Whoooooooo Hooooooo for Preliminary Night #2!!!! Even though results weren’t posted until nearly 10:20pm Pacific (that’s nearly 1:30 for you East Coasters!), we do have ourselves another round of winners from last night! Let’s get right to it!

Swimsuit = TEXAS!
A correct pick! Trust me – I saw Texas walk during the fashion show and thought, ‘WOW’. She could be ugly and still have a shot at winning Swimsuit – her walk is THAT GOOD! Fortunately, she’s not even close to ugly – she’s, as judge Mike Fleiss would say, “HOT”!!! Texas is also the first former MAOTeen to win a Preliminary this year (Hawaii won swimsuit last year as a former MAOTeen) and she deserved it! Gorgeous!

Talent = OKLAHOMA!
Another correct pick – Bringing me back to 50/50 overall (Whew! Trying to redeem myself!) Oklahoma is one of 4 Irish step dancers this year – and if one of them was going to win a prelim, it outta be her! She’s a Championship Step Dancer and very ‘midwest’. She has that ‘girl next door’ appeal with a touch of glam. We like her a lot!

Now – Tonight’s picks are TOUGH!!! I’m afraid points might split all over the place and the girl who finished 2nd on everyone’s ballots might be the Talent winner… Here’s where I’m going…

Swimsuit = New York, Virginia, Arizona, Tennessee
I have a theory on Final Night swimsuit winners. The other 2 nights, the judges are looking at who is THE BEST in swimsuit. However, on the final night, the judges usually give the swimsuit award to a girl who looks great in a swimsuit AND also scored really high interview. It’s like a secret way of telling the girl, ‘We know you’re here… and we really like you’. If New York wins – she’s a Top 5’er in my book for sure.

Talent = Missouri, Georgia, Washington, Hawaii
DC might surprise me – but I’m going with the thought that this is only DC’s third pageant of her life and it’s a pretty big stage to be singing all alone on it. Look at me with the diversity of this Talent Pick! MO = Vocals, GA = Ballet, WA = Fiddle, Hi = Jump Rope! Like I said, points could split all over the place! Oh – and the same theory holds true with final Talent prelims… Teresa Scanlan won on Talent on her final night last year… If Missouri wins, watch out. I gotta feeling about that girl…

Otherwise, the Miss America Junkies contingency arrived in Vegas today!!! Super excited to have 8 of us traveling together this weekend!!! We’ll all see tonight’s preliminaries LIVE and then put our final thoughts together on our winners.

So – here’s your assignment! Make your picks for tonight, but be thinking about your Top 15! I’ll post my list before the finals begin on Saturday, but you’re welcome to post them at any time! It’s getting down to the wire… we’re only days away from knowing who will be our new Miss America 2012!!! BRING IT ON!!!

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???

HERE WE GO!!!! IT’S FINALLY HERE!!!! We’re SO EXCITED because TUESDAY means we actually get to see On-Stage Competitions now!!!

Here’s where the fun of this blog began… Several years ago, i started guessing who would win the preliminaries each night and much like a stupid-human-trick, I could ‘wow’ my friends and family with my predictions. This year is no different, just more people holding me accountable! 🙂

Here are the rules:
1. Two awards are given each night… one for Swimsuit and one for Talent (no on-stage awards for Evening Gown or On-Stage Question). Three nights of prelims means 6 awards total.
2. I’ll select 4 states out of the 17-18 girls who could possibly win. I usually give commentary as well (but of course).
3. The last few years, I’ve pushed myself to see if I can finish 5/6, but it hasn’t happened. A good year is 4/6 and I’m completely annoyed when I finish 3/6. I mean, nearly anyone can do that! 🙂

Before we begin, I need a small soapbox moment.

I’m really, really surprised to see SO MANY DANCERS at Miss America this year! Out of 53 girls (50 states plus Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico and DC), there are 25 dancers! Six are ballet dancers, 4 are Irish Step Dancers, 2 Tap Dancers, 1 Jump Roper (I know, not really dance, but where else are you gonna classify the girl?) and the rest are ‘lyrical dancers’ or ‘jazz dancers’ or ‘theater dancers’ or ‘contemporary dancers’. For the record, I’m VERY GLAD Mark Ballas is judging for this reason… I think he’ll be able to separate the wannabies from the girls with actual dancing Talent. But honestly, unless your dance looks like this one from Miss Michigan 2011 Katie LaRoche, I’m not super confident in your ability to become Miss America.

Katie won the Preliminary Talent Award last year and in my humble opinion, this is probably the best non-ballet dance I’ve ever seen. Yes, there are LOTS AND LOTS of talented dancers in the Miss America system… I hope we see more of them. I credit Sierra Minott (Florida 2008 and 4th runner up) with bringing ‘non-ballet dance’ back as a viable Talent for Miss America contestants. Prior to that, I could tell you numerous girls who ‘danced’ for their Talent because they had nothing else they could do (and plenty of them finished in the Top 5 because they were fabulous in interview, swimsuit and evening gown, but had little to no Talent… Molly Hazlett TX, Jennifer Dupont LA, Amanda Kozak GA)!

