Jessica Simpson must love Lauren Caitlin Upton.
Indeed, Miss South Carolina Teen USA made the pop singer look like Einstein Saturday night when she responded to a question from Aimee Teegarden during the Miss Teen USA pageant.
But the gaffe has landed Upton in the national spotlight. And she told Anne Curry on Today that she simply panicked under pressure:
"Everything did come at me at once. I was overwhelmed, and I made a mistake. I'm human," Lauren said.
People magazine reported that Upton also added she "drew a blank," and "misunderstood." That's for sure.
Meanwhile, pageant host Mario Lopez said that as the meltdown was happening he wanted to help Upton, but was told that he couldn't talk to the contestants while they were answering questions.
"It was a very intense moment," Lopez said. "It's live TV. You don't know what the question is until you get up there. And I believe that she misunderstood it. She went down the wrong road and couldn't figure out how to get back to the right one. I felt really badly for her."
The kind folks at Today also gave Upton, another chance to answer the question. Her reply?
"Personally, my friends and I, we know exactly where the United States is on our map. I don't know anyone else who doesn't. And if the statistics are correct, I believe there should be more emphasis on geography in our education so people know how to read maps better."
Well done, Lauren. And remember: Compared to other beauty pageant contestants in recent memory - such as Katie Rees and Tara Conner - you're very much a role model.
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3 Comments
August 30th, 2007 2:35 AM
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September 12th, 2007 12:41 PM
People are always waiting for someone like this to make a mistake and celebrate. She handled it with dignity and class saying she was overwhelmed and rolled with the punches. She made fun of herself and was strong. Now all the haters made her famous because she is now doing a geography piece for People Magazine, she was articulate and showed her personality on MTV and who knows what is next. She was an honor student in High School with a 4.0 average, president of SkillsUSA, and has a full acedemic scholarship to ASU. It was her first time on national TV and she froze ,she didn't hurt anyone but herself. If I had a dollar for everyone I said Blah,blah,blah to I could buy the losers who picked on her a life. Kudos to Miss Upton for turning this around on the malicious mean-spirited thugs who's thoughts are ghost written by some dork disc jockey. And I hope their sister,mother or anyone for that matter never gets stage fright and has to deal with people like them. And kudos to MTV,The Today Show and People Magazine for countering this culture of making fun of people.
More on this on the Jimmy Jubes Show Tuesday nights at 10pm Eastern 7pm Pacific on Talkradiox.
November 21st, 2007 10:39 PM
I'm a teenage girl from south carolina. SHE'S A DISGRACE TO OUR STATE!