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American Morning

New Jersey Town Embroiled in Pageant Controversy

Aired May 01, 2002 - 09:56   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Pleasantville, New Jersey is a small city, but remarkably, it's big enough for two Miss Pleasantvilles, but it is a fact that few in the town are celebrating.

CNN's Jeanne Moos has the story of a contested beauty contest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Will the real Miss Pleasantville please put on the crown.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She should return it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She won the crown, so she should keep it.

MOOS: Iliane Feliciano won it all right. The moment captured on home video.

ILIANE FELICIANO, MISS PLEASANTVILLE PAGEANT CONTESTANT: And then an hour and a half later, they said that the votes were wrong. I had to give back the crown.

MOOS: Not so fast, said Iliane's mom.

(on camera): So you are going to hold on to the crown?

DIANA ROSARIO, ILIANE FELICIANO'S MOTHER: Yes.

MOOS: You are going to hold on to the sash?

ROSARIO: Yes.

MOOS: Are you going to go to court?

ROSARIO: We don't know.

MOOS (voice-over): And to think this is happening in Pleasantville, New Jersey, gateway to Atlantic City, a place where practically every sign evokes pleasant thoughts, where the crossing guard waves at everyone, even strangers.

(on camera): You mean, you just wave at them just to be pleasant?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

MOOS (voice-over): Sort of like a movie by the same name.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There is a place where life is simple. People are perfect.

MOOS: Want to bet?

(on camera): For the moment at least, Pleasantville is Unpleasantville.

(voice-over): The annual beauty pageant started pleasantly enough. For the talent competition, Joy Jackson did a religious dance routine. While Iliane Feliciano had some trouble getting through "Killing Me Softly." But the real killer for some was the outcome.

JOY JACKSON, MISS PLEASANTVILLE WINNER: The lady said Miss Pleasantville 2002, Iliane Feliciano, and everybody gasped, but they clapped for her, and I just stood there with a smile on my face.

MOOS (on camera): Let's see how you did that.

(voice-over): But Joy's dad wasn't smiling.

STEVE JACKSON, JOY JACKSON'S FATHER: It was obviously wrong. Out of five or six categories, Joy took four.

MOOS: Complaints to the judges prompted a recount.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Things like that happen, just like with the president thing.

MOOS: At least there were no hanging chad in Pleasantville. Apparently those who tallied the votes misunderstood the way the judges marked the ballots. Joy Jackson was declared the new winner.

(on camera): She definitely won?

KATHERINE MCEACHERN, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, MISS PLEASANTVILLE PAGEANT: Without a doubt.

MOOS: No question, there's nothing funny, no funny business?

MCEACHERN: No question. No funny.

MOOS (voice-over): There is nothing funny about it to Iliane and her mom. Iliane's mom suspects Joy's dad used his pull as a city councilman to get the judges to reconsider.

JACKSON: He was just being a dad through the whole thing.

MOOS: Since Iliane has refused to relinquish her crown...

FELICIANO: Because they gave it to me in front of everyone.

MOOS: Pageant officials ordered a second crown for Joy, who is the only official winner.

ROSARIO: If there was -- their mistake, they should have two Miss Pleasantvilles.

UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: She shouldn't lose the crown.

MOOS (on camera): Why not?

UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: Because it's nice.

MOOS (voice-over): Actually, both winners have only nice things to say about each other, so maybe the unpleasantness will soon blow over, and there will be no more tears over a tiara.

Jeanne Moos, CNN, Pleasantville, New Jersey.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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