The young woman representing Iowa in America’s Junior Miss National Finals tonight says the competition is everything she’d hoped for and more. 18-year-old Diana Reed of Norwalk says the scholarship pageant has been challenging and rewarding. She says they had slumber parties, a prom and many other activities.The 50 contestants are judged in five categories: scholastics, interview, talent, fitness and poise. Reed says she’s seen the pageant-mocking movies like “Drop Dead Gorgeous” which depict the competitions as being full of back-stabbing vixens, but she says it’s nothing like that. She says it’s a down-to-earth program with a lot of girls with great morals and values. Reed graduated this spring from Norwalk High School, just south of Des Moines. She plans to attend the University of Iowa this fall, where she’s been named the “Golden Girl” and she’ll be twirling the baton in front of tens of thousands of football fans. Her talent in tonight’s competition involves the baton. Actually, she’ll be juggling three of them in her routine.Tonight’s winner wins a 50-thousand dollar scholarship. The America’s Junior Miss National Finals are being held in Mobile, Alabama, and will be carried live tonight starting at 8 o’clock on PAX-TV. The host is Deborah Norville, who was Georgia’s Junior Miss in 1976.
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