America 1919

"Donnie, isn't this swimsuit a bit too ostentatious?"

Harding sat there, looking at Carmen Farmer on stage in her one-piece deep V swimsuit, noting the hem didn't comply with United States law that required covering the thigh area, but instead was a V-shaped swimsuit of a later era.

"Warren, we are in the Atlantic, and our Miss America is about showcasing the beauty of American women, no one will nitpick about this!"

Donnie said with ease.

After a moment of thought, Harding nodded and said, "Atlantic City is a beautiful city, there really should be some things here that are different from other places in America!"

Donnie smiled lightly, knowing that things that break the moral shackles of the era always attract more attention.

Then Donnie's gaze shifted to Robert, who stood at the back of the stage.

Though Robert wasn't at the table, he had his own mission today—to tally the "flower value" each beauty contestant received on the spot.

Ensuring their bets were always profitable!

While on-site voting seemed fair, those influential people wouldn't be counting votes one by one to see how many the Miss Americas got.

Only the reporters could do that.

But without a word from Donnie, which reporter would dare pass judgment on this matter?

As for the movie shooting... although the voting process would be filmed, it was impossible that this segment would be cut into the official film.

After the 33 Miss Americas finished their round of presentation, the host came back on stage, not to read the results, since the backstage needed time to tally them.

Yet, to ensure the atmosphere on-site didn't grow cold, Donnie had specially invited a Broadway singer from New York to perform live for everyone.

Watching the female singer on stage, Irving Young and Luke Jackson were once again astounded, as such a format had become standard practice in latter times.

But still, at a time when Miss America was only in its first year, any break from convention could be seen as a groundbreaking change.

After talking with Donnie, Young and Jackson's minds raced, pondering what a partnership with Donnie would be like or what it would mean to start their own broadcast station.

But now, it seemed Donnie was already ahead of everyone else; even if they joined the race, they might not even see the tail lights of Atlantic City Broadcast.

They both understood that the on-site singer's performance didn't have the largest impact on the audience; the real influence was on those who couldn't get in and had to listen to the radio at home.

"Could we really surpass Atlantic City Broadcast if we started our own station?"n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

With this question in mind, both Irving Young and Luke Jackson reached their conclusions.

"We must invest in Atlantic City Broadcast!"

They arrived at their answers after having their doubts resolved internally!

However, it was clear that given Donnie's recent stance, a partnership could only be with one of them.

With this realization, the tension between the two during their silent exchange intensified.

After the singer finished her performance, the host took the stage and announced the names of the top 16 contestants.

Competitors from eleven cities made it into the top sixteen not because of fair voting or that all the girls had exceptional beauty and figures, but mainly because Donnie was playing a balancing act.

He ensured a balance between cities and also guaranteed the listening rates of Atlantic City Broadcast; as long as their city's contestant was in, no one would turn off their radios!

When it reached the top 16, there wouldn't be subsequent cuts from 16 to 8, and so on.

Instead, the top three would be selected directly, with the first-place winner naturally becoming the new Miss America.

In this round, the top 16 contestants had to showcase their poise, eloquence, and wit among other things.

After the presentation round, Starry Entertainment would tally scores for each Miss America based on their off-site voting rate as well as their on-site support, to determine the final scores for each one!

The entire process was uneventful, moving according to Donnie's planned outcome to the end.

Carmen Farmer from Atlantic City gained the third place in the first Miss America, Qiong Lun from New York took runner-up, and Kayla Thornton from Los Angeles won the title of Miss America!

Charlie Chaplin, Maholi, and Harding respectively crowned the three winners!

With that, the first Miss America came to a successful close!

Next was the celebration banquet!

The only place in Atlantic City that could accommodate so many people for the banquet was naturally the Ritz Hotel!

All the beauty contestants who participated in the Miss America pageant would have a session to answer questions from the reporters on their way to the celebration banquet.

So Donnie and the others arrived at the Ritz Hotel first!

"Donnie, regarding the new hotel project, I've already spoken to these people, but obviously, they're not very satisfied with our decision. I think they'll soon come to negotiate with you, and you must not be intimidated by them!"

Upon arriving at the Ritz Hotel, just as Donnie had anticipated, Nucky found him and relayed his negotiation process with the people.