Miss America 2009, the 82nd

Miss America Miss America is an annual competition that is open to women from the United States between the ages of 17 and 25. Originating in 1921 as a "bathing beauty revue", the contest is now judged on competitors' talent performances and interviews. As ...

pageant, was held on the

Las Vegas Strip The Las Vegas Strip is a stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard, Las Vegas Boulevard South in Clark County, Nevada, that is known for its concentration of resort hotels and casinos. The Strip, as it is known, is about long, and is immediately south of ...

Paradise In religion, paradise is a place of exceptional happiness and delight. Paradisiacal notions are often laden with pastoral imagery, and may be cosmogonical or eschatological or both, often compared to the miseries of human civilization: in paradis ...

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

on Saturday, January 24, 2009. The pageant was broadcast live on

TLC TLC may refer to: Arts and entertainment Television * ''TLC'' (TV series), a 2002 British situational comedy television series that aired on BBC2 * TLC (TV network), formerly the Learning Channel, an American cable TV network ** TLC (Asia), an A ...

from the

Theatre for the Performing Arts The Zappos Theater, originally known as Aladdin Theatre for the Performing Arts, is a mid-sized auditorium located at Planet Hollywood Las Vegas on the Las Vegas Strip. The venue hosts a variety of events, including charity benefits, concerts and ...

at the

Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino Planet Hollywood Las Vegas (formerly the Aladdin) is a casino hotel on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Eldorado Resorts, Caesars Entertainment. The property was previously the site of an earlier resort known ...

, only the fourth time that the pageant has been held outside

Atlantic City Atlantic City, often known by its initials A.C., is a coastal resort city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States. The city is known for its casinos, Boardwalk (entertainment district), boardwalk, and beaches. In 2020 United States censu ...

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

Selection of contestants

One delegate from each state was chosen in state pageants held in mid-2008. 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 2008, for example Amanda Tapley is "Miss Alabama 2008" rather than "Miss Alabama 2009". Many contestants competed in state pageants in both the Miss America and

Miss USA Miss USA is an American beauty pageant that has been held annually since 1952 to select the entrant from United States in the Miss Universe pageant. The Miss Universe Organization operated both pageants, as well as Miss Teen USA, until 2020, ...

systems numerous times before winning titles, and some had previously in other states to those which they won their state title. All contestants were required to be between the ages of 17-24, unmarried and a citizen of the United States. They were also required to meet residency and education requirements.

Competitions

All delegates competed 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 participated in three nights of preliminary competition, where preliminary award winners were chosen in each category. During the final telecast, following the announcement of the semi-finalists, the top fifteen competed in swimsuit competition. The top twelve competed in evening gown competition. The top ten went on to compete in the talent competition, and the top seven each faced a random question from an American viewer.

Results

Placements

* - America's Choice chosen from

show, Miss America: Countdown to the Crown

Awards

Preliminary awards

Quality of Life award

Other awards

Judges

The seven judges for the competition were: * former model, Paige Adams-Geller * actress and singer,

Laura Bell Bundy Laura Ashley Bell Bundy (born April 10, 1981) is an American actress and singer. She is best known for originating the Broadway roles of Amber Von Tussle in the musical version of ''Hairspray and'' Elle Woods in the musical version of ''Legally ...

* Miss America 1999, Nicole Johnson * Olympic swimmer,

Cullen Jones Cullen Andrew Jones (born February 29, 1984) is an American former competition swimmer and Olympic gold medalist who specializes in Freestyle swimming, freestyle sprint events. As part of the American team, he holds the List of world records in ...

* casting director, Beth Klein * hairstylist,

Ken Pavés Ken Pavés is an American hairdresser. He has worked as hair stylist for many celebrities including Jennifer Lopez and Carmen Electra. As an entrepreneur he has collaborated with Jessica Simpson and Karen Marie Shelton, and markets his own line ...

Delegates

References

External links

Miss America official website
{{Miss America

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

2009 in the United States 2009 beauty pageants 2009 in Nevada Events in Las Vegas January 2009 events in the United States Zappos Theater