- The 100th annual
Miss America pageant aired live on Peacock on Thursday night. - Some viewers on Twitter said the pageant's low-production quality overshadowed the historic event.
The 100th annual Miss America pageant held on Thursday night at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut, was supposed to be a night of celebration.
But the event — which streamed live on NBCUniversal's Peacock for the first time this year — was plagued by a number of technical difficulties, including audio issues that interrupted one contestant's talent performance.
Some viewers on social media noted the telecast's seemingly low production quality and commented that it seemed under-rehearsed.
Representatives for the Miss America organization and NBC did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.
There were technical difficulties throughout the pageant
The Miss America team didn't appear to be ready when the pageant began airing at 8 p.m. ET. At the top of the show, the camera panned to unlit or empty areas of the stage, and cohost Ericka Dunlap appeared to be ad-libbing to the audience rather than officially starting the show for the first few moments.
As the show went on, both Dunlap and her cohost Nina Davuluri appeared to be unsure if it was their turn to speak on multiple occasions, and there were a number of silent moments.
Then, the pageant started to have audio issues. As the talent portion of the competition began, microphones didn't turn on when the cohosts and judges were speaking.
The audio issues came to a head when it was Miss Alabama Lauren Bradford's turn to perform her talent. Bradford's talent was the electric violin, but her amp was not turned on for the duration of her performance. She played, but her instrument made no sound.
After she left the stage, the rest of the contestants came on stage to model their dance costumes, but they were quickly ushered off by a man who appeared to be on the tech crew. Typically, members of the tech crew are not on stage during live productions.
After a quick commercial break, Bradford was given the opportunity to perform her talent again. But she was introduced with the wrong video, and her amp did not turn on until the middle of her performance.
Some viewers said the technical issues overshadowed the event
Critics on Twitter pointed to the apparent low production quality of the show as an issue.
—Jessie Kate ️ (@Sam_567S4) December 17, 2021
—the Pageant Guy (@thePageantGuy) December 17, 2021
Others described the broadcast as a "hot mess" and "a botched rehearsal" in their tweets.
—teryn! (@itsteryn) December 17, 2021
—Nick Tippens (@nicktip) December 17, 2021
—teryn! (@itsteryn) December 17, 2021