Vote to send a Falcon to the Oscars!

I may not be going to the Oscars, this year, but you can help someone from my alma mater get there!

MTV is holding a contest to send a student correspondent to the red carpet at the Academy Awards. I do not know the woman hosting, but the student behind the camera is Chad Courtney; I met him in Los Angeles while he was interning for my friend and fellow Falcon, Jay Ellison's production company, ShadowCast Pictures.

Please click here and vote for Chad Courtney
and Bowling Green State University!

Photo Links for Miss America 2009

Julius Tolentino
Jim Hanson

Getty Images
Vegas Deluxe
Vegas Confidential
Yahoo! News

Miss America 2009 Gowns: The Best of the Best

First, an anonymous poster on the national message board brought up an incredible coincidence: The reigning and former Miss America's not only won their first local and state pageants on their first try, they wore the same gown style at their locals!
* Click all photos to enlarge them. *

[Above left: Miss America 2008 Kirsten Haglund at Miss Wayne County; right: Miss America 2009 Katie Stam as Miss Dunland.]

Oh, and someone fabulous here in Ohio has already placed at a local in it, so don't go out and buy it!

Next, you voted the following gowns the best among their flight; scroll below and vote for the best of the best!

Left: Virginia; right: Michigan

Left: Indiana right: West Virginia

Left: District of Columbia; right: Arkansas

Ohio

Left: Hawaii; right: Georgia

Left: Florida; right: California

Click here to open the poll in a seperate page
and view my latest custom background.

You must, must, must scroll below and watch the clip of Miss America on MSNBC! It's fantastic - she's beautiful, well spoken, willing to have fun and what great exposure!

Miss America 2009 Gowns: Been there... Seen that!

It has to be incredibly difficult to pick that perfect gown for Miss America. Some women are restricted to a certain store, designer, time limit or monetarily; despite that, if I ever had the opportunity to go to a national pageant, I would never wear a gown already seen on a national stage!

Fashion Felonies:

Former Miss Ohio USA, Halle Berry, was red carpet perfection when she won her first Academy Award in 2002 [above left]. However, Miss New Hampshire's knock-off of her gown at the Miss America pageant in 2009 is just sad [above right]. It still looks gorgeous, but such an identifiable design simply can not be worn SEVEN years later! It's too late to be taking a note from this red carpet look and too soon to be bringing it back.

People either love or (more often) hate the style of the gown Miss Oregon wore at Miss America 2009 [above right]. Not only is it polarizing, it's been done! Chanel Wise, Miss Hawaii USA 2007 wore it at Miss USA, Anna Melomud [above left] won Ohio USA 2006 in it, among several others... I do like it better in black than tan, but honestly, the pageant world will be a much better place if women would please stop wearing it!

Miss Rhode Island's 2009 Miss America gown [above] is fantastic on her, but it's very recognizable. We saw it in 2007 when Jennifer Berry was giving up her title [above left] and Kentucky's Michelle Banzer competed in it at Miss USA 2007 [left].

Below left: Shandy Finnessey in the gown in which she was crowned Miss USA 2004. This style became all the rage and is well known as "the Shandi," This trend is now overdone and there is absolutely no forgiving Miss South Dakota for wearing an exact knock-off FIVE years later at Miss America 2009! Shameful!












Slap-on-the-wrist Similar













Miss America 2009, Indiana [above right] and Miss North Dakota [right] seem to have borrowed aspects of the gown Kirsten Haglund was crowned Miss America 2008 in [above left]! Neither compare to the original.














Zuleyka Rivera will always be remembered for the sexy chain-link gown above that she won Miss Universe 2006 in. Many liquid beaded designs on the market now have a similar look, especially Miss Arkansas [above right] and Miss Massachusetts' gowns [right] at Miss America 2009.


Below left: Miss America 2006 Jennifer Berry; below right: Miss Delaware borrows her bodice at Miss America 2009.











Below left: Miss Universe 2004 Jennifer Hawkins; below right: Miss Florida at Miss America 2009.

