Actress Delta Burke was forced to quit her role as judge of the Miss America 2007 contest because of "intestinal flu" -- just one day into the event. After completing her first interviews with the first set of contestants she was taken ill and doctors decided she was too sick to continue.

Accordingly Miss America officials had to enforce " sick judge procedures" – and invalidate her first-day scores. Delta was unable to do a second day of questioning but on day threeshe was well enough to return home to Los Angeles where she will watch Monday's telecast while recovering from bed! She told Pageant officials, "I'm very sad and disappointed. It was not the time to get knocked to the floor. But I wish all the contestants the very best of wishes- they are a remarkable group of young women and all of them are winners."

Seen here with Aladdin/Planet Hollywood chief Mike Mecca, the remaining judges are entertainer Debbie Allen, former Miss America and 9-year host of Discovery's 'Home Matters' Susan Powell, TV's MSNBC 'Hardball' anchor Chris Matthews, singer-pianist-composer Michael Feinstein and Nigel Barker of 'America's Next Top Model.' They score the 52 contestants on the following basis: talent represents 35%; the swimsuit category is 15%, Eveningwear is 20% and an on-stage question is 5%. The final 25% is awarded from the individual judge's interviews.

"I've been tough," admitted Chris. "I played 'Hardball.' I probe and probe until you find the crazy point where you get at the truth of who they are. I grew up in New Jersey near Atlantic City and I watched every televised pageant and I was always trying to pick the best one- the winner. I loved Bert Parks and secretly I always wanted to be a Miss America judge just once in my career and that dream came true. I never saw the show as camp. I realized it was a very serious assignment. "

"All are Cinderella girls and have a powerful will to win. They are really impressive and were amazing in their knowledge of politics on the national and state levels. Everyone of them was aware of whats going on in the world politically and they knew everything about the top women leaders in the world. I tried tricks with them of their knowledge of their different states but they were completely aware of the right names and the right leaders.

"Its like a casting call by Prince Will to find the next Queen of England. You are looking for the best representative who will do good as the best in the country. Just like Prince Will's girlfriend you are looking for somebody who has been well brought up and will have the country looking up to her."

I asked each of the judges exactly how they were going to decide on their individual balloting for the new Ms. America to be crowned Monday night live from the Aladdin/Planet Hollywood resort hotel casino at the heart of the Vegas strip – and telecast live to the East Coast at 8pm ET on CMT.

Said Nigel: "I'm looking for the whole package, a smart girl with great appeal. Pageantry has a lot in common with our 'America's Next Top Model' show. They really have to be beautiful and sincere on the inside as well as the outside. They still must be natural but also commanding. They have to take control in a natural and well-mannered way. You sense it when you find the girl who "just does it" in every sense of the word winner. Its hard to be beautiful – there are a lot of problems they have to deal with so you look for the one who can be confident and handle it."

Debbie told me, "I'm looking for that one girl who carries a light that shows real radiance. I'm looking for a very progressive girl who at the same time is spiritual but in turn with young world thinking. I audition hundreds of girls every year for different shows. In DC, I just had 700 vying for 30 spots in my new show, 'Alex in Wonderland.' As I have been interviewing our contestants for Ms. America, I have honestly been thinking there's a rare queen among them and if I could grab a couple for the show! I am so impressed that they will go the distance in life. Our contestants are 17-24 years of age but however young they still seem to have the terms of experience for making the world a better place. We've set a high standard for ourselves to find the next Ms. America and its interesting to see all the challengers level out and be able to keep it all and hold it all the way to Monday night without once failing."

Michael agreed, "There's some really great talents here -- extraordinary in fact with piano and opera performances. They have set themselves very high standards and the cultural aspect of Miss America is essential. There's a number of these ladies I would work with and predict stardom as singers or musicians. I'm looking for the winner who has the ability to communicate whats best about the world and to share their vision for it through their talent. They are actually too good for 'American Idol' that they wouldn't even make it through the audition. 'American Idol' is about hitting the high note as TV drama and not about the artistry or the communication. Fortunately, we are finding that with these Ms. America's."

