The Big Flop - Listen Now: The Competition

Episode Date: May 9, 2024

Every summer for the past seven decades, 50 high school seniors—one from every state—descend on Mobile, Alabama to take part in one of the country’s most lucrative scholarship competitions for teen girls. The Competition takes you behind the scenes of the Distinguished Young Women (DYW) program, and follows seven girls as they experience the highs and lows of competing for two weeks, away from home and under the most high-stress circumstances. Some girls enter for the money, some for prestige. All of them are used to being the best and the brightest. But only one will walk away with the top prize.Host Shima Oliaee (Dolly Parton’s America, Pink Card) was Nevada’s contestant in 2001. More than 20 years later, she returns to Alabama as a judge. What can two weeks with 50 of the country’s most ambitious teens tell us about girlhood in America?Listen to The Competition on the Wondery App or wherever you get your podcasts. You can binge all episodes early and ad-free right now on Wondery+. Join Wondery+ in the Wondery App or on Apple Podcasts. Start your free trial by visiting Wondery.fm/The_Competition now.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

What can two weeks with the country's most ambitious teens tell us about girlhood in America? And how does surviving the competition prepare them for everything that comes after? Every summer, 50 high school senior girls, one from every state, descend on Mobile, Alabama to compete for a massive cash prize. It's one of America's most lucrative scholarship

competitions for teen girls. From Pineapple Street Studios and Wundery, this is the competition. Host Shima Oliyayi was Nevada's contestant 20 years ago. Now she's returning as a judge. But this time, when the competition's well underway, something happens she never had to deal with her year. An unexpected Supreme Court decision catapults all 50 girls

into the center of a nationwide debate about the rights of women in America, forcing them to confront what it might mean for their futures and their friendships. We're about to play a clip from the competition. Follow the competition on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. Okay, I'm officially almost late to the airport. It's an early summer morning in New York City and I'm cutting it close for a flight. I'm still at home and we're packing up jewelry

on top of all this. I don't know, man. This is a lot. Hi, that was the 5 a.m. bell. When I finally make it to JFK, I pick the wrong line at check-in. And by the time I make it to the front of the line... Hi.

Hey, so I missed my flight. Oh my God. That's my mom. Remember, life sucks and then you die. I'm flying. Supposed to be flying. To Mobile, Alabama. A place I haven't been since I was 17.

You have both your luggage with you right now? One is in mobile and the other is tiger print. It's the same one I used when I came when I was 17. Oh my god. It's the one I got for graduation from Golda. I'm a grown woman calling my mom from the airport and freaking out a little because I've only missed one other flight in my life when I was a teenager. And it occurs to me, in the middle of JFK, the similarities are jarring.

I was traveling with the same Tiger print suitcase then. I got it as a gift, right before I traveled to Mobile the last time, 20 years ago, for a competition I thought was going to change my life. Hi, I'm Shima Oliyai from Rio, Nevada, and I'd like to share with my team and family in the beautiful waters of Lake Tahoe. That's me at 17, in the largest cash scholarship competition

exclusively for high school girls. If I'd won my year, I could have walked away with over $100,000. Back then, the competition was called America's Junior Miss, but today it's called Distinguished Young Women. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the 65th National Finals of Distinguished Young Women. Oh my gosh. This is so nerve-racking. Ugh.

I have to breathe. And here they are. Let's go, Tom. Here we go! Amy Pham, Tennessee. Emily Lee, California. Every year, one girl from every state leaves her family, her whole life behind, for two weeks, and spends each day training, practicing, preparing to perform at the finale in front of a live national audience. Caitlyn Rook, Montana. Salma Barragan, New Mexico.

Because to win this competition, she needs to wow a panel of judges with her academic record, her athletic ability, her speaking skills, and a show-stopping talent. Madison Manning, Colorado! The competition's been around for almost 70 years. From Mobile, Alabama, it's the America's Junior Miss Catcher, featuring 50 of the most outstanding young women in the nation. And for decades, it was on live TV, in front of millions of people. Live from Mobile, Alabama, CBS proudly presents America's Junior Miss 2019. When I was in Mobile, I thought I'd made the big time.

Have you ever seen 50 brighter smiles in all your life? Winners got written up in the New York Times, appeared on talk shows, even went to the White House. "'This is Junior Miss of America.'" "'Hello there.'" "'Hi.'" And some winners became household names. "'America's Junior Miss of 1963.'"

Like media icon Diane Sawyer. "'Kentucky's Junior Miss.'" Grace from Will & Grace repped Rhode Island in 86. The program's alumni have become governors, artists, aerospace engineers, lawyers, doctors, judges, CEOs, senators, tech leaders, and astronauts. I didn't win my year, which kind of rocked me because I was a first-gen American kid with big dreams and parents who are

not going to bankroll those dreams. So I thought the money from winning the competition was going to be my ticket. And also I hadn't lost much as a teen and this loss was on national television. So after the competition, I tried not to think about my experience in Mobile for the next 20 years to think about my experience in Mobile for the next 20 years. Until I got an email asking me if I would come back, this time as a judge. At first I was like, no. Then I was like, maybe? Because it felt like this place that didn't get me back then was signaling, Shima, you are a winner. You made it. And I kind of felt that way at the time too. I mean, I'd won a big award for a podcast I'd made, I have great shoes, I live in New York City, and I'm a producer who gets to travel around the world interviewing people.

But I went through a lot to get here, and I started to wonder if the competition had somehow prepared me for that. And I don't know, being a judge, it seemed like a chance to look back at what happened when I was 17, to understand why I didn't win the big prize in Mobile. It's not like I've been wringing my hands over it all this time, but when you get a chance to peek behind the curtain and understand how one girl is chosen out of 50 unbelievable ones, Don't you want to know?

So I said, sure, I'll go to Mobile and be a judge. And then I asked, oh, and by the way, could I bring two producers with me to record all of the behind the scenes action? And to my surprise, they said yes. the scene's action. And to my surprise, they said yes. Binge all episodes of the competition early and ad-free on Wondery Plus. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app or on Apple podcasts.