Comments on: Larry King and Carrie Prejean – what a mess of an interview!

By: Linda VandeVrede

Linda VandeVrede — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 04:19:24 +0000

Good point, Kevin – they are 2 different pageants. I wish wiki answers had a better or longer explanation however:

“The shortest answer to this question [what is the difference between Miss America and Miss USA] is that it’s really like the difference between Nike & Puma…just two different brands, but both running shoes. Both pageants have long and varied histories, but Miss USA goes on to Miss Universe and is a Trump owned organization. Miss America is not a part of Trump.

The differences in the competition is that Miss America has a talent portion. Usually Miss USA will be a little more glam and Miss America is a little more ‘woman next door’.”

By: Kevin Curran

Kevin Curran — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 01:56:48 +0000

I have either interviewed or attended news conferences with Miss America winners several times. I have always found them to be well-spoken and patient.

The first LDS Miss America politely dodged a question about polygamy during a press event. One former Miss America apologized that she couldn’t show me her crown, she’d moved on from pageant life and it was at her mother’s house. Vanessa Williams even kept her cool during her resignation news conference (at which my poor wife almost got trampled).

Keep in mind these are Miss America winners, a pageant where looks are supposedly equal with other attributes. Carrie was in the Miss USA stable, which has different judging criterea.

By: Linda VandeVrede

Linda VandeVrede — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 19:11:07 +0000

It was just bad all around. To your point, Tim, her publicists should have prepared her better for all types of scenarios. And Larry King, as the consummate interviewer, should have recognized her discomfort and inexperience and smoothly left the topic alone. But he persisted, and it just got weirder and weirder.

By: Tim Wheatcroft

Tim Wheatcroft — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 00:04:05 +0000

I think that her publicists were negligent in the way they advised their client.

Irrespective of Larry’s performance, they put their client in the spotlight even though she was woefully unprepared or ill-equipped to do so.

Either a) they knew that and sent her out anyway, in which case they did a terrible job or b) they couldn’t see that, in which case they did a terrible job.

By: Steven Groves

Steven Groves — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 23:59:42 +0000

Wow – it was painful… Carrie must be as ‘blonde’ as she looks. Being a blonde man, she give us all a bad name – well, she give us all as humans a bad name when she behaves like that.

By: Jackie Wright

Jackie Wright — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 02:37:22 +0000

AMEN! I can’t tell you how many times I have seen awful interviews with people who should know better! The clue bus is honking! If you are a person in the public eye, hire a PR professional NOT A PUBLICIST, to walk you through a real media training program and don’t even think about speaking on camera before you have your talking points memorized!

By: arizonanews

arizonanews — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 08:34:50 +0000

“Are we asking too much of our “beautiful people” if we want them to handle themselves on air like an experienced politician,”

No. We didn’t ask Carrie to do anything except shut up and go away. She thrust herself back in the spotlight by having a book published in her name. If she wants to use a book to get rich, fine, but she should get the same critical questions from journalists that any politician or public figure would face.