We need a Miss America with true Talent (dancing or otherwise). To have a Miss America without any Talent means we’ve given up on one of the biggest distinctions between Miss USA and Miss America. Talent Counts.

Whew! Glad that’s over. Now, on to tonight’s picks!

Swimsuit = Mississippi, South Carolina, Kentucky, Oklahoma
LOTS of girls won Preliminary Swimsuit at their own state competitions this summer… I could easily miss this one… guess we’ll see…

Talent = Tennessee, New York, Virginia, Alabama
I’m going with 3 vocalists and a Tap Dancer… Indiana may surprise me as well… hmmm…

Once we hear the results, we’ll update the results on our Facebook page first, then tomorrow we’ll give you the results of Tuesday’s winners along with our picks for Wednesday’s winners.

You’re welcome to give us your picks too! Who do you think will win Swimsuit and Talent tonight?

There are a few things in life that continue to make sense outside of the doors of a schoolhouse/college. Allow us to elaborate…

1. I was a starter on my High School varsity basketball team for 4 years. No, I wasn’t the female LeBron James, I just played as hard and as smart as I could (and I was much more successful in some games than others). Early on, I learned that a ‘foul’ is only a ‘foul’ when the referee calls it a ‘foul’. This is different than trying to ‘get away with’ a foul… I’m not talking about that. I’m talking about the little ways that some refs let you play, and some refs will call a foul before you even make the move. The trick is, you need to learn which ref you’re playing for and if your actions are going to bring you into foul trouble or allow you to have an amazing game.

2. Shortly after I began college, I discovered something similar. In order to get a good grade (besides normal studying), you needed to learn how your professor wanted you to respond in class, and then respond accordingly. Some professors could care less if you were in class, they only wanted to see you perform well on tests. Other professors rewarded you for never missing class because they saw how much blood sweat and tears you put into conjugating Spanish verbs even when you failed the tests miserably (ouch, that was a little close to home, but true). The trick is, you had to learn what was expected of you by that individual professor in order to get a good grade.

It’s the same with judges and pageants.

Put 5 judges on a panel and they’ll select 1 girl as the winner. Bring on 5 different judges and honestly, you may not get the same winner. Pageants are subjective – the beauty, strength and personality of the contestant is in the eye of the beholder… and 5 people can only behold so much when the competition is steep.

That’s why we never make any predictions about who’s going to win the crown until we know the judges. And this year, Miss America has picked the following people with the unenviable task of choosing Miss America 2012 (and if you’re already familiar with this year’s judges feel free to skip to my ‘Obvious Thoughts’ section below).

From the Field of Performing Arts- Mark Ballas – A lifelong dancer and musician, Emmy nominated Mark has wowed viewers on ABC’s, Dancing with the Stars, for nine seasons, winning two mirror ball trophies. Born in Houston to a family of international dance stars, Mark moved to London as a child; he attended the world-renowned Italia Conti Performing Arts School. Here, he not only danced, but also was required to sing, act and play an instrument. By age 12 he was writing and performing his own music, playing guitar, drums and bass. When Mark isn’t performing, he is passionate about speaking to school-age kids about acceptance, sparked by his Uncle David’s suicide nine years ago. He helped form The Ballas Foundation and is committed to removing the stigma associated with mental illness and suicide.

From the Field of Communications – Raúl de Molina – Raúl is the multiple Emmy award-winning co-host of Univision networks #1 rated entertainment news show El Gordo y La Flaca, which has more viewers on its time slot than ABC, CBS, NBC and FOX combined. He is the author of the bestselling La Dieta del Gordo and one of the original contributors to the Huffington Post’s Food and Latino Voices sections. In 2008, he was chosen by People en Espanol as one of the most influential Hispanics in the United States.

From the Field of Star Power – Mike Fleiss – Mike is founder of Next Entertainment and executive producer of The Bachelor franchise, which also includes The Bachelorette and Bachelor Pad, and will serve as executive producer of H8R. His credits include High School Reunion, The Cougar, There Goes the Neighborhood, Hitched or Ditched, More to Love and Leave it to Lamas. With a multi-year deal with Warner Horizon Television to create original series for network, syndication and cable, Mike is a leading producer of reality programming. He has created over three dozen series and produced over 300 hours of primetime television.

From the Field of Beauty – Kris Jenner – Kris is the Star, Creator, and Executive Producer, along with Ryan Seacrest, of Keeping Up With the Kardashians for E!. The show wrapped its sixth season, and enjoys the title of, “Highest Rated and Most Watched Telecast ever on E!.” Kris also produces Kourtney and Khloé Take Miami, Kourtney and Kim Take New York and Khloé and Lamar. In her new memoir, Kris Jenner And All Things Kardashian, she writes about her relationships, her kids, and her intimate connection to the O.J. Simpson trial. She is the president of her own production company, Jenner Communications, and for the last 20 years she has been manager for her husband and Olympic Gold medalist, Bruce Jenner’s motivational speaking tour. Kris also manages the careers of her six children.

