California, DC reps win in final Miss America preliminary competition

LAS VEGAS -- Miss California Dustin-Leigh Konzelman and Miss District of Columbia Shannon Schambeau were the winners as preliminary competition wrapped up in the Miss America Pageant.

The televised finals and crowning of Miss America 2007 will be held Saturday at the Aladdin Resort & Casino.

Konzelman, 23, of Carlsbad, performed a rousing rendition of "12th Street Rag" on fiddle to win the talent competition Thursday, which earned her a $2,000 scholarship. She is a graduate of California Baptist University.

Schambeau, 25, a certified skydiver who aspires to head the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, won $1,000 for her victory in the swimsuit competition.

In preliminaries, the 52 women seeking the crown compete on three consecutive nights, their cumulative scores determining who makes the top 10 on Saturday. The preliminary scores account for 30 percent of their totals.

The shows also serve as a sort of dress rehearsal for Saturday's pageant, which will be telecast by cable network Country Music Television starting at 8 p.m. EST.

Thursday night's preliminary winners joined Miss South Carolina Erika Grace Powell and Miss Utah Julia Marie Bachison, who won in talent and swimsuit Tuesday, and Miss Oklahoma Jennifer Berry and Miss Virginia Kristi Lauren Glakas, who won Wednesday.

The pageant is being held outside Atlantic City, N.J., for the first time in its 85-year-history. It's also the first time since Miss America began being televised in 1954 that the crowning won't be carried by a major network.

---

On the Net:

http://www.missamerica.org/

http://www.cmt.com/