Susan added, "Having gone through this tough process as Ms. America 1981, I'm looking for somebody who is emotionally intelligent with a fabulous sense of humor." Chris chimed in, "It's the person who makes you feel better in the same presence. The word is actually 'baracka.' The very first moment the girl comes through the door there is that wondrous charismatic stunning moment – call it baracka. Everyone of these girls is a 'My Fair Lady' Audrey Hepburn winner but why kid ourselves its about that look. We also have to see they are passionately committed to their causes. It's like a newspaper with a front-page, a style-section, a sports section plus the funnies. We're looking to see just how many pages the winner has!"

"There's a lot of discussion about the validity of the swimsuit segment. You can't deny the physical reality of life. If you're on the beach there's nothing wrong in admiring something good. I'm a father so I can be objective and say it's a good thing and the girls have chosen modest outfits and nothing over the top."

Nigel added, "There's nothing wrong in being healthy and fit – and showing it. We don't want super-skinny and we certainly don't want obese – and swimsuits make it all a little more hip for today's generation."

So I asked the judges if there were already favorites and they gave me a resounding "NO." Said Chris, "Maybe by midnight Saturday we'll have a fairly good idea of the top 25 or the top 10. But it will go right down to the wire. None of us will know our individual voting."

Susan added, "The Miss America Organization even assigns a "shut-up person" to each of us to prevent us talking with each other about the individual contestants. So it really will happen at the last moment on live TV."

While the judges have been in Vegas, they have been hosted with cocktail parties by Mike Mecca, Planet Hollywood resort president Mike Mecca (PHOTO) and by award winning chef Andre Rochat at his Alize restaurant atop the Palms. Sunday, the judges will get spa treatments and brunch out at the Red Rock casino.

FORMER MISS AMERICAS

Phyllis George, Miss America 1971, and Las Vegas' own Lynn Weidner, who was Miss New Jersey 1971 and is now married to Bill Weidner, head honcho of the Las Vegas Sands-Venetian company, hosted the official Miss America luncheon. It was held at the Mariposa restaurant inside Neiman Marcus at the Fashion Show Mall. The Weidners made a significant large personal donation to kick off the new scholarship fundraising drive. Seven former Miss Americas also attended: Rebecca King, Kellye Cash, Donna Axum, Vonda Kay VanDyke, Heather French, Erica Dunlap and TV's Lee Merriweather of 'Barnaby Jones" and "All My Children."

Said Phyllis, "Our pageant is really all about scholarship and providing money to girls who might never have the opportunity to go onto school and succeed in life. This is our second consecutive year in Vegas and I promise you it will keep growing bigger and better. We've given a Baccarat crystal engraved vase to Lynn because she recruited all the former Miss Americass to ask for help from all over for the scholarship fund. In just 30-days, they've sent out 24,000 brochures and raised $100,000!"

REBRANDING
"We're definitely bringing the shine back to Miss America," said CEO Sam Haskell. "We're rebranding and re-positioning it over a three-year program. Moving to Vegas was part one and the new-look TV program is part two. Our brand new alliance with the Children's Miracle Network, started by Marie Osmond and John Schneider, is another change in reaching out to 1400 children's hospitals across America. It's amazing to see Ms. America helping sick and injured children on their road to recovery. We'll make Miss America a little more hip and modern without sacrificing our integrity and high standards of scholarship. We can't rush it. It has to be slow steps but we're going to do it."

Entertainer Danny Gans, who headlines at the Mirage, performed for free at a sold out first-time Childrens Miracle Network 'evening of dreams' gala for all the Miss America ladies – and raised over an additional $100,000 for the charity!

THE FINAL INTERVIEW

Monday night, Jennifer Berry will wear her Miss America 2006 crown for the last time as she crowns the new 2007 winner. On Monday morning AOL Luxe Life has the exclusive last interview and exclusive photos with Jennifer. She talks about the amazing 20,000 monthly mile travel schedule and living out of just two suitcases for her 12 months on the road. "Everything went on hold for a year, my life, my romance, but I was able to achieve so many things." Jennifer has just become engaged and proudly shows her stunning engagement ring and reveals plans for a spring wedding!