From the Field of Talent – Teri Polo – Teri currently stars as Theresa Hayden Keen on ABC’s Man Up! She is best known for her role as Pam in the Meet the Parents theatricals. Originally from Dover, DE, Teri began her performing career as a dancer. By age 13 she was attending New York’s School of Ballet. The summer before her senior year, she was signed to a modeling contract, which led to a role on Loving.

From the Field of Fitness – Chris Powell – Chris is the host and transformation specialist on ABC’s Extreme Makeover: Weight Loss Edition, which debuted last May as the number one show on TV. Chris exploded onto the fitness scene with his unorthodox approach, becoming a pioneer for a new hybrid of fitness professionals. He has captured national attention with the largest and fastest natural weight loss ever documented, transforming the life of David Smith who lost 401 lbs in 26 months. It was Chris’s unyielding dedication to another that captured the heart of America as he shared his story on such national shows as The Oprah Winfrey Show, 20/20, The View, as well as a one-hour documentary for TLC.

From the Field of News and Entertainment – Lara Spencer – Lara was named lifestyle anchor for ABC’s Good Morning America in March 2011. She was previously the show’s National Correspondent from 1999 to 2004. In 2004, she began hosting The Insider. During her seven seasons there, she interviewed the industry’s biggest stars and traveled the world for exclusive interviews. She also hosted three primetime TV specials for CBS. She is an advocate for Greenwich Adult Day Care in Connecticut, which helps seniors living with Alzheimer’s. She is married and a mother to a son and a daughter, Duff and Kate.

So – what are our thoughts about this panel and how it relates to the new winner?

Obvious Thought #1. ABC better get good ratings this year since they had such a significant influence in the judging selection. If they don’t, it’s THEIR fault, not Miss America’s fault.

Obvious Thought #2. Reality TV Rules. If you don’t have ‘camera charisma’ you’re not going to impress these judges this year. And yes, Miss South Carolina has an advantage because her story went so public so quickly about losing 100+ pounds and winning the title. That’s a ‘reality story’ with judges who know a thing or 2 about losing weight.

Obvious Thought #3. Ummm… where’s the former Miss America who usually sits on the panel? Or how about at least someone who’s been in pageants before? Wow.

Not So Obvious Thought #1. NO VOCALIST JUDGE this year, but instead, we have 2 judges who understand dance (Mark and Teri). Perhaps that’s in response to the 25 dancers we have at Miss America this year?

Not So Obvious Thought #2. Kris Jenner. Is this just a response to Joy Behar being selected as a judge last year in 2011? Which was a response to Rush Limbaugh being selected as a judge in 2010? Which was a response to Chris Matthews being selected as a judge in 2007? I guess I don’t understand what she brings to the table that Mike Fleiss doesn’t already bring. Except eyebrows. As a friend of mine recently said, “Because of Kris Jenner, don’t you think we’ll crown a Miss America this year with Eyebrows?” (lol – can’t make this stuff up!).

So, besides Eyebrows, what do you think this panel brings to the table and who is it likely to benefit in 2012???

In addition to “Pageant Math” it’s also a good idea to remember who has National Pageant Experience (meaning, they’ve competed as a ‘Miss State’ at some time during their life). When you’ve competed in a National Pageant you have a better understanding of what it takes to win (’cause you’ve been there, done that, brought home the t-shirt). Several girls fit this category in 2012 including:

All MAO Teen Winners Posted Yesterday = Idaho, Georgia, Kentucky, Montana, Minnesota, New Jersey, Texas, Nebraska and North Dakota. These gals know Miss America is a marathon, not a sprint.

“Other” National Experience = California and Kansas as well as North Dakota (all mentioned in earlier blog post under Veterans).

Miss Sweetheart Girls = If you’re not familiar with Miss Sweetheart, this is a pageant held during a Sweetcorn Festival over Labor Day weekend in Hoopeston, Illinois. All the 1st Runner Ups from across the country are invited to compete for the title of Miss Sweetheart. In our words, it’s a pageant to see who is the ‘winner of all the losers’ and has the potential to win their state the following year.

(Photo is of Chandler Lawson, Miss Sweetheart Tennessee in a cornfield while participating in Miss Sweetheart 2011)

We have TONS of former Sweetheart contestants this year, including Alaska, Hawaii, Florida, Louisiana, New Mexico, New York, Washington, West Virginia, and Wisconsin. In addition, Nebraska, Idaho, Kentucky and Minnesota were all MAO Teens AND Miss Sweetheart contestants, giving them 2 National Pageants under their belts!

I find it super interesting that so many girls who have been to Miss Sweetheart are competing this year for Miss America. Here’s why… Miss Sweetheart hasn’t crowned a ‘winner’ since Tara Holland in 1995 (Tara won Miss Sweetheart before going on to win Miss America in 1996). In fact, only 1 Miss Sweetheart winner even went back to win her own state since 2005 (that means 5 other girls who were named Miss Sweetheart, didn’t even win their own state the next year). Makes me wonder if the judging at Miss Sweetheart isn’t as strong as it used to be? Or, could it be, that the MAO Teen program (which crowned its first winner in 2005) is now the new way for girls to gain National Pageant experience and Sweetheart doesn’t matter the way it used to?

Hmmmmmmm… interesting food for thought…

What role do you think National Experience plays on the Big Stage?