January 8, 2010 – Miss Utah 2010, Whitney Merrifield, is putting the final touches on her wardrobe, talent and interview skills as she prepares for Miss America, an experience she has been preparing for and looking forward to since her crowning in June of 2009.
The 2010 Miss America Pageant promises to be an exciting event with the announcement of the strikingly diverse panel of national judges. This year’s panel of seven judges includes a Miss America turned opera singer and philanthropist; an accomplished actress; an Olympic gold medalist; a six-time Grammy nominee; the most listened-to radio talk show host in America; a successful comedian, and an American Idol finalist. They will evaluate the contestants from the preliminaries through the final night of competition, which will be premiering live from Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino in Las Vegas on Saturday, January 30, 2010 at 8:00 PM ET live/PT tape-delayed, exclusively on TLC.
Before the competition airs on TLC, the public will have the opportunity to watch the 2010 Miss America Pageant One-Hour Special on Friday, January 29th on TLC. Following the Friday night special, America will be asked to vote for their favorites from a field of 10-12 contestants chosen by the 53 contestants themselves, not a team of outside consultants. The top four with the highest votes will be placed in the top 15 on the final night of competition. The Miss Utah Organization (MUO) would like to invite everyone to vote for Whitney!
MUO is proud to send Whitney Merrifield to Las Vegas to represent the state of Utah and will wish her luck at her Miss America Send-Off party on Saturday, January 16th at 6:00 PM
Oak Canyon Junior High School (111 S. 275 E. in Lindon).
This event is open to the press and general public.
The Miss Utah Organization
PUBLIC RELATIONS DEPARTMENT
Salt Lake City, Utah - January 7, 2010:
Jeanette Morelan, Miss America’s Outstanding Teen 2010, will be visiting Utah from January 13th until January 17th.
This special trip is sponsored by former Miss Utah Scholarship Pageant judge, Dr. Glenn S. Harman, from Rochester Minnesota. The trip is a way for Jeanette to see the United States and gain perspective on what she can do to further her platform.
During her time in Utah, Jeanette will be doing volunteer work at the Kiwanis Club of Utah County and visiting with children at local schools to teach them about her service platform. She will spend the week with Miss Utah’s Outstanding Teen 2009, Marisa Nielsen, and Miss Utah’s Outstanding Teen 2008, Meredith Gauffin. While visiting Utah, volunteers from the MUOT and MUO programs will take Jeanette to see some of Utah’s most well known tourism sites such as the state capitol, historic Temple Square and the Olympic venues.
The general public will have an opportunity to meet Jeanette at a special welcome party being held Wednesday, January 13th from 6:00-8:00 PM at the Primrose Retreat (978 Expressway Lane in Spanish Fork) where she will sign autographs, take pictures and speak about her platform.
Jeanette Morelan, from Racine, Wisconsin, was crowned Miss America’s Outstanding Teen 2010 on August 15, 2009 in Florida. As the fifth Miss America’s Outstanding Teen, Morelan’s journey takes her across the country promoting scholastic achievement for our nation’s youth. She also supports the National Platform of the Miss America Organization, the Children’s Miracle Network. In addition, she continues to work on her own personal service platform, “The Power of One” which aims to motivate and inspire people to realize that they have the power to dream, the power to believe in that dream and the power to act on that dream.
The Miss Utah Organization
PUBLIC RELATIONS DEPARTMENT
Morelan’s scholastic ambition is to graduate as valedictorian and attend Harvard University to obtain degrees in Political Economy and Government and a terminal degree in Law. Eventually she would like to serve her city and state in various public offices, to learn about how the government works and ultimately serve her country as President of the United States. Morelan is a straight A student and has won several awards for academics. A talented dancer and vocalist, Morelan sang “Think of Me” from “The Phantom of the Opera” for the talent portion of competition at the National pageant.
During her visit, Jeanette will perform with Whitney Merrifield (Miss Utah 2010) at the Miss America Send-Off party on January 16th from 6:00-7:00 PM at Oak Canyon Junior High School (111 S. 725 E. in Lindon) where Whitney will showcase her talent, interview skills and wardrobe just a week before traveling to Las Vegas for the Miss America competition.
The Miss Utah’s Outstanding Teen organization awarded over $22,000 in scholarship money and awards throughout the evening. A sister company to the Miss America Organization, Miss America’s Outstanding Teen promotes scholastic achievement, creative accomplishment, healthy living and community involvement for America’s teens.
The Miss Utah Organization is an affiliate of the Miss America Scholarship Pageant, the world’s largest provider of scholarship assistance for young women and one of the nation’s leading achievement programs.
