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Final Miss America preliminary wraps up
2007-01-28
Miss California Jacquelynne Fontaine and Miss Pennsylvania Emily Wills were the winners Saturday as preliminary competition drew to a close for the 2007 Miss America Pageant. The televised finals and crowning of Miss America will be Monday at the Aladdin Resort & Casino. Fontaine, 24, of Moorpark, Calif., won a $2,000 scholarship for her vocal performance of "Vissi d'arte" from the opera "Tosca" in the talent competition. She is a music and vocal arts major at the University of Southern California and aspires to earn a doctorate in music. Wills, 24, of Beaver, Pa., won $1,000 in the swimsuit competition. She wore a black-and-white striped bikini. She is a Pennsylvania State University student studying psychology and communication arts and sciences. In preliminaries, the 52 women seeking the crown compete on three consecutive nights, with their cumulative scores determining who makes the top 10 on Monday. The preliminary scores account for 30 percent of their totals. The shows also serve as a sort of dress rehearsal for the Monday pageant, which will be telecast by cable network Country Music Television starting at 8 p.m. EST. Saturday night's preliminary winners joined Miss Hawaii Pilialoha Gaison and Miss Nebraska Molly McGrath, who won in talent and swimsuit categories Friday, and Miss Texas Shilah Phillips and Miss Oklahoma Lauren Nelson, who won Thursday. The pageant's Monday night time slot is a break from tradition. CMT took the pageant off Saturday night in search of a bigger audience. __ On the Net: Miss America Organization http://www.missamerica.org
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