Miss America 2008

Miss America 2008
Date	January 26, 2008
Presenters	Mark Steines
Venue	Planet Hollywood Performing Arts Center, Las Vegas, Nevada
Broadcaster	TLC
Winner	Kirsten Haglund Michigan

Miss America 2008, the 87th Miss America pageant, was held at the Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino in Las Vegas on January 26, 2008.

The pageant was broadcast live on TLC from the Theatre for the Performing Arts at the Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino, only the third time that the pageant has been held outside Atlantic City.

Kirsten Haglund (Michigan) was crowned Miss America 2008 by Miss America 2007, Lauren Nelson.

Selection of contestants

One delegate from each state was chosen in state pageants held in mid 2007. Prior to competing in state pageants, the majority of delegates first were required to win a local title. Each delegates title is pre-dated to 2007, for example Jamie Langley is "Miss Alabama 2007" rather than "Miss Alabama 2008." Many contestants competed in state pageants in both the Miss America and Miss USA systems numerous times before they won titles. Some previously competed in states other than those where they won a state title.

All contestants had to be between 17 and 24 years old, unmarried, and a citizen of the United States. They had to meet residency and education requirements.

Competition

All delegates compete in an interview competition with the judges, based on their platform issue, and also in the swimsuit, evening gown and talent competitions.

Prior to the nationally televised competition, the delegates participate in three nights of preliminary competition, where preliminary award winners are chosen in each category.

For the first time, sixteen semi-finalists were chosen (fifteen based on the judges vote and one extra "People's Choice" contestant based on internet voting). The top sixteen competed in the swimsuit competition, after which judges eliminated six contestants. This was the first time the eliminated contestants were called, rather than contestants called to progress to the next round. The top ten contestants competed in the evening gown competition, and then prepared for the talent competition. Eight contestants participated in Talent, and two were eliminated in the midst of the competition. The top eight then participated in a quickfire interview competition. In a return to past proceedings, the runners-up and winner were called out of the top eight.

Results

Placements

Final Results	Contestant
Miss America 2008	Miss Michigan - Kirsten Haglund
1st runner-up	Miss Indiana - Nicole Rash
2nd runner-up	Miss Washington - Elyse Umemoto
3rd runner-up	Miss Virginia - Hannah Kiefer
4th runner-up	Miss North Carolina - Jessica Jacobs
Top 8	Miss California - Melissa Chaty Miss Texas - Molly Hazlett Miss Wisconsin - Christina Thompson
Top 10	Miss Georgia - Leah Massee Miss Iowa - Diana Reed
Top 16	Miss Arkansas - Katie Bailey Miss Florida - Kylie Williams Miss Mississippi - Kimberly Morgan Miss South Carolina - Crystal Garrett Miss Tennessee - Grace Gore Miss Utah - Jill Stevens *

Notes:

* -- America's Choice

Awards

Preliminary Awards

Awards	Contestant
Preliminary Swimsuit	Miss Michigan - Kirsten Haglund Miss Rhode Island - Ashley Bickford Miss Texas - Molly Hazlett
Preliminary Talent	Miss Connecticut - Dana Daunis Miss Iowa - Diana Reed Miss Massachusetts - Valerie Amaral

Quality of Life Award

Results	Contestant
Winner	Miss Nevada - Caleche Manos[1]
1st runner-up	Miss Florida - Kylie Williams
2nd runner-up	Miss Oklahoma - Makenna Smith
Finalists	Miss Alabama - Jamie Langley Miss Massachusetts - Valerie Amaral Miss Minnesota - Jennifer Hudspeth Miss Rhode Island - Ashley Bickford Miss Tennessee - Grace Gore

Other Awards

Results	Contestant
Non-Finalist Talent	Miss Connecticut - Dana Daunis Miss District of Columbia - Shayna Rudd Miss Idaho - Sadie Quigley Miss Massachusetts - Valerie Amaral Miss New Jersey - Amy Polumbo Miss Oregon - Kari Virding Miss Pennsylvania - Rachel Brooks
Miss Congeniality	Miss North Dakota - Ashley Young
Pyramid Scholarship for Public Relations & Marketing	Miss New Hampshire - Rachel Barker[1]

Delegates

The Miss America 2008 delegates are:

