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• n  an elaborate representation of scenes from history etc; usually involves a parade with rich costumes
• n  a rich and spectacular ceremony

• When Vanessa Williams became the first African-American to capture the Miss America crown in 1983, fans hailed her triumph as a blow to the pageant's racial barriers.
• The pageant's polarizing popularity has some undergraduates up in arms, and they're expressing their dissent over what they consider the exploitation of student bodies.
• When the Miss USA pageant takes place in Wichita this week, the smart money will be on the contestants from Texas and California.

• pageantry

News & Articles

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• Juneteenth pageant is Friday
  The pageant is designed to enrich the lives of young ladies.
  June 12, 2013 - The St. Augustine Record
• Pageant to be qualifier for Miss Alabama, Miss America
  For the first time, the 2013 Miss Marshall County pageant is serving as a local preliminary for the Miss Alabama/Miss America pageants.
  June 12, 2013 - The Sand Mountain Reporter
• Around the Region: Baker beauty pageant will raise funds for family
  A beauty pageant will be held June 22 to benefit the family of 5-month-old Kately Crews, who is recovering in Atlanta from recent liver transplant surgery.
  June 12, 2013 - The Florida Times-Union

Quotes

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• Keith Lewis in Washington Post
  Two have been African American, two of four in the history of the state pageant. And the current Miss California USA is 25 percent Filipino,Lewis said, referring to Beezley. "I think my record speaks for itself."
• Amy Poehler in Philadelphia Daily News
  I scratched and clawed through mud and barbed wire and you just glided in on a dogsled wearing your pageant sash and your Tina Fey glasses,Poehler said at one point.
• Tipper Gore in Forbes
  I don't think there's any pageant in the world that matches the Oscars,said Gore, whose "An Inconvenient Truth" was nominated for best documentary feature and best original song, "I Need to Wake Up," by Etheridge.