and evening wear. The contestants are
scored most heavily on their interview. Their interviews take place the morning of the pageant at a hotel in Mission Val- ley. Each girl meets pri- vately with the six judges. They grill her on current events, personal ques- tions, and the platform they have chosen to rep- resent, often something like arts in education or breast-cancer awareness. “They can ask us any-
thing, so it is really hard to prepare for,” Kirstin Roberts tells me. “I am trying my best to pre- pare for that. I have been keeping up-to-date on current events.” Magracia prepared by
installing an app on her phone called Skim that gives her a brief descrip- tion of all the latest trend- ing news topics. “In the car, instead of listening to music, I listen to AM 1070 news so I know what is going on,” she says. Murphy isn’t as con-
cerned as the other two. She explained, “I work for corporate America. I have had multiple jobs and multiple job interviews. My boyfriend’s sister is the executive director of Miss Southland and Ms. Holly- wood. She is working with me. I think I’ll do great.” ***
On my way to the second Mallory Murphy answers a question asked by Diamond Alexander.
dress rehearsal Saturday afternoon, a few hours before the pageant, I spot Murphy sitting in her mini Cooper in the parking garage, her golden hair in curlers. Her judges’ interview was earlier that morning. “How did it go?”
I ask. “Not so great,” Mur-
phy admits, “They asked me what two senators, one from California, were debating about. I had no idea. I even got her name wrong. I said Diane von Fürstenberg, you know, the designer, instead of... what’s her name?” “Dianne Feinstein,”
I offer.” “Yeah. I didn’t know
what they were talking about. I still don’t,” she says, looking deflated. It
gets worse. Murphy tells me, “I tried to be really funny and charming but I think I came off as dumb, not funny. They were, like, ‘You lived in Paris for four and a half months. What did you miss most about home and how did this help you find your way as a young woman?’ I was, like, ‘You know what, they don’t sell pea- nut butter in Paris and I really love peanut butter.’ I went on about how much I missed peanut-butter- and-jelly sandwiches,” she says with a laugh. Inside the auditorium
I run into teen contestant Jena Marie Mafnass-Ser- ran. I ask her how her interview went. She shrugs. “I think it
went well. I got stuck on one question. They asked,
R E S E A R C H S T U D I E S
‘If you could change one law, what would it be?’ I didn’t know what to say,” she tells me. Kirstin Roberts is
equally disappointed after her interview. She was asked to describe the Republican and Demo- cratic parties without using adjectives. “I don’t think that is
even possible,” she says. “I just said, ‘I will get back to you on that one.’” ***
When 6 p.m. rolls around, the start time of the Miss San Diego pageant, Marina Inserra is still in sweat pants and the contestants are milling around. People line up out front to get inside. A pack of Boy Scouts stand in one corner ogling the contestants. They are set to do a color-guard pre- sentation at the start of the pageant. Their pack mother is upset that the pageant has yet to start. “One of the moms is saying if her son doesn’t go onstage soon, she is taking him home,” she complains. At around 6:30 the
doors open and people begin filtering in. Anxious loved ones and dozens of crowned beauty queens from all over South- ern California enter the auditorium. The beauty
24 San Diego Reader January 7, 2016
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