Voting On And Ogling Miss America Pageant Starts On YouTube

Miss America is doing something a little different this year, and it involves online video.  This time, all 53 Miss America contestants have a YouTube video showing off their skills, knowledge, and beauty, and they invite people to vote at the end of them.  Voting will count towards selecting the finalists.  And, like always, these women will interview, wear bathing suits and evening gowns, and show off talents.  The winner takes home scholarship money.  They really need to start making these women do some Survivor type stuff to really earn it.  We'd certainly watch more.

Miss America Pageant Launches On YouTube

My home state is Tennessee, so here's Miss Tennessee's Erin Hatley.  I'm sure you'll find her quite pretty and talented:

And here's a woman who knows viral videos, Miss Oregon's Caroline McGowan is using the Old Spice model:

And here's Miss Oklahoma's Betty Thompson extolling the virtues of milk:

So yeah, you get the point.  You can watch all 53 of them at Miss America's website, or on YouTube.  It's an interesting attempt at building some buzz for the competition.  You get a chance to know what the women are all about before the show begins.  I'm not entirely sure how fair all of this is, letting people vote and deciding who gets into the finals, but hey, it generates a little more interest when average citizens can get involved.

And in case you never hear any of these women's final statement on every video, the competition takes place on January 14 on ABC at the Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino in Las Vegas.