Miss America 1988 Talent (Kaye Lani Rae Rafko, MI)

[trinketbox1]

I see 6 people can't twirl their balls.

[audreyjlangerman]

Im friends with her daughter!

[tommykirby]

does anybody have this song clip for this hula? I need it

kirbytbenjamin@aol.com

[tommykirby]

Does anybody know the name of the drum track that she is dancing to? I have been looking for it forEVER

[lindalds]

A lot of people think this is Hawaiian hula but it's actually Tahitian dance.

[Gille87]

@lindalds lol the rope swinging, dunno what it's called, is Maori NZ, the rest is Tahitian hura, hula in hawa'iian, or more known as tamure, or ori tahiti!

[iamanerd22]

@Gille87 their called poi balls

[roselandalvin]

didn't she work with deaf children ?- or her sister was deaf ? - something along those lines -- I remember reading this about her at the time.- Another great clip!

[trinketbox1]

@roselandalvin She was a registered nurse who worked in oncology/hemotology units in Toledo. She worked with the terminally ill. She was and still is one classy lady.

[bassethound1]

The hips don't lie!

[VTMCompany]

is kaye throwing out big clackers?

[VTMCompany]

this talent segment is vulgar.

[roselandalvin]

@VTMCompany No --If Andy Richter was doing this it would be vulgar

[ParadisePoint09]

@VTMCompany It's a dance of tahiti... It's not vulgar that's just the culture.

[VTMCompany]

i remember watching this on that night in 1987 and thinking 'she won with this burlesque performance?'

[MissMoonHot]

Haha! :D Her costume is offal but she is great to her wired dance..!

[latinoguy]

Awful Talent

Miss Miss. had the Best Talent.

[ReinaAntilles]

Party Hula. I remember seeing this in '88 and loving it. Thanks for posting!

[goodproblems]

Saw her do this dance at the Antique Boat Show that year, it was definitely a highlight, never forget it.

[horsecentral65]

she is my cousin

[ladyvee7110]

Damn, no wonder she won...lol.

[missmangomania]

dude, this is hilarious!!!! i couldn't stop laughing!!!!

[ocboi12]

She is killing with those hips!! love it!

[Gille87]

Iaorana...well what u guys have to remember Tahitian Ori has evolved a lot since 1988 so u can't really compare...but I know what u guys mean, she moved her upper body to much and her fa'raapus looks like fast otamus...

[Meraji]

Thanks for posting this! I was 7 when this aired and have always remembered this performance as being so different and exciting for the Miss America pageant. Haven't seen it since, but my mom and I have fondly recalled it over the years.

I have little idea how technically accurate this dancing is, but it sure was fun to watch! Give me this any day over the "standard talents" such as singing and modern dance.

And that color of hot pink just fit the times perfectly! Love it! Good memories.

[ShoNuffDancer]

Does anybody have the song clip of Miss Mississippi, Toni Seawright, singing "I'm going all the way"? If so, please post.

[jazzysoranio]

She's talented . . . but she knows nothing about polynesian dancing.

[unclebob270]

Miss Louisiana was robbed!

[pig199fly200]

She got Lambasted in the movie Roger & Me...After seeing this performance, it's no wonder Gary Collins is now a hopeless alcoholic.

[nightwish5401]

Wow she's pretty terrible with the poi most any raver can do that better than her but I guess no one really did that back then, huh?

[appleshateu]

shes not that good at tahitian dancing she was moving her upper body too much!!

[bianca772010]

she is still beautiful, even after 20 years of winning miss america, funny how times flies by

[osnapitskatgurl]

P.S. She's alright, but she wasn't great. She kept moving her upper body and her farapu's (the wave movements of her hips) weren't defined, and she mainly did the bump. It looked as if she had recently learned it. On the other hand, Nicole Fox (she totally should've been Miss America), was unbelievable, you can truly see her 18 years of experience when you watch her dancing. :D

[osnapitskatgurl]

No, it isn't belly dancing. That's called Tahitian dancing.

[Kaye617]

=) my mother named me after her exept my dad forgot to add the rae in as my middle name when i was born. She is simply stunning.

[missohio83]

I LOVED her talent!!! I wanna learn how to do that so bad!

[babagirl111]

i love kaye lani. She is the sweetest personn i have ever met.

[eloisefig]

I would have so knocked myself out with the balls at the beginning

[jenniedombrowski]

She was absolutely gorgeous then and is even more to this day. With her humour, there's no doubt she won Miss America!

[brennanmarie]

Her son goes to my high school. She's very nice and sweet and talkative, and looks really great as a blonde. I know her as Mrs. Wilson though and don't hesitate to remind her about this video (which she's watched) And I love her house!

[punkybrewster123]

Kaye Lani was WORKING those hips wasnt she? LOL! She is one of my favorite Miss Americas!

[mzkhilari]

Now thasssssssssssss belly dancin =)

[scriptum60]

WOW!

[steffa1207]

Best Miss America ever! September will make the 20 year anniversary!

[nanlisa]

In reality, she is part Hawaiian and she's a nurse.

[Juliaflo]

She is NOT Hawaiian. She is actually part Ukrainian (sp) and Welsh. According to her, she has never BEEN to Hawai'i.

[nanlisa]

She's doing both: the ping-pong ball (which is a New Zealand Maori dance) and Tahitian dances.

[rightonpage52]

doesn't she just have the best name of all the miss america's?

[Kapuamelia]

This talent is called tahitian dancing. She mixed poi balls in with her dancing. It takes a lot of control and practice to do this type of dancing well. She moves her shoulders a lot which shouldn't be done in real tahitian dancing. I don't know why she put the poi ball like dancing in there as well.

[sweetrolls]

What is this talent called? I don't understand She won the crown for that?

[missamerica1974]

I thought Miss Louisiana's ventriloquist act was much better. She ended up 1st runner-up.

[missiu]

i'll never understand this talent but she sure sells it. she's a great lady and did so much for the MAO.

[melmach]

dang i wish i could shake it like that lol