Bill’s the best at bringing that out.”Īlverson believes his coaching isn’t mainly about winning costume crowns. According to Tammy Carver-Wells, a Mississippi pageant director who began sending competitors to Alverson this year: “When a girl wins the pageant, it’s because she wins in interview. (At Miss America, the onstage interview is also the contestants’ last test before the judges fill out their final ballots.) And while you can easily extend hair or augment a rhinestone-encrusted bust, it’s tougher to feign smarts and poise. In the pageant world, the interview is seen as supremely important, not merely for its own score but also for a halo effect it supposedly confers: A good (or bad) performance during offstage preliminaries is believed to influence scores in the other segments. (At press time, state pageants were still being held.)Īlverson specializes in preparing contestants for the interview segment.
Of the 53 women who will compete at the Miss America pageant in September, he has coached at least six - Miss Georgia, Miss Louisiana, Miss Missouri, Miss New York, Miss Oklahoma and Miss Texas. At the Miss USA pageant last month, three of the top 12 had been Alverson’s clients. He helped prepare Nana Meriwether, who became Miss USA in December 2012 Mallory Hagan, who was crowned Miss America a month later and Nina Davuluri, the reigning Miss America. They call, text, Skype, even drive to his home in Andalusia, Ala., because Alverson is one of the most successful beauty-pageant coaches in America today. And hundreds of aspiring beauty queens pay up. If you had a weight problem, I’d say you have to lay off all the croissants.” (To a 10-year-old dreaming of a baking career.)įor this, he charges $125 an hour. “That’s fine, because you’re not a chunker. “You have got to lose the ebonics!” (To a woman vying to be Miss Mississippi.) “Clean up your Facebook - it’s too narcissistic.” (To an aspiring Miss Alabama who posted pictures of herself in crown and gown.) But if you ask for it, be forewarned that you might not like it.