A Letter From Miss America's President...

The following was posted on the Miss America message board:

To: State Executive Directors:

We just completed the taping of four one-hour episodes of a new reality series which is scheduled to be broadcast in the month of January, 2008. We will make sure you are notified the exact air dates as soon as we receive confirmation.

The contestants are all on their way home and have had a truly remarkable experience. They have all bonded so well together and we strongly believe our class of 2008 promises to be a memorable one.

Part of the making of this new show offered the ladies the chance to have a complete makeover. Many of them embraced it and in our opinion this is going to be one of the highlights of the show. Many of you need to be aware that those girls who did choose to change their look are thrilled with it and we hope that you will be too. These contestants loved being together and loved sharing all that the reality show presented in terms of critique, bonding, athletic events, etc.

We will be very hands on with the editing as we do not yet know what the contestants might have said on camera during private moments. One of the messages of the reality show is that these girls must ALL BE REAL and true to themselves… comfortable in their own skin. We do not want a teased or heavily made up appearance. We want the contestants to be as natural and beautiful as they are on a day to day basis. The girls are thrilled with this new direction. You should also know that some of the girls chose not to change, and that is great as well!

Our judge’s panel for Las Vegas will not be permitted to view the reality series as we do not want to prejudice them in any way. The seven judges of the finals will be comprised of health, beauty, fitness, talent and interview experts from all walks of life. We are attempting to find a younger group of judges this year that represent experts in the fields mentioned above.

While the production company was taping the reality series, our TV partner TLC took the opportunity to tape some funny promotional spots to spoof the way we “used to be.” Everyone here, including the contestants, enjoyed the experience.

We reminded each of the contestants that it is their responsibility not to talk about the making of this reality show since they have all signed confidentiality agreements. We are asking each of our State Executive Directors to respect that agreement since some of the contestants have expressed nervousness that their Executive Directors will insist on knowing.

In addition, we will have final wardrobe information to you sometime during the Thanksgiving period.

As always, we thank our State Executive leaders for their hard work leading into the "2008 Miss America Live" event.

Sam Haskell Art McMaster
Chairman of the Board
President / CEO