2011 Miss America Pageant will be a record-breaking affair today

Producers of ABC’s live 90th Anniversary Miss America Pageant broadcast tomorrow night are aiming to somehow top last night’s incredible third and final preliminary competition. Yesterday’s luncheon lineup at Neiman Marcus at Fashion Show and the onstage parade included 1989 Miss America Gretchen Carlson of Fox & Friends and my longtime friend 1976 Miss America Tawny Godin, who was Regis Philbin’s TV sidekick long before Kathie Lee Gifford and Kelly Ripa! Phyllis George, the 1979 Miss America, arrives this morning after being delayed in Atlanta due to a heavy blizzard.
To celebrate 90 amazing years, the 2011 Miss America Pageant will be a record-breaking affair today ahead of ABC’s live broadcast tomorrow night from Planet Hollywood’s Theater for the Performing Arts.
It is one extraordinary day, from celebrity judges and the 2011 co-host stars to the largest gathering of Miss Americas to executives from the Miss America Organization and ABC to the return of a beloved tradition -- the Miss America Parade.
I’ll also introduce all 46 of the Miss Americas who have flown in for the parade and tomorrow’s telecast.
To add to the festivities, Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority officials will be on hand to read Mayor Oscar Goodman’s official proclamation declaring Jan. 15, 2011, “Miss America Day” in Las Vegas.
Keep checking back right here at VegasDeLuxe.com for continuing news, photo and video coverage, and also check out the 2011 Miss America section at LasVegasSun.com.
here she is, Miss America. America loves a comeback story," Sam Haskell, chairman of the Miss America Organization, told AOL News. It's been many years since a Miss America became a household name -- quick, name last year's winner! The public's attention has turned toward the competing Miss USA pageant--ABC dumped Miss America after the 2005 pageant, so the show moved first to CMT and then to TLC and from downtrodden Atlantic City to glitzy Las Vegas.

"You're always telling people the difference between Miss USA and Miss America," admitted Miss America 2000 Heather French Henry of Kentucky, who spent the past decade lobbying Congress for more funding for homeless war veterans. "We're a nonprofit organization dedicated to scholarship and they're not. The pageants flailed on CMT but enjoyed an uptick over the past three years on TLC thanks in part to a six-episode reality show that aired about the contestants in the weeks leading up to the pageant.

ABC then agreed to a new three-year deal, Haskell said, and the reality show was no longer necessary--DWTS winner/host Brooke Burke and "The Bachelor" Chris Harrison are hosting.

"We talked about current events, and she primed me for the interview part of the pageant," said Bulkley, a Scottsdale, Ariz., native who attends the University of Arizona in Tucson. The Bulkley-Giffords interaction is typical of Miss America contestants, who frequently get to contact local leaders. That, again, is more proof that Miss America is a more serious event than Miss USA, Haskell said.

"Sure there are beautiful girls in our program, but it's all about education, scholarship and talent," he said. Miss USA is beautiful girls, period."

"Look at the amount of times Miss America is referenced on TV shows. I've never heard a little girl say, 'When I grow up, I want to be Miss USA.'"