2008 Miss Mississippi's Outstanding Teen Pageant Underway
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Vicksburg, MS
12 June 2008, 07:16
by Chris Whittington
Photos Courtesy of Elwin Williams
Pictured left to right: Carsyn Byars, Stephanie Stanford, Morgan Lindsey Burnett
The 2008 Miss Mississippi's Outstanding Teen Pageant began last evening with the first of two nights of preliminary competition. The twenty-nine contestants vying for the title competed in various categories including, Evening Wear, On-Stage Question, Lifestyle & Fitness in Sportswear and Talent. Each contestant is judged by a distinguished panel in each of these categories plus a fifth - Private Interview. Awards are given at the end of the night for the contestants that distinguish themselves with the highest scores in the sportswear and talent categories.
New South's Outstanding Teen, Morgan Lindsey Burnett, was presented a bouquet of roses by Miss Mississippi 2007, Kimberly Morgan, for scoring the highest in her group while competing in the Lifestyle & Fitness in Sportswear competition. The clothing selected by the contestants competing in this category should be representative of her personality and should also be something that she would wear to workout in. The competition was immensely entertaining and featured a performance by Keifer Slaton - clad in a gold sequined suit - performing the Elton John hit, Crocodile Rock and was, in this reporter's humble opinion, worth the price of admission.
The talent competition is normally the highlight of any pageant and that was definitely the case last evening. The contestants in Group B delivered fifteen high quality performances and made life difficult for the panel of judges. So difficult was their task that they could not pick just one standout. In an instance that was has become commonplace at the MMOT Pageant, two winners recieved bouquets from Miss Mississippi. The first winner called out was West Central's Outstanding Teen, Carsyn Byars, who wowed the Vicksburg Municipal Auditorium with her rendition of Elvis Presley's "An American Trilogy". Stephanie Stanford, Northridge's Outstanding Teen, tied Byars' score with her performance of Barbra Striesand's hit "Don't Rain on My Parade" from the musical and movie, Funny Girl.
The event lasted for almost two hours - including a brief intermission - and was, arguably, the best production in the four-year history of the pageant. Miss Mississippi 2006, Taryn Foshee, is making her second appearance as emcee for the event. This year's pageant will conclude on Friday evening when Murray crowns her successor. Tickets are available from the Miss Mississippi Corporation by calling their office at 601-638-6746 or by faxing the ORDER FORM to 601-638-8020. Competition continues this evening at 8 PM
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