Direct link

I'm sure there were other gowns in the recent Miss America pageant that we've seen before, but these stood out to me. I feel like this post is a little bit mean, but I've never noticed so many unoriginal gowns in a national pageant. Again, I know some trends linger around for a while and it's tough to find the perfect gown, but come on, you only get one shot at being crowned Miss America!

Right off the Red Carpet

In the video that played during the evening gown competition Saturday night, Miss Georgia mentioned that her gown was similar to what Eva Longoria wore at the Golden Globes just a couple weeks ago, but joked, "I had it first!" Here's what she was talking about:

Miss America 2009 Press Junket

Like many women of pageantry, the new Miss America would like to be a news anchor; she's already told Kathi Lee and Hoda and Regis and Kelly that she wants their job! While appearing on MSNBC's Morning Joe she got to live her dream and even had a visit from Brian Williams! I have to say, she's already better than most news anchors I've seen in Ohio and Los Angeles! Take a look:

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

CLICK HERE to watch Katie on The Morning Show with Mike and Juliet.

I think the new Miss America, Katie Stam was adorable on LIVE with Regis and Kelly yesterday morning! Check it out:



Some fans are extremely upset that she mentioned the new clothing sponsor is Canadian. That really doesn't bother me.
What do you think?

Miss America 2009 Press Junket

Katie on the Today Show with Kathi Lee and Hoda

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Katie on FOX and Friends with former Miss America,
Gretchen Carlson

Photos and Videos and Stats... Oh My!

Miss America 2009, Indiana's Katie Stam!


































Cute Contestant Intros


Who was your favorite?

What would you have said for your state?

Leave comments!







Stats

* Sigma group finalists: Miss America, Indiana; 1st RU, Georgia; 4th RU, Florida; Top 7 Tennessee; Top 10, Hawaii; Top 15, South Dakota

* Alpha group finalists: 2nd RU, Iowa; 3rd RU New York; Top 12 Kentucky; Top 15 Alabama; Top 15 Delaware

* Mu group finalists: Top 7, California; Top 10 Michigan; Top 12 Arkansas; Top 10, District of Columbia

* Miss Congeniality: Texas

* Non-finalist Talent Awards: Arizona, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Utah and Vermont

Miss America's Talent


Click here to watch Miss America 1995, Heather Whitestone dance to the same song Katie sang.

Stats

* From TLC's top 15 America "picked" Indiana, Georgia and South Dakota, who were the original Gold Sash winners on the reality show. The fourth pick, Alabama, was Anthony's "wildcard" pick from the final episode.

* TEN of the pageant's Top 15 were recognized by the Countdown to the Crown judges:

Iowa, South Dakota, Arkansas and Michigan were "wildcards" in the first three episodes. Georgia, Kentucky and Hawaii were runners-up, so to speak, to a Gold Sash in the first three episodes. Alabama, California and Iowa were "wildcards," hand-picked into TLC's top 15 in the fourth episode. And again, the original Gold Sash winners were Indiana, Georgia and South Dakota.

* As predicted, not all the prelim winners made the cut; swimsuit winner Mississippi and talent winner Vermont were sent to the elimination lounge. Swimsuit winners Indiana and New York made it to the Top 5, as did talent winner, Georgia. Talent winner, Delaware, made the Top 15.

* The past several Miss Americas have been prelim and/or QOL winners: Katie Stam: Swimsuit, Kirsten Haglund: Swimsuit, Lauren Nelson: Swimsuit & Quality of Life, Jennifer Berry: Talent; Deidre Downs: Quality of Life Award

The Joys and the Heartbreaks

The Crowning

Several of last years contestants, including Ohio's Roberta Camp, gathered in Las Vegas Friday night for a Class of 2008 Reunion and Hawaiian Tropics Event, Glam It Up!

A fond farewell to Miss America 2008, Kirsten Haglund. What is she doing next? Well, she's dating a camera guy she met while filming Countdown to the Crown and she'll be in the same state as me - either pursuing entertainment in Los Angeles or going back to school at the University of Cincinnati.