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player ready...Miss Texas is sharing a family secret.
When she was a baby, confides Jamie Story, a friend of her parents presented her fancy pants to wear over her diapers. Embroidered across the bottom: “Future Miss America.”
This week, 23 years later, the Rice University graduate was rehearsing for the Saturday night telecast of the Miss America contest.
The broadcast at 8 p.m. on ABC will mark the 50th time Miss America has been crowned on national television.
In an attempt to keep television viewers, the show has been shortened from three hours to two, and live backstage shots have been added.
The master of ceremonies will be Chris Harrison, host of “The Bachelor” and “The Bachelorette.” Former “American Idol” runner-up Clay Aiken will sing the “There She Is” song to the winner.
In one of the highest TV ratings ever achieved at the time, about 27 million viewers watched California’s Lee Meriwether crowned Miss America of 1955 in the first live national telecast. Last year, about 10.3 million viewers tuned in to see Florida’s Ericka Dunlap become Miss America 2004.