Congrats are in order to the brand new Miss America! New Yorker Kira Kazantsev holds that honor this morning. While we're used to seeing the same bikini-clad woman win the title each year -- seriously, you can usually just change her hair color and clothing and you've more or less got the same person -- we're happy to see that Kira did something during the talent portion of the pageant that has everybody talking.
And all the talk isn't positive -- which makes her win even better.
The 23-year-old, who was raised in California but moved to New York for college, didn't play the violin or belt out a patriotic song or dance to Swan Lake for her talent. Instead, she sat cross-legged on the floor, sang Pharrell Williams' "Happy," andplayed with a plastic red cup.
No joke.
Kira says the reason why she chose to do something so unorthodox was because she "wanted every single little girl in America to be able to see that you can do that talent. You can do whatever talent you want on national television -- even with a red cup -- and still be Miss America and have the time of your life."
Allow me to translate: Miss America has absolutely nothing to do with how well you can tap dance and everything to do with how trim your waist looks in a swimsuit. And, since this is 2014, whether or not you plan to attend law school -- which Kira is, in case you're wondering.
Let me not take away from this young woman's accomplishments -- because there are many. She is fluent in three languages, has made domestic violence her platform, and has already been accepted to law school. Her red cup talent is as silly as it gets, but you've got to love how she said puh-leeze to the whole talent ta-do and nabbed the crown anyway.
Could this mean death to all future Miss America talent performances? I can't imagine how next year's contestants will follow this act:
See this video on The Stir by CafeMom.
What do you think of Miss America's talent?
Image via missamerica.org