On Wednesday, January 11, 2012, the 53 Miss America 2012 contestants competed in the second night of preliminary competition.

Miss Oklahoma Betty Thompson won a $2,000 scholarship (courtesy of Artistry by Amway) for her rousing Irish dance.

Miss Texas Kendall Morris won a $1,000 scholarship (courtesy of Artistry by Amway) in the Lifestyle & Fitness competition in swimsuit. Kendall wore a swimsuit by Komplique, the new offical swimsuit sponsor of Miss America.

Congratulations, ladies!

 “I knew I wanted to win, but I wasn’t sure that I could,” she admits. “It was so hard to imagine.

This morning, our reigning Miss America's Outstanding Teen 2011 Lacey Russ took some time to sign autographs at our tradeshow booth. I also had a few moments to chat with her about her year of service and her advice to the next MAOTeen.

Oh my gosh, you guys! Am I ever having a good time here in Orlando! There is so much going on. Teens in Training and Princess Camp have both gotten off to a great start. Jennifer and I will be speaking to the Teens in Training this Friday, and I am so excited! Tawni has done a really great job with this program.

This morning, the Princesses rehearsed their production number for the first time and from what I can tell, they did a great job! Speaking of princesses, I finally met OUR National Princess Emily Kinsey. It was great to meet Emily and her mother Stephanie, and we are proud to have Emily as our fourpoints princess. I shot a little video so you can meet Emily, too! 

The prelims were great last night, too! There was a tie in evening wear which may be an MAOTeen first. I am looking forward to seeing more of the competition tongiht and catching up with the rest of my pageant family!