By JOHN PRZYBYS
REVIEW-JOURNAL
 Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman shares a laugh with Miss Nevada Caydi Cole during a ceremony Friday to welcome Miss America Pageant contestants to Las Vegas. Las Vegas is hosting the Jan. 29 ceremony for the second year in a row. Photos by Christine H. Wetzel.  Miss America hopefuls meet the public during a welcoming ceremony at the Aladdin on Friday. The new Miss America will succeed reigning Miss America 2006 Jennifer Berry. |
They stepped to the microphone and, singing the praises of the United States from Alabama to Wyoming, introduced themselves, reveling in the knowledge that one of them would be crowned Miss America 2007.
In all, 51 Miss America contestants were officially welcomed to Las Vegas on Friday. It should have been 52, but Miss Virgin Islands' flight was delayed; the 51st contestant is from the District of Columbia.
Las Vegas is the site of the Miss America Pageant for the second year in a row. The telecast will be Jan. 29 from the Aladdin Theatre.
This year's contest comes at a bizarre time in the pageant world. In December, Miss USA Tara Conner came close to losing her crown for allegedly partying a bit too hard, while Miss Nevada USA Katie Rees lost her crown a short time later after racy photos of her hit the Internet.
The nonprofit Miss America program is unrelated to the Miss USA/Miss Universe pageant family. But as contestants prepared for introductions at the Aladdin on Friday afternoon, the excitement of tourists, gawkers and pageant fans signaled that Miss America had lost none of her luster.
This from a hotel employee talking to a buddy: "I wish I'd have brought my camera."
This from an excited woman who caught a glimpse of the contestants preparing for their big entrance: "They are here!" as if she hadn't believed it until that moment.
And even this from a guy whose excitement and devotion began to border on creepy: "Yeah, bring it on."
Shelley Hiestand of New Zealand heard about the ceremony on the radio and decided to check it out.
"My mum was into beauty pageants," she said. "She won a mother-daughter competition when I was 6 years old."
Sam Daines and Cleo Kiley are from South Africa but are studying for MBAs in North Carolina. They were visiting Las Vegas for a break before resuming classes and checked out the ceremony out of curiosity.
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