Guest Author - Cheril Vernon
UPDATE: Miss Indiana Katie Stam was crowned the 2009 Miss America on Saturday, Jan. 24. She is a 22-year-old student at the University of Indianapolis student. Runner-up was Miss Georgia Chasity Hardman.
EXTRA's Mario Lopez will host the 2009 Miss America Pageant at 8 p.m. ET/PT tonight on TLC as the pageant airs live from Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas and features 52 of America's young women.
Lopez, who previously hosted the 2007 Miss America Pageant on TLC, is known for serving as host on EXTRA as well as America's Best Dance Crew. He danced his ways to the final round of ABC's Dancing with the Stars.
Special correspondent will be Clinton Kelly.
The 2009 Miss America Pageant also is the culmination of the four-part reality series Countdown to the Crown on TLC, which has followed the 52 Miss America contestants as they lived together on the Queen Mary luxury ocean liner and faced off in challenges to help them prepare for the pageant.
The night before the live show, America voted to select four of the contestants they think deserve to make it into the top 15 pageant candidates - following the finale Countdown to the Crown episode. The winners of this vote will be announced during the pageant.
This isn't the first time TLC has held a reality show to promote the Miss America competition. TLC's Miss America Reality Check in 2008 helped drive the Miss America Pageant to its highest rating in years.
The Miss America Pageant has a long history - beginning in the 1920s - growing to the level it is today. The Miss America organization today is one of the nation's leading achievement programs and the world's largest provider of scholarship assistance for young women.
Last year, the Miss America organization provided $45 million in cash and scholarship assistance, helping young women all across the country to reach their dreams and goals. For more information, visit www.missamerica.org.
For photos and more, visit TLC's 2009 Miss America website. The website also has a nicely done contestants' page showing a United States map you can click to find that particular state's contestant, as well as their bio and other information.
