And She's Off!
• We'll be with her every step of the way.
January 27th -- Report from Ali Stauble
On Monday, Susie had her private interview. It is probably one of the most important opportunities the contestants have to make an impression on the judges. The interview is between 9 and 12 minutes, and it's not fluff. Susie fielded questions about gay marriage rights,abortion, social networking, and internet privacy and security as it might relate to her own safety and privacy should she win the Miss America Crown. Overall she felt that the interview went very well.
On Monday night the contestants were treated to a production of Phantom of the Opera and that was a great time.
On Tuesday, it was time for Susie's group to participate in the talent competition. Her perception was that here group was tough competition talent wise. Some of you might have seen her perform at her fund-raiser with the video presentation from India. The video presentation was not permitted for the competition, and the challenge was to make the judges feel the emotion through her singing. She was pleased with her performance. Tonight, she will participate in the "On Stage Question" preliminary competition. The question will be about Susie's platform raise awareness for the plight of India's poor.
Tomorrow she will compete in the evening wear and swim suit portion of the competition.
We finally have the details about this special event on Friday. By that time the judges will have selected 11 finalsits. At 10 PM eastern time, TLC will air a program where the general public can vote by texting -- Idol Style -- to select the final 4 contestants to round out a total of 15 finalists. So grab your cell phones, get some popcorn and tune in -- just in case she's not already a finalist!
It's not every day that a community can boast being the home of its state's delegate to the Miss America pageant. Proudly, this year, Gray gets to do just that! Susie Stauble, Miss Maine 2009 will be heading to Las Vegas at 6AM tomorrow to begin her journey.
Susie's sister Ali is her business manager and has agreed to provide us with regular updates on Susie's participation in the pageant. To get the story rolling, we asked Ali about the family's plans for the event. Mom, Ali, with sisters, Kate and Jill will head to Vegas on Monday and will stay in a condo close to the festivities. Dad will remain in Gray and keep the home fires burning until it's time to head out for the televised portion of the pageant on Saturday the 30th.
Although we have a general schedule of events posted, Ali provided the 'inside' on how the contestants proceed. Including US Territories and Washington DC, there are 53 contestants who are divided into three groups. Each group follows a different rotation of preliminary judging events throughout the week.
Susie's group will have their Personal Interview competition on Monday, their Talent Competition on Tuesday, their On Stage Question on Wednesday, and the Swimsuit / Eveningwear Competition on Thursday. The preliminary scoring is as follows: Lifestyle and Fitness in Swimsuit - 15%, Evening Wear - 20%, Talent - 35%, Private Interview - 25%, and On-Stage Question – 5%.
We have it on good authority from the pageant Coordinators that there is a special event happening on Friday the 29th. All we can say now, is you'll want to be home and watching it on the television. We will provide all the details as soon as they are made public.
Once Ali arrives in Vegas we will be bringing you updates as often as possible. Stay tuned!
