Las Vegas Weekly

January 16, 2009 · 9:34 AM

Photo Gallery: Miss America contestants spend first day of pageant on the Strip; mayor welcomes them with roses

By Robin Leach

Photo: Scott Doctor/www.greatscottstudios.com

Not all 52 of the Miss America contestants made it to Las Vegas yesterday in time for our Merry Mayor of Mirth Oscar Goodman’s welcome at Planet Hollywood. Three of the pageant’s beauties were trapped in airport delays because of freezing temperatures across America, but all will hopefully be in place today.

Three of our contributing photographers -- Scott Doctor, Tom Donoghue and Erik Kabik -- were on hand to capture these great shots for our first photo gallery of the 2009 Miss America competition. Each day until Jan. 24’s live broadcast hosted by Mario Lopez on TLC, Vegas DeLuxe will present the biggest and best photo coverage from the contestants’ 10-day stay on the Strip.

On hand for the ceremony were Bill Feather, president of Planet Hollywood Management Inc.; Art Master, president & CEO of the Miss America Organization; Sam Haskell III, chairman of the board of the Miss America Organization; and our mayor, who welcomed each contestant with a rose.

Miss America officials announced the eight “Evelyn Ay Sempier Quality of Life” finalists yesterday. The top three winners of the award, named after 1954 Miss America Evelyn Ay Sempier, will receive scholarships. The three recipients will be announced at a 10:30 a.m. press conference Jan. 22.

Photo: Erik Kabik/Retna/www.erikkabikphoto.com

This year’s top eight finalists and their personal platforms are Miss Alabama Amanda Tapley, “Music for a Cure”; Miss Hawaii Nicole Fox, “The Adopt-A-College Program”; Miss Indiana Katie Stam, “Super Saturday of Service”; Miss Kentucky Emily Cox, “Uniquely Me: Promoting Self-Esteem in Adolescent Girls”; Miss Michigan Ashlee Baracy, “Breast Cancer Awareness & Education”; Miss North Carolina Amanda Watson, “Making ALS History, One Person at a Time”; Miss Rhode Island Francesca Simone, “FACT: Families of Alzheimer’s Carrying the Torch”; and Miss Virginia Tara Wheeler, “Empowering America’s Youth.”

The young women have a hectic, whirlwind schedule today and the remainder of the weekend. Click HERE for their full rundown that we posted Wednesday. Their last moments of fun before the serious business begins Monday is Sunday night at Pole Position Raceway. They will compete in 12 lap runoffs on the quarter-mile track in the miniaturized electric golf karts hitting speeds up to 45 mph.

Photo: Tom Donoghue/www.donoghuephotography.com

Mayor Oscar Goodman greets Miss Indiana Katie Stam.

The preliminary competitions take place Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday evenings, and the public is invited to attend at the Theater for the Performing Arts in Planet Hollywood. During the day, the hopefuls undergo rigorous and demanding interviews from a panel of six judges.

Next Friday, they will attend their “Dinner of Dreams” with former Miss America winners and join with Mario for the final broadcast of their TLC reality series Countdown to the Crown, which takes place at the Extra Lounge in Planet Hollywood. The live satellite broadcast of the final competition begins at 5 p.m. local time Jan. 24 on TLC, and exactly 1 hour and 55 minutes later, we will know who will replace 2008 winner Kirsten Haglund of Michigan. Click HERE for our interview with Kirsten.

We’ll be live backstage and have the first photos and interview with the 2009 Miss America moments later!

— From Vegas Deluxe

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