Four major changes to the 2007 Miss America pageant telecast will give it a whole new look as you can see from these first rehearsal photos. The expected 30-million viewers will be closer to picking the winner than ever before. Even a touch of 'American Idol' excitement has been added to the two hour, CMT broadcast on Monday night at 8PM EST from the Aladdin/Planet Hollywood Casino & Resort here in Las Vegas.
In addition, CMT's program production chief Sarah Brock has added long-respected veteran Don Mischner's producing team to "run the show" and right afterwards he heads to Miami to produce the mammoth Super Bowl half time spectacular with Prince. Previously Don has produced for the Rolling Stones and the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics opening extravaganza.
"When you think about it, Miss America was the very first and original reality show," Sarah told me. "But you never got to see what went on behind the scenes. Now you're going to see all of that for the first time." 
Roving reporter Alyson DeMarcus will get quick hit reactions from the judges right through the pageant so viewers will know how the contestant s are being judged and how they're moving ahead or slipping behind. Fourteen minutes of the two hour show will be devoted to quick-edited packages from the private interview session between the individual contestants and the judges. MSNBC's Chris Matthews is really playing 'Hardball' with the girls. He's done his homework and asking tough questions. So are Debbie Allen and Nigel Barker. It's tough and you don't want to wilt under fire. This is a very crucial part of the contest accounting for 35% of the overall voting and viewers will see it all for the first time. 
After each competition segment there'll be a Sprint fan favorite text-message opportunity for viewers to "reach right out to the show," and record their votes for each contestant. We'll all know it in the theater, including the judges, and we'll show it on the telecast but the information will be kept from the 52 girls. Voting by the public for the three Miss Congeniality candidates begins Friday night after the airing of the Pageant School reality show and will end at 8:30PM ET during the telecast. Within 30 minutes the viewers results will be tabulated at CMT headquarters in Nashville and on a special tie-line right into the theater production VP Sarah Brock will be able to announce the winner as the first hour ends. 
"We've really got the viewers more involved than ever before," Sarah told me. "It changes the entire dynamic of the show and certainly adds to the excitement of the big night. Plus this year the girls are more glamorous than ever before in a modern way. They are the best you could ever ask for- and every one of them is a TV star in her own right. We'll even see some of these princesses winding up with TV careers of their own within a few years"
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1. After 25 years of volunteering for the Miss America Organization in Atlantic City, my heart was broken when the Pageant left town. I was invited to go to LV to help out with the show, but was turned down by my superintendent...another tear jerker. Now our local cable provider in NJ has removed CMT from the channel lineup and most of the local pageant supporters cannot even watch the show. The ratings are likely to plummet this year due to the fact the people that love the Miss America Pageant the most will not be able to watch. Have a fun evening and I sure wish that I were there!!!
Judy Dale at 8:43PM on Jan 26th 2007