Issue date: November 19, 2000
USA WEEKEND's
celebrity for a day
There she was, Miss
America judge. But Melanie Brock wasn't getting the limo/luxury
hotel treatment because she was famous.
Melanie
Brock of Michigan was flown first class to Atlantic City,
where she appeared as a judge in last month's pageant telecast.
She stayed in a suite at the Trump Taj Mahal and also received
a spa treatment and a $1,000 shopping spree.
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Brock won the "Miss America Instant Celebrity Judge Contest," sponsored
by USA WEEKEND Magazine and ABC.com,
becoming the first "real person" to serve.
"Ever since I was a little girl, I've watched" the pageant, says
Brock, a 46-year-old utility executive who reads USA WEEKEND in
the Lansing (Mich.) State Journal. "I saw the application
in the magazine and thought, 'Why not?' "
She was chosen from 70,000 applicants. Brock gave herself a B-plus after her final interview with a five-judge panel. The contest judges apparently graded higher, picking her for the Oct. 14 telecast.
Miss America 2001 Angela Perez Baraquio says of Brock: "Being a successful woman, she knows what it takes to become Miss America. I'd like to see this contest continue."
Pageant judge Marcia Bullard, USA WEEKEND president, CEO and editor,
says Brock has the same qualities you like to see in the Miss America
winner: "She's an active volunteer. She's dedicated to her family.
She has achieved a lot in her career. And she's emphasized education
throughout her life."
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