Miss Teen USA Reports

We finally are reporting live (when we can get internet access!) from Nassau, Bahamas as the pageant is fully underway. After a laid back Tuesday it was time to get busy with rehearsals beginning Wednesday. But in paradise this just doesn’t seem like hard work. The attitude amongst the delegates is that this is the most laid back Miss Teen USA ever. But the fun meter is hitting record levels as the girls are having a blast.

As we arrived at lunch time we caught up with our Miss Florida Teen USA 2008 Jillian Wunderlich as she was finishing her group tableau shot poolside. “This is so much fun!” she declared as she ran over to say hello to our Miss North Central Florida USA Katie Green who is visiting with her family. It was like that today as they would stop, say hello to friends in the crowd, then head back to the group as they went onto another part of the water park. We said goodbye as she hit the “Lazy River” for a lap around the island in an inner-tube.

After two hours of fun it’s back to work but they hit the pool for one last photo opportunity. The rehearsals are closed to the public so no reports on the show but the delegates will have visitation tonight at 10:00pm. We will have a report from the Florida Camp tomorrow only at YOUR favorite pageant site on the internet, www.MissFloridaUSA.com.

Jessie Colonna, Miss Kansas Teen USA 2008, says hello to a diver in the Ruins Lagoon at ATLANTIS, Paradise Island, Bahamas on Wednesday, August 13, 2008. will compete for the title of Miss Teen USA 2008 during the competition which will be held in the Grand Ballroom at ATLANTIS, Paradise Island, Bahamas on Saturday, August 16, 2008.

Stacey Velasco, Miss Montana TEEN USA 2008; Shannon Geraghty, Miss Georgia TEEN USA 2008; Sarah Sprayberry, Miss Minnesota TEEN USA 2008; Victoria Padilla, Miss New Mexico TEEN USA 2008; Elizabeth Hoffman, Miss South Dakota TEEN USA 2008; Jillian Leigh Wunderlich, Miss Florida TEEN USA 2008; Ivana Grace, Miss District of Columbia TEEN USA 2008; Stevi