Jacque and Debra Tingey have made history. They are the first sisters ever to hold the two Miss Utah titles in the same year. Jacque is Miss Utah 1989-90 for the Miss America Pageant, which was held in September; Debra is Miss Utah 1989-90 for the Miss USA Pageant, which will be held March 2 in Wichita, Kan., and will be televised by CBS.In fact, there have never been sisters who have won the two contests on the state level. That has made their individual reigns both more complicated and more interesting. For instance, they have many more requests for interviews or pictures together than they have individually.
But they don't mind. When Debra is asked if she has any famous relatives, she says without hesitation, "Yes, my sister!"
Jacque, 25, and Debra, 24, have been entering beauty contests since Jacque was 10. She won the Little Miss Utah contest and the following year formally presented the crown to her successor, Debra, who by that time was 10. Although it is easy to suspect that their parents plotted a path of contest success for their little daughters, Jacque and Debra assert that they did it on their own. They just had an early flair for the public eye, and their mother was supportive.
Since then each one has held a total of 15 beauty titles, in addition to considerable modeling experience.
Despite what you may think, none of this has gone to their heads. They both consider themselves "too short" for success in beauty pageants. Jacque is 5 feet 4 inches, and Debra is 5 feet 6 inches. Most national beauty contest winners tend to be 5 feet 10 inches and taller. Debra says she is cautiously optimistic in the knowledge that four years ago the winner of the Miss USA Pageant was 5 feet 6 inches.
In September, Jacque won a non-finalist talent award in the Miss America Pageant, which meant a $1,000 scholarship in addition to the $3,500 she was previously awarded. She plans to take computer classes at the University of Utah but is unsure of a major.
Debra only decided at the last minute to enter the Miss USA Pageant _ four days before the deadline. "It was a joke." Now that she has won it, she is taking her role as Utah's representative very seriously. She considers herself strong in an interview setting, and if she is chosen as a finalist, she has "some incredible plans" to take advantage of the opportunity.
For one thing, she plans to utilize her ability as an impressionist and belt out her rousing, glass-breaking rendition of Ethel Merman if she has a chance. She also does a convincing Katharine Hepburn, among many others. Doing so would single her out, she says, something any Utah contestant needs.
Utah's track record in the national contests, after all, is not impressive. Colleen Hutchins went from Miss Utah to Miss America in 1952, and Sharlene Wells did the same in 1985. Charlotte Sheffield, who was Miss Utah in 1957, won the Miss USA Pageant in 1958. But the only Utahn to capture an international beauty title was Linda Bement, who became Miss USA, then Miss Universe in 1960. Debra can take comfort in the fact that although Linda Bement had jet black hair, she also stood 5 feet 6 inches, with green eyes.
Not only is Utah lacking in prestige in either contest, in the opinion of the Tingeys, but there is the added advantage given to Miss Texas, who has won the Miss USA Pageant each year for the past five years, due to the professional help of the advertising agency that unblushingly grooms Miss Texas for national recognition each year.
Debra says she has her own perceptive coaches who are advising her on such crucial items as walking and wardrobe. And then there is the third Tingey sister, 8-year-old Mandy, who advises both Jacque and Debra, but who has no contest ambitions herself.
She wants to be a lawyer.
Both Miss Utahs reject out of hand the common charge that beauty contests exploit women. Jacque says the Miss America Contest is really a "scholarship pageant" that judges 30 percent on the interview, 40 percent on talent and only 15 percent on swimsuit competition. The other 15 percent is judged on evening gown appearance. And the swimsuit competition, she says, is tastefully done with a one-piece suit. "I don't think the contest exploits women. The swimsuit competition simply shows the physical fitness of the contestants."
Although Debra admits that the Miss USA Pageant is a straight beauty contest, it judges 50 percent on the interview, 25 percent on evening gown appearance and 25 percent on swimsuit competition. Debra says the swimsuit competition is not exploitative because "there is no turn-around, or showing the back side to the audience. I think I have good judgment, and if I were being exploited, I would get out."
Debra and Jacque maintain that contests are not an obsession with them as they are with some young women. These are the last two they plan to enter, and they have purposely utilized beauty pageants as a way of furthering their singing careers. They have been singing together as long as they have been entering beauty contests, including an appearance with Barbara Mandrell at the Grand Ole Opry.
They intend to pursue a long-term career in country-pop music, which is, according to Debra, "Whitney Houston-style country music," with Jacque singing lead and Debra alto. There is no Nashville twang in their voices. They would love to have a successful variety show on television in the style of the Mandrell sisters.
So, Mandrells, move over. The Tingeys are poised and ready.