Third Post of 2008

WHOOOOOO HOOOOOO!!!! It's finally here!!! Miss America Pageant Week!!!

I know all of you have been anxiously awaiting this week as well - In fact,
I'm sure you were all glued to your TIVO's this weekend watching Miss
America Reality Check Part 3 on TLC (ok - maybe not all of you. In fact,
maybe none of you!). Much to my surprise - they're airing a 4th episode
this Friday, which is truly exciting (the entire time they've only listed 3
episodes when I've checked out the TLC website --- so I'm THRILLED to know
there's more yet to come!!!)!

Just a reminder to those of you who don't "live" in pageant-land and only
make the journey when I drag you kicking and screaming... This week the
girls will be competing in preliminary competitions. They've been split
into three groups and will all be performing their talent, swimsuit, evening
wear and interview PRIOR to the main event this Saturday night. These
"preliminary" competitions determine who makes the Top 16 and who doesn't
(yes - that's not a typo... There will be a Top 16 this year). As always
I'll be sharing who the winners of each category are each night - and making
some predictions of my own for each night. Prelim's run Tue, Wed and
Thur... And the final night is Saturday, January 26th.

But for today ---- I'm attaching a list of this year's judges to this email
so you can learn a little more about the people who are going to be picking
this year's Miss America. From what I can tell - this is a group of
"Hollywood" judges... The only person who's even been in a pageant was Robin
Meade - who was a Miss Ohio back in the day... Everyone else is part of the
"new it-girl crowd" and will obviously be looking for that kind of girl.

Also included are some press photos (I'm having a hard time finding pic's
this year) of the girls during their first days in Vegas. Always important
to see who's getting press coverage :) The second photo is of the girls who
are the finalists for their platform issues - also known as the Quality of
Life Award.

And of course - if you missed the latest Miss America Reality Check episode
- you missed another doozie! Here's who was chosen top 3 and bottom 3:

Top 3 = Florida (with such a traumatic past of having her face blown off
when she was a teenager... Sorry, did that sound insensitive? I actually
like her!), Virginia and Alaska (like her or not, get ready for Alaska to be
in the Top 10... She's a former Miss USA Alaska in 2004 when she was only
20... Which means she knows what it takes to "walk" and be a "fashion
girl").

Bottom 3 = Iowa (the only baton twirler of the group), Tennessee (first time
pageant girl) and Rhode Island ("great hair but no charisma or
personality..." lol... That was funny!)

Tomorrow we'll look at the individual groups everyone is in and you'll see
my first set of predictions! Although - may I just say, that any of you
have the ability to win the pool this year --- because I'm not sure I have
the first clue who they're gonna crown with this whole new "it-girl"
fascination. I may lose the pool at my office because of that as well (how
embarrassing!).

OH - I found a new website that has all the individual state pageant
webistes listed....

http://www.fourpointsmagazine.com/mags/fourpoints/statepageants/

This is a great site if you're looking for something that shows all the
contestants in one location (which I'm sure you are)!

OK - That's it for today!!! Prelim's tomorrow!!! Let the Excitement
Begin!!!

crl