Stefanie Wittler is now 2nd runner up in Miss America

UPDATE: Miss Tennessee Stefanie Wittler received a rousing round of applause during the talent competition of Saturday night's Miss America pageant.  She also provided a great interview segment, but alas when host Mario Lopez announced she had won 2nd runner-up it was the end of the line for the Tennessee native.  

Miss VIrginia Caressa Cameron, who's talent was a pitchy version of Beyonce's Listen from the Dreamgirls movie won the title of Miss America, while Miss California Kristy Cavinder took first runner-up.

My friend Ericka Dunlap, Miss America 2004 was on hand early in the evening as she revealed to the show's co-host, TLC's Clinton Kelly that the Miss America Organization had made a donation to Haiti relief efforts. A link to the Red Cross can be found on the official Miss America site.

Below is my original article about Wittler, the pageant and Miss America 2004, Ericka Dunlap.

Beauty pageant, scholarship organization, call it what you like.  The fact is Miss America is a national institution.  Tonight on TLC at 8/7c the tradition continues as 22 year-old Soddy-Daisy, Tennessee native Stefanie Wittler is among the 53 beauties vying for the title of Miss America 2010. 

Wittler, a student at the University of Tennessee Chattanooga, and the other contestants arrived in Vegas earlier this week to participate in preliminary rounds of interview, talent and other aspects of the competition. During the talent preliminaries, Wittler sang I Will Always Love You, a song made popular by another Tennessee beauty, Dolly Parton.  While Wittler didn't win the talent preliminary, her vocal performance was well received, eliciting one of the night's loudest crowd reactions.

Just over six months ago, Wittler was crowned Miss Tennessee, having entered the contest as the current Miss Hamilton County.  Like so many pageant girls, Wittler's platform issue is a charitable one, the Ronald McDonald House.  Her official bio even lists becoming CEO of Ronald McDonald House Charities as her career ambition.  

If Whittler were to win tonight's title, she would be only the second Tennessean to do so in the event's eight decade history; the first and only Miss Tennessee to take the title of Miss America was Memphis native, Kellye Cash.  Cash, yes a relative of that Cash family, won the title back in 1987.

With only one previous Tennessee girl having won the crown, coupled with the fact that Whittler failed to take any of the preliminary honors, the odds may seem stacked against Miss Tennessee taking home the title this year, but don't count her out just yet.  A quick look at the history of the Miss America organization reveals that a preliminary win doesn't always guarantee an overall victory.

Another Miss America Tennessee connection

As is customary, tonight's event will be attended by several former Miss America title-holders.  Among that elite group of beauties is my friend Ericka Dunlap, Miss America 2004.  While Ericka hails from Florida, where he entered the pageant after winning her state pageant.  Currently residing in Nashville, Ericka is pursuing her dream of a country music career, working with Paul Worley, one of Nashville's most prominent music producers.  In recent months, she has been in a spotlight of a different sort..  As 2009 drew to a close she and her husband Brian Kleinschmidt  gained national recognition while competing in the hit reality competition, The Amazing Race, where they finished in third place.

Miss America's television history

The pageant originally took place in Atlantic City, NJ and was first televised by ABC in 1954 with Bob Russell as host.  Bert Parks began his reign as the pageant's longest-running host when he took over in 1955.  The event switched to CBS in 1957, where it remained until 1965.  1964 saw the temporary addition of a female co-host, in the form of Bess Meyerson, who remained through 1967.  Coincidentally, Meyerson was Miss America 1945, and became the first jewish woman to hold the title.  In 1966, the show switched networks again, this time landing on NBC, the network that holds the record for longest affiliation with the pageant system.  From 1975-1978 Parks was joined by another former title-holder, Phyllis George, Miss America 1971.  Mary Ann Mobley, Miss America 1959 joined Parks as co-host for a single year in 1979.   

Following Parks' retirement, 1980 and 81 were hosted by Ron Ely with Miss America 1977, Dorothy Benham co-hosting.  Gary Collins flew solo as host from 1982 until he was joined by Mobley in 1985 until 1988.  George returned to co-hosting alongside Collins from 1989-1991.

During the pageant's final years on NBC, Regin Philbin hosted from 1992-1996, with his then-daytime sidekick, Kathie Lee Gifford.  Gifford became the first co-host in the pageant's televised history who wasn't a former title holder.  What's more, Gifford was disqualified from the 1970 America's Junior Miss Pageant after breaking pageant rules by talking to a male.  I kid you not.  Regis took on his final year of emcee alone in 1996.

When the franchise switched back to ABC from 1997 until 2005, it saw a series of hosts, including Eva LaRue and John Callahn, Donny and Marie Osmond, Tony Danza, Wayne Brady, Tom Bergeron and Chris Harrison.

In 2006, for the first time in the history of the Miss America organization, the show went from network to cable when it got optioned by Nashville-based CMT, a division of MTV Networks.  The move to CMT brought about a few significant changes.  The show had always been held in Atlantic City in September. When CMT partnered with the Miss American organization, the pageant was rescheduled for January and after 85 years of calling Atlantic City home, was relocated to Las Vegas.  Another change came in the form of a pre-show of sorts, a reality show giving viewers a look at the events and days leading up to the big night.  Side note:  I was working at CMT during the time and we were thrilled to have Desperate Housewives star James Denton on hand for our freshman outing.  For the event's second and final year on CMT, Mario Lopez, fresh off his Dancing With The Stars appearance took over as emcee.

The pageant switched to its current home of TLC in 2008 with Mark Steines as host.   As CMT had done, TLC continued to produce reality programming showcasing the journey to the crown.  Lopez returned last year and will be on hand when the show kicks off tonight at 8/7c on TLC.