Miss America!!

clipped from misscal2009.blogspot.com WOW. What an absolute whirlwind the last two weeks have been! I am not even quite sure where to start! This will likely be a lengthy post, so grab a cup of coffee and a blanket and settle in… here goes! The Sunday before I left for Miss America, Bob and the Baldwins threw me a “sendoff party”. It was wonderful!! I had such a great time and it was the perfect way to see everyone before I left. Bob even surprised me by having MISS AMERICA there! I was shocked! It was a wonderful evening, thank you so so much to everyone who was involved in the planning process!! The next two days were filled with last minute shopping trips, lots and lots and lots of packing, and last minute gym trips and even a quick appearance at Total Woman Gym and Day Spa in Laguna Hills. On Wednesday morning, Kathi drove me to Chelle’s house with her car packed to the brim and Chelle then drove me to Las Vegas. It took us 6 1/2 hours through rain, snow, fog and sunshine to arrive at the Planet Hollywood.

Debra Gilmour, America’s 50s Joins NW Pageant Queens For Informational Workshop

clipped from debragilmour.blogspot.com Today, pageant titleholders and hopeful contestants of numerous systems from Oregon and Washington gathered in Lake Oswego for a full day workshop to share information, learn valuable competition tips, and make new friendships. Attendees had chances to win door prizes, receive gifts from sponsors and take home lots of information about competing for local, state, and national pageant titles.  It was also a chance to “talk to the experts” one on one during lunch as the queens divided up, giving every attendee a chance to chat with a queen or two per table and take lots of pictures. Thank you Lesley Nardini, Executive Director of Oregon International Pageants for asking me to be a part of this fun and fabulous event. It was great to see so many titleholders together from across many pageant systems, and sharing their passion for pageantry!

Hosting “Go Red” Day at the office!

clipped from justjoysroyalappearances.blogspot.com Today I am hosting “Go Red” Day at my office. After sending out a message Tuesday, encouraging my female co-workers to “go red” today, I was excited to see many of the ladies have joined in the cause! The American Heart Association’s “Go Red for Women” campaign is working to change that. For more information about the Go Red movement, including personal testimonies and heart healthy facts, see the website:

‘Miss America 2010’ Draws 4.5 Million Viewers

clipped from www.multichannel.com TLC’s Jan. 30 Miss America 2010 telecast drew 4.5 million viewers, a record showing for the 89-year old beauty pageant on cable. The Miss America 2010 show, in which Miss Virginia Caressa Cameron won the coveted crown, improved on last year’s 3.5 million performance, according to Nielsen. The show also set cable viewership records for the pageant in several key demos, including households, adults 18-49; women 25-54; men 25-55; and men 25-54, said network officials. Miss America 2010 marks the end of TLC’s three-year distribution deal for the pageant, and it’s unclear whether the network has plans to renew the agreement.

TLC’s 2010 Miss America Pageant grabs the crown as cable’s top show

clipped from www.lasvegassun.com The 2010 Miss America Pageant broadcast on Saturday from Las Vegas gave the crown to the 89th annual pageant and TLC as the No. 1 telecast of the night against all advertising-supported cable shows excluding movies. The official ratings were released at 9:30 a.m. The telecast from the Theater for the Performing Arts in Planet Hollywood attracted 4.5 million viewers, making it the highest delivery of any Miss America telecast on cable ever in all key demographics. Miss America even beat its beauty pageant rival, besting the delivery performance of any Miss USA Pageant in the past two years in the key women’s demographic of ages 18 to 34. Additionally, Miss America posted triple digit gains in the first quarter year-to-date primetime premiere average in all key demographics. The 2010 Miss America Pageant, which crowned Miss Virginia Caressa Cameron as this year’s winner, scored a 3.1 rating overall.

Surprise Proposal For Miss America Katie Stam

clipped from www.popcrunch.com Soon-to-be former Miss America, Katie Stam, capped off her final night as a beauty queen with a diamond engagement ring. Stam’s personal trainer boyfriend, Brian Irk, stunned the Oreo-lovin’ Katie with a marriage proposal at the Evening of Dreams Gala Friday night. Watch Video Conservative commentator Rush Limbaugh will be one of six judges to decide who will be the next beauty to wear the Miss America crown at the 2010 Miss America pageant at the Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino in Las Vegas this evening.

New Miss America plans to raise funds for charity

clipped from www.theoaklandpress.com LAS VEGAS (AP) — A 22-year-old Virginia woman who said she once thought her only talent was singing is the nation’s newest Miss America, emerging from a field of 53 contestants picked for their beauty, compassion and interview savvy. Caressa Cameron, a broadcast journalism student at Virginia Commonwealth University, now plans a second year away from college as she travels extensively to raise money for charity and carry the 89-year-old pageant’s crown. “I hope to gain inspiration, I hope to gain momentum so that when this 365 days is over, I can shoot through the moon,” Cameron told The Associated Press after the weekend event. Cameron, the first black Miss America since Ericka Dunlap in 2005, says she wants to get a master’s degree and eventually become a news anchor. Cameron, the daughter of a background researcher for the government and a contractor, said she was inspired to compete in pageants at age 14, when Miss Virginia 2003 Nancy Redd visited her school.

Are there more Miss America Pageants in Las Vegas’ future?

clipped from www.vegasdeluxe.com The 2010 Miss America Pageant ratings on TLC saw a strong increase of 1 million viewers for the live telecast from the Theater for Performing Arts in Planet Hollywood. The pageant, which crowned Miss Virginia Caressa Cameron as the new Miss America on Saturday, beat last year’s major network ratings for archrival Miss USA Pageant that arrives here for its May 16 telecast. As a result, Miss America Pageant bosses have exclusively confirmed to Vegas DeLuxe that they now want to make its permanent home in Las Vegas. We posted the ratings results ahead of our competition yesterday. At the end of this month, Miss America officials hope to wrap up negotiations with TLC, Planet Hollywood and the Las Vegas Convention & Visitors Authority so that they can call Las Vegas home for five more years through 2015 — and even longer!

Rush Limbaugh, The Feminist, Defends Miss America Pageant

clipped from www.mediaite.com Hats off to Rush Limbaugh, leading the 21st Century feminist charge in his roll as a judge for this year’s Miss America pageant. It was hard work! Says Rush: Folks, this is a big time serious thing, There’s no frivolity at all. It’s very serious. And these women have devoted their lives, in most cases, to this week. “Oh, I’m a huge supporter of women. What I’m not a supporter of is liberalism. Feminism is what I oppose, and feminism has led women astray. I love women. I don’t know where all this got started…I love the women’s movement — especially when walking behind it. This idea that I don’t like women is absurd. This is Miss America. And if there’s a Mr. America out there, it’s me.”

Limbaugh: Miss America Contestants Know More About Politics Than Elected Officials

clipped from newsbusters.org Conservative talk radio host Rush Limbaugh believes that many of the Miss America contestants he met last week know more about politics than elected officials he’s spoken to. “I’ve really been impressed with all of them,” Limbaugh told Fox News’s Gretchen Carlson in a segment that aired on “Fox & Friends” Tuesday. Yet, what has really caught the attention of some in the media was Limbaugh’s comment, “I love the women’s movement — especially when walking behind it” (video embedded below the fold with transcript, h/t the Right Scoop):