In all fairness, social media reviews are rarely kind to events like Miss America, even in the best of times. But the online reaction to Miss America 2019 Sunday night was absolutely brutal, with many viewers complaining about the 2.0 overhaul of the competition.

Chair Gretchen Carlson announced in June plans to drop the swimsuit portion of the program. She said, "We are no longer a pageant; we are a competition. We will no longer judge our candidates on their outward physical appearance."

Sunday, we also saw the debut of the red carpet competition, which account for 20% of the contestants' overall score. After walking a red carpet in the evening wear of their choice, the participants shared a short message with viewers, similar to how a celebrity might respond to a question on the carpet.

The segment was panned on Twitter.

"Red Carpet competition??? ... I cannot get on board with this Miss America 2.0 thing."

"This 'red carpet' format is boring and not elegant at all."

"Red carpet competition??? This is why Miss America will not be a thing in ten years. Is it called evening gown Gretchen."

Some people also wanted more of reigning Miss USA Cara Mund, who claimed the organization's leadership "silenced me, reduced me, marginalized me, and essentially erased me in my role as Miss America in subtle and not-so-subtle ways on a daily basis." Carlson denied Mund's claims.

"So we're just going to ignore the fact no one has mentioned or seen the current #MissAmerica."

"Been watching Miss America for almost an hour and a half and no sight of the ACTUAL MISS AMERICA?!"

OTHER COMMENTS:

"Time to move to Miss America 3.0 because 2.0 is a trainwreck."

"Is it just me or does the MissAmerica (sic) competition seem a little off this year?"

"I never ever in my life thought I would ever be saying this, but I kind of want to turn this off. #MissAmerica just isn’t the same".

"What was so broken about #MissAmerica that all this nonsense needed to happen?"

"Rt if you want Miss America to go back to the way it was."

"i cannot and will not support the miss america 2.0."

"You guys can hate me but I HATE these new changes to #MissAmerica."

 

More From Lite 96.9 WFPG