State	Name	Hometown	Age1	Talent	Placement	Special awards	Previous State pageant experience
Alabama	Jamie Langley	Wadley, AL	23	Vocal		Quality of Life Finalist
Alaska	Cari Leyva	Anchorage, AK	23	Vocal			Former Miss Alaska USA 2004
Arizona	Nicole Turner	Phoenix, AZ	24	Jazz Dance
Arkansas	Katie Bailey	Conway, AR	25	Vocal	Top 16
California	Melissa Chaty	Redwood Valley, CA	23	Classical Vocal	Top 8
Colorado	Maggie Ireland	Littleton, CO	22	Irish Step Dance
Connecticut	Dana Daunis	Watertown, CT	22	Vocal		Preliminary Talent, Non-Finalist Talent
Delaware	Brittany Dempsey	Dover, DE	19	Jazz Dance
District of Columbia	Shayna Rudd	Philadelphia, PA	22	Jazz Dance		Non-Finalist Talent
Florida	Kylie Williams	Jasper, FL	24	Country Vocal	Top 16	Quality of Life 1st runner-up
Georgia	Leah Massee	Fitzgerald, GA	22	Vocal	Top 10
Hawaii	Ashley Layfield	Kane'ohe, HI	21	Lyrical Dance			Sister of Janelle Layfield, Miss Hawaii USA 2008
Idaho	Sadie Quigley	Idaho Falls, ID	19	Piano		Non-Finalist Talent
Illinois	Ashley Hatfield	Anna, IL	24	Vocal
Indiana	Nicole Rash	Plymouth, IN	23	Vocal	1st runner-up
Iowa	Diana Reed	Norwalk, IA	23	Baton	Top 10	Preliminary Talent
Kansas	Alyssa George	Minneapolis, KS	21	Classical Piano
Kentucky	Kaitlynne Postel	Lexington, KY	21	Vocal
Louisiana	Amanda Joseph	Pineville, LA	21	Ballet en Pointe
Maine	Tara Allain	Biddeford, ME	22	Dance
Maryland	Shana Powell	Bowie, MD	22	Operatic Vocal
Massachusetts	Valerie Amaral	Acushnet, MA	22	Vocal		Quality of Life Finalist, Preliminary Talent, Non-Finalist Talent, Miss Miracle Maker Award
Michigan	Kirsten Haglund	Farmington Hills, MI	19	Vocal	Winner	Preliminary Swimsuit
Minnesota	Jennifer Hudspeth	Apple Valley, MN	23	Vocal		Quality of Life Finalist
Mississippi	Kimberly Morgan	Taylor, MS	24	Vocal	Top 16
Missouri	Lindsay Casmaer	Hazelwood, MO	23	Ballet en Pointe
Montana	Kristen Mantooth	Lewistown, NE	22	Lyrical Dance
Nebraska	Ashley Bauer	Scottsbluff, NE	21	Vocal
Nevada	Caleche Manos	Reno, NV	23	Vocal		Quality of Life Award Winner
New Hampshire	Rachel Barker	Amherst, NH	19	Ballet en Pointe		Pyramid Scholarship for Public Relations & Marketing
New Jersey	Amy Polumbo	Howell, NJ	22	Vocal		Non-Finalist Talent
New Mexico	Jenny Marlowe	Albuquerque, NM	23	Vocal
New York	Elisabeth Baldanza	Oneonta, NY	23	Contemporary Ballet
North Carolina	Jessica Jacobs	High Point, NC	23	Ballet en Pointe	4th runner-up
North Dakota	Ashley Young	Grand Forks, ND	20	Vocal Opera		Miss Congeniality
Ohio	Roberta Camp	Grove City, OH	23	Vocal
Oklahoma	Makenna Smith	Oklahoma City, OK	24	Vocal		Quality of Life 2nd runner-up
Oregon	Kari Virding	Tigard, OR	24	Vocal		Non-Finalist Talent	Former Miss Oregon Teen USA 2000
Pennsylvania	Rachel Brooks	Broomall, PA	24	Vocal		Non-Finalist Talent
Rhode Island	Ashley Bickford	Newport, RI	22	Ballet en Pointe		Quality of Life Finalist, Preliminary Swimsuit	Triple Crown winner: Previously Miss Connecticut Teen USA 2002 and Top 10 at Miss Teen USA 2002, Later Miss Connecticut USA 2010
South Carolina	Crystal Garrett	Columbia, SC	21	Vocal	Top 16
South Dakota	Kate Wismer	Britton, SD	22	Classical Vocal
Tennessee	Grace Gore	Nashville, TN	24	Vocal	Top 16	Quality of Life Finalist	Former Miss Mississippi Teen USA 2002
Texas	Molly Hazlett	Centerville, TX	21	Jazz on Pointe	Top 8	Preliminary Swimsuit
Utah	Jill Stevens	Kaysville, UT	24	Vocal	Top 16		America's Choice
Vermont	Rachel Ann Cole	Middlebury, VT	21	Monologue
Virginia	Hannah Kiefer	Roanoke, VA	21	Ballet en Pointe	3rd runner-up	2008 Charles and Theresa Brown Scholarship Recipient
Virgin Islands	Janeisha John	St. Croix, USVI	20	Jazz Dance			Later Miss US Virgin Islands Universe 2010
Washington	Elyse Umemoto	Wapato, WA	23	Vocal	2nd runner-up
West Virginia	Summer Wyatt	Princeton, WV	21	Vocal
Wisconsin	Christina Thompson	Kenosha, WI	23	Classical Violin	Top 8
Wyoming	Jennifer McCafferty	Scottsbluff, NE	23	Vocal

¹ Age as at January 2008

Miss America Reality Check

A show on the pageant's new network, TLC, premiered on January 4, 2008, hosted by Michael Urie (of Ugly Betty fame). The premise of the show is to update the image of the Miss America pageant, which has seen a decline in popularity over the last few decades. In addition, viewers will be able to vote online and choose one of the delegates to be a finalist in the pageant.

Crossovers

For the first time since Miss America 2003, four former Miss Universe Organization titleholders will compete at Miss America. They are:

• Kari Virding (Oregon) - Miss Oregon Teen USA 2000
• Ashley Bickford (Rhode Island) - Miss Connecticut Teen USA 2002, top 10 at Miss Teen USA 2002^[2]; Triple Crown winner
• Grace Gore (Tennessee) - Miss Mississippi Teen USA 2002^[3]
• Cari Leyva (Alaska) - Miss Alaska USA 2004
• Janeisha John (Virgin Islands) - Miss US Virgin Islands 2010, Miss Universe 2010 contestant

References

1. ^ ^{a b} "2008 MISS AMERICA "QUALITY OF LIFE" WINNER ANNOUNCED" (Press release). Miss America Organization. 2008-01-24. http://www.missamerica.org/news/press-releases.asp?press=310. 
2. ^ "Ashley Bickford Biography". Miss Rhode Island. http://www.missri2007.com/bio.asp. Retrieved 2008-01-24. 
3. ^ Willenburg, Brandy (2007-07-20). "New Miss Tennessee plans to maintain strong Vanderbilt ties". The Reporter (Vanderbilt Medical Center). 

External links

• Miss America official website