’s one of the most intrusive things you can do in a public setting.â€
Excuse me while I rant for a second. I burped like Katie for 3 years of my life. I went to doctor after doctor, and eventually they found out that I have severe gastro-esophageal reflux disease (GERD) which caused ulcers to form up and down my esophagus. I had to have major internal surgery, I dropped down to 120 pounds (I’m 5’10’’), and I still have dietary restrictions. The moral of this story is that belching is all fun and games until someone winds up with a week in the hospital, half a stomach, and an esophagus full of ulcers. She should consider getting an endoscopy.
When Katie gets home she talks with Riyo about her future. Riyo understands that Katie is just a teen who doesn’t know what she wants. When Riyo entered the pageant she knew that she wanted to be a dancer and have a dance school, but Katie was too young to be that focused. Katie doesn’t want to go to college, and instead just wants to go back to Texas, see her family, and get to know Katie. “You’re a good egg, Katie Blair,†Riyo says, putting those English lessons to good use.
Katie and Tara are having lunch at an outdoor café. They mock a body building woman who walks by, which is rude and catty, but also totally funny. “Not a good look!†They also have paparazzi taken their photos. They think it’s rude at first, but then they laugh and have fun with them. Looks like the dynamic duo is back.
Next week, it’s goodbye to both Katie’s reign and Katie’s boy.
And foreigners wonder why Americans are so selfish...way to go MTV.
Though regardless of MTV's attempt to dramatize and make these girls seem like clueless caricatures, they are not. One girl struggled with drugs and drinking, another is dealing with western culture, this show could be an expose on todays youth but it has made these young women seem caddy and socially vapid.I mean MTV, had some stark material here but made it fodder.
With the emergence of bi racial,(Mexican and German) Hilary Carol Cruz, I am hoping the show will take itself to another level. Miss Teen 2007's experience could be a great spring broad to show girls that you can be both mixed, smart and still have intelligence. She radiated on the stage during the Miss Teen USA pagent and she still does on Pagent Place.
2 Kudos and a big Hurrah to Hilary Carol Cruz!
I can't blame her for being frustrated with the Miss South Carolina mess. That girl was pretty but her "15 minutes" are up! Hilary is the winner. She has the title and the international exposure and composure to be a real role model for young women.
I understand exactly what Donald is doing. You can bet that the decision to bring Miss Teen South Carolina to the VMA's and to New York to upstage the winner Hillary Cruz, was his alone and motivated by all the web hits that Miss Teen South Carolina received. A brilliant marketing strategy that could also make for some interesting TV.
However, while I understand it I certainly disagree, and I think that this marketing strategy may be counter productive in the long
run and bound to produce needless tension among the winners. I think that it may make winning these crowns less valuable in the future to the participants.
I have faith that Hillary Cruz will handle the challenges of her reign with grace and dignity.
Rachel's situation is different however, as Tara is supposed to protect the pagent winners and promote the Miss Universe organization at the same time. I understand both girls dilemma and have empathy for both. I believe that these two can find a compromise that will work for both of them.
avandia more drug side effects. avandia. avandia. ...