Results from Night One and Preliminary Night Two Picks!!!

Whoooooooooooooo Hoooooooooooooooooo! First night of Prelims down and 2 more nights to go!!! What a rush to finally begin the on-stage competition for Miss America 2012!!!

Couple of items to note before we get to results and tonight's picks...

1. FINALLY - WE HAVE COLORFUL SWIMSUITS! It seems like it's been a thousand years since Miss America had colorful swimsuits - and we're grateful for Komplique's contributions to this year's contestants. Yay!

2. Joseph Ribkoff opening number gowns! Express may be a 'new' clothing sponsor, but Joseph Ribkoff still has an enduring style about him and we love his clothing line! The silver gowns look great on stage for the opening number!

3. If you're not on Twitter yet, go sign up right now. If you're on Twitter but not yet following @MrDelaware2008, go add him right now. I've yet to uncover exactly who Chris Saltalamacchio is, but he's tweeting live from the prelims and has a great eye. Lots of pageant girls already following him... don't get left out of the loop!

Ok - in regards to the winners last night, here's where we stand!



Swimsuit Winner = UTAH!
WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW! This girl was the FIRST contestant to show her swimsuit last night and the judges didn't like anything else better. In fact, several people are saying Utah had the best swimsuit they'd EVER SEEN on the Vegas stage!!! Katie Stam (Miss America 2009) said she didn't just have a 6 pack, she has an 8 pack!!! I didn't pick Utah last night (even though she won swimsuit at her state) because in the past, Utah tends to have very conservative girls from religious backgrounds and they don't always live up to the 'Swimsuit' portion of show. Shame on me for letting my past impressions dictate my future choices. This is a miss for me.

Talent Winner = WISCONSIN!
Another girl I considered, but didn't choose because she was also the very first person to perform her Talent last night, and again - the judges didn't like anything else better than her. Wisconsin ALWAYS produces quality Talent and I should've known better. Plus, I really like WI this year (not just for the Packers)... her father was incarcerated for a white collar crime when she was young and she has a true 'calmness' and inner-strength about her. Kinda like, "I've been through junk in my life and trust me, this is nothing to get worked up about." Another miss for me.

Which brings us to tonight's picks! You do realize, I have to go 4/4 with tonight's winners and tomorrow's winners in order to finish 4/6... geez... guess the pressure of a bigger audience is starting to get to me.

But without further adieu, here's my picks for tonight!

Swimsuit = Missouri, Washington, Georgia, Texas Don't get me wrong - I really like Arkansas, Hawaii and Florida, but I think my picks have a better shot at winning this award tonight.

Talent = Illinois, South Carolina, Oklahoma, Iowa Two dancers, and two vocalists tonight... Iowa is fresh and has a LOVELY voice, Oklahoma is a championship Irish Step Dancer, Illinois had a beautiful video and SC has a musical theater background.

For the record, I feel much more confident about these picks than I did last night... And because both girls were first in their group to perform, I'm no longer concerned about placement. As Claire Buffe, Miss New York 2011 said in her Twitter Feed, "I love when short girls win swimsuit, controversial girls win interview & contestant #1 wins talent. Never doubt your placement-or yourself."

Oh - and here's a couple of "Didya Know's"... 1. Teri Polo's mom was a Miss Dover and finished as a runner up to Miss America? 2. "Jersey Knit" is the new 'liquid beading on evening gowns this year (super tough to wear unless you're in GREAT shape... and 3. Quality of Life finalists were judged by 3 former Miss Americas and the winners will be announced Friday (so THAT'S what the former Queens are judging this year). :)

Who are your picks for tonight's preliminaries???