ATLANTIC CITY, NJ, – Angela Perez Baraquio of Honolulu, Hawaii, was crowned Miss America on Saturday, Oct 14, 2000, in Atlantic City. The 24-year old elementary school teacher,is a graduate of the University of Hawaii-Manoa. She won a $50,000 scholarship and a yearlong reign as Miss America, a job that has earned her recent predecessors up to $250,000 in appearance fees.
Baraquio, gasped when co-host Donny Osmond announced her name as the winner and then hugged first runner-up Miss Louisiana Faith Jenkins before ducking down to receive the crown and begin the traditional runway walk. My goal when I came here was to make top 10, a breathless Baraquio said afterward. Im standing in top five and Im thinking `How do they pick from 51 awesome, amazing, phenomenal wonderful girls whove become my best friends over the past three weeks? she said. Im very honored and very humbled.
Miss California, Rita Ng, was second runner-up, followed by Miss Mississippi, Christy May, and Miss Kentucky, Whitney Boyles.
The eighth of 10 children, Baraquio enjoys boogie-boarding, playing beach volleyball, Tae Bo exercises and Latin dancing. Baraquio, who plays keyboards for an all-girl rock group called High Tide, did a hula dance for the talent competition. Her parents own and operate a pest control company.
The pageant featured a new twist in the judging process , letting a fan, for the first time ever, help choose Miss America. Melanie Brock, 46, of Lansing, Mich., a marketing executive who has watched the show on television since she was a child, won an Instant Celebrity Judge contest that drew more than 70,000 entries. Every year, I sit in my living room and do my judging, Brock said. But I never thought Id have the opportunity to sit in the front row and serve in that capacity officially.
The winner succeeds Miss America 2000, Heather French, 25, of Maysville, Ky., the daughter of a disabled Vietnam veteran, who spent her year campaigning on behalf of homeless veterans.
The pageant, a mid-September network event for more than 40 years, was pushed back a month this year because officials worried it would lose viewers to the Summer Olympics on NBC if it aired at the same time. ABC and Miss America officials have taken many steps to boost ratings of the show. Producer-director Jeff Margolis signed the boy band O-Town (of TVs Making the Band fame) to perform live onstage and created on-screen graphics designed to look like personalized web pages for all 51 contestants.
“My goal was to make the top ten so that the people at home particularly my students, my choir and the people of Hawaii could see me. Making the top five was amazing and I hope to make them proud. I hope to make them proud as Miss America,” said Angela Perez Baraquio, Miss America 2001.
