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Vanessa Williams Returns to Miss America as Head Judge

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Yesterday, one of the best singers I have ever heard and a FaceBook friend, Kipper Jones, posted on FaceBook about how glad he was to see Vanessa Williams return to the Miss America pageant as a host. I was not so glad until I gave it some thought. (cheers for the bathroom selfie).

What happened to Vanessa Williams in 1984 to destroy her career is what CREATES a career today. The irony.

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Early on in Vanessa’s singing career,

She was the first black woman to win the Miss America crown in 1983 and her skyrocket to fame came crashing down when the magazine hit the newsstand. She wanted to pursue a record deal but

Kipper Jones and Brian McKnight were two people I had seen her mention in several articles that relations expert Ramon Hervey II was hired by Vanessa to clean up her tarni

Vanessa simply started coming by and hanging around his office after that and they started having conversations about the history of R&B music. He admitted that he was very impressed with her knowledge of music (both her parents were music teachers and his father was a music industry legend) and after some time passed, he approached the staff about signing her. He admitted they laughed at the idea but he became more and more convinced that it could work.

Vanessa didn’t do anything more or less than most people have done in their teens and 20s, made a few bad choices, the only difference was black woman to win the Miss America pageant. Her brother Chris Williams, not the singer, admitted that growing up they were very competitive but watching her win the crown, he had no idea how he was going to compete with that.

It appeared all had gone well after the triumph and Vanessa was everywhere. I remember her coming to Buffalo and being in a parade. To many black people, it was the equivalent to the first black president in 1983. The black community was beaming with pride.

Then almost at the end of her reign there were rumors that Miss America. She thought felt knowing pictures taken as a teenager (19-years-old) were about to resurface and destroy her newfound revolutionary success.

Previously, it was stated that Vanessa was younger but felt that

I remember the pictures came out and the Miss America pageant demanded that Miss America. Many articles stated that Miss America for two whole months after that.

Vanessa disappeared after that for a couple of years but radio ensued, mostly from pop Radio Station s, labeling her “Vanessa the Undressa” etc.

Eckstein decided to go against the staff’s perceptions and record Vanessa and in 1988 her first single and album of the same name “The Right Stuff” came out. The single was written by Rex Salas and Kipper Jones. It was around the same time I started working in radio and the single hit reaching #5 on the R&B charts. It also made the top 100 on the pop charts. Urban radio was a bit surprised that Miss America pageant.

The rest is history, Vanessa has had a very successful career over the past 30 years as a singer and an actress. I met her once at an Urban Network convention, her former husband Ramon Hervey introduced her to me. She looks exactly like Miss America pageant is a triumph for both herself and the organization. Looking back, they must have taken some heat for having the first black Miss America then to have to renounce her title certainly had to draw ire and disfavor from advertisers and supporters of the organization.  

They really had no choice if they were to continue the tradition. That’s not to say other winners may not have had things in their pasts that could have forced them to also relinquish their titles as well but truth be told, I never watched the show again after Vanessa’s incident.

They have been trying to get her to return for years and

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