More from the Message Boards

Keep Miss Teen USA Hilary Cruz in your thoughts; rumor has it that her appendix burst and she had to have surgery!

A memo supposedly from Art McMaster, Miss America's CEO:

Dear State Executive Directors,

I wanted to take a moment to provide you with some information and updates from the National Office.

Currently, we are still in negotiations with Planet Hollywood for Miss America 2009 to return to Las Vegas. We will continue to keep you well informed of our progress and once finalized, will announce the partnership and the date for our 2009 Pageant!

As you may have read from some of the national news stories, the ratings are out on The Miss USA Pageant that was televised on NBC last Friday night. And, although we are so sorry to see that Miss USA’s ratings declined by over 2 million viewers, it is important to recognize that our telecast of The Miss America 2008 Pageant set a new record and we continue to be moving on an upward trend!

While The Miss USA Pageant lost 2 million viewers and their ratings were at an all time low – Miss America gained one million new viewers with our Pageant and the introduction of our new Reality Show on TLC!

We are excited about the positive direction we are creating with the help and support of each one of you. Miss America continues to be the premiere Pageant and the Organization that offers contestants the opportunity to aspire to be a part of an amazing American tradition. While Miss USA continues to lose viewers, Miss America is growing and gaining viewers.

On a closing note, we are continuing to finalize plans for our National Workshop in August, so please remember to sign up if you haven’t already; our space is limited and we have had a wonderful response so far.

Thank you for your continued support. We are so proud of the work you are doing that makes us #1!

Sincerely,
Art McMaster

An interview with Miss America:

Five questions with Farmington Hills native and reigning Miss America Kirsten Haglund

BY JULIE HINDS • FREE PRESS POP CULTURE WRITER • April 17, 2008

Warm, chatty, down-to-earth and inspiring, Kirsten Haglund has the right personality for her new job. The 19-year-old from Farmington Hills is traveling the country in her role as Miss America. Since winning the title in January, she has met President George W. Bush and thrown out the first pitch for the Detroit Tigers' Opening Day, among other tasks. On Friday and Saturday, Haglund will cohost and perform at National City Stars of Ballet and Broadway at the Music Hall Center for the Performing Arts. Local performers will share the spotlight with stars from top national dance troupes (the New York City Ballet, the Joffrey Ballet, Alvin Ailey) and Broadway shows ("The Color Purple" "The Light in the Piazza," "Bring in Da Noise, Bring in Da Funk" and "Sweet Charity"). Haglund is excited about being part of the two-night event, which benefits Music Hall's dance education program and the Miss America Scholarship Fund. In fact, she's pretty much positive about everything, even the struggling Tigers.

QUESTION: You're an aspiring Broadway star. If you could have your choice of any lead role in any show, what would it be?

ANSWER: I really love the role of Kim in "Miss Saigon." It's one of my absolute favorite musicals. ... It's an incredible show. ... I had a video of it, but I didn't actually see it live until a national tour of it came to Detroit. I think I was a junior in high school. ... But I knew the score before then. I had the entire score memorized.

Q: You sang "Over the Rainbow" for your Miss America win. What songs are playing in your iPod right now?

A: Oh my goodness, I listen to lots of movie soundtracks and classical music, which is funny, and alternative. I really have eclectic tastes in music. I listen to a lot of Josh Groban. I listen to a lot of Michael Buble. I actually have this CD of French music that I've been listening to, French café music.

Q: On a serious note, now that you've talked about your experience overcoming anorexia, what's been the reaction from other women?

A: For the most part, it's been one of solidarity and positivity and just "Thank you so much." ... It makes me so happy and so fulfilled that I'm able to be a little bit of a voice for so many people, the nine million Americans that are struggling with eating disorders. But it's so much more than that. It's women and body image issues in general. ... The message that I have, I'm not trying to say, "Well, I overcame an eating disorder just like that and it was easy." No, the message is that it is hard; it is a struggle; it's a mental illness. But the fact is, people can recover from eating disorders and go on to live healthy, productive lives.

Q: What's the first thing people ask you about being Miss America?

A: Many people ask me how has your life changed and when do you get to go home. Basically, it's the fact that I'm homeless and I don't get to go home to stay at my house, except for Easter and Christmas. I do live out of two 50-pound suitcases and travel all the time, but I love it. ... I get to devote an entire year to service, to things I'm so passionate about, and have opportunities I will never probably have again in my life to use my voice in a positive way, so I am just so, so grateful.

Q: You threw out the ceremonial first pitch for the Detroit Tigers' Opening Day this year. Considering their record so far, would you be willing to come back and pitch again?

A: Oh my gosh, yes, of course. I'm not a fair-weather friend of my Detroit sports teams. I'm a Michigan native, a Detroit native, and I'm proud of them, whatever their record.

"How to Walk like a Beauty Queen"

Mind you, this features the Miss California USA pageant, in which the woman crowned was later removed due to a miscount.

The new Miss USA on the Today Show:

Post Miss USA Gossip:

From this site:

London, April 16 : Heather Mills apparently got on the wrong side of the Miss USA pageant organizers with her unreasonable demands and her 'enormous ego.'

A source claimed that producers even threatened to drop her as a judge when she 'flat-out refused' to sign a deal allowing it to be shown worldwide.

"She wants to get paid if they resell the footage. Her ego is enormous," the Mirror quoted the source, as saying.

People who booked the 40-year-old former model for the show vowed never to work with her again, the source said.

"She treated this like she was starring in a big-budget movie," the source added.

The source further said that Mills even met with pageant owner Donald Trump to 'butter him up'.

Supposedly from Tuesday's NY Daily News:

"Donald Trump didn't seem in the best of moods at the Mar-a-Lago wedding of his ex-wife Ivana over the weekend.

When I asked if he had a message of support for his ex, he said gruffly, "Of course I do. Why wouldn't I?" But he didn't share what it was!

Possibly he was still annoyed because his Miss USA pageant didn't go the way he wanted in Las Vegas on Friday.

"Donald was angry because the girl he wanted didn't win," says a snitch. "He wanted the title to go to Miss Oklahoma [Lindsey Jo Harrington], a very pretty blond." But judges awarded the tiara to Miss Texas, Crystle Stewart, instead."

Supposedly from Page Six of the New York Post:

UGLY MOMENT AT BEAUTY FETE April 16, 2008 -- CRISS Angel, the overrated Las Vegas illusionist who once "dated" Britney Spears for publicity, showed off a nasty temper by throwing a tantrum over the weekend when his girlfriend didn't win the Miss USA contest.

Shortly after Angel's honey, Miss Nevada USA Veronica Grabowski, didn't make the finals of the Miss USA pageant at the Planet Hollywood Resort, Angel - who flipped the NBC cameras the bird - wigged out when he saw Las Vegas Review Journal columnist Norm Clarke.

Angel was ticked off that Clarke ran an interview with preliminary judge Sandy Mecca, in which Mecca claimed Angel exhorted her to give Grabowski "high marks." Mecca said the comments made her uncomfortable and disturbed pageant owner Donald Trump.

When Angel ran into Clarke after the show, he screamed, "You're a [bleeping] idiot!" Angel then screeched at Clarke, who wears a patch over his right eye, "Don't ever write another word about me or you'll need an eye patch over your other eye."

"Good one," Clarke shot back "Never heard that one before." Angel's rep told Clarke, "It was an emotional night for everyone."