MISS AMERICA PAGEANT OFFICIALS CONFIRM LUXE LIFE SCOOP
Just hours after Luxe Life broke the exclusive news that both the Miss America and the Miss USA beauty pageants were returning to Vegas both Planet Hollywood Resort executives and parade officials confirmed our scoop!
Miss America officials confirmed the 52 scholarship contestants will arrive on the Strip mid-January for a week of preliminary competitions. It will all culminate in a totally new live telecast on The Learning Channel on Saturday January 24 live from here at 5 p.m. for the 8 p.m. East Coast satellite feed.
“We are delighted to have the most beautiful girls on the planet returning here to their home at Planet Hollywood,” said Michael Mecca, president and CEO of Planet Hollywood Resort. “This is a wonderful event for not only Planet Hollywood, but for the city of Las Vegas, It gives us a wonderful opportunity to showcase our magnificent resort.”
Art McMaster, president of the Miss America Organization added, “We are equally pleased with naming Planet Hollywood as our Pageant home for the next two years. We are thrilled to be returning to Planet Hollywood again for this year’s telecast. We are continuing to build on new traditions here in Las Vegas and we are so pleased that Planet Hollywood Resort has chosen to be a part of Miss America’s continuing history in the entertainment capital of the world.” Brent Zacky, vice president of programming for TLC cable channel commented, “Planet Hollywood was a great partner in making last year’s Miss America Live! such a success, and we look forward to working with everybody there again to make the 2009 event even better.”
The 52 Miss America contestants will sweep into town in January to begin preliminary competitions in Swimsuit, Talent and Evening Wear. The three nights of preliminaries will take place on Jan. 20, 21, and 22 at Planet Hollywood’s Theatre for the Performing Arts. Tickets for the preliminaries, as well as the Miss America Live! finals will be available to the public at ticketmaster.com starting in December.
Miss America has called Planet Hollywood Resort home since moving from Atlantic City in 2006. Kirsten Haglund, of Farmington Hills, Michigan, is the current Miss America. The Miss America Organization is one of the nation’s leading achievement programs and the world’s largest provider of scholarship assistance for young women. Last year, the Miss America Organization and its state and local organizations made available more than $45 million in cash and scholarship assistance.
Luxe Life will have details on both pageants as they develop and soon will release the official confirmations of dates for the Miss USA pageant expected to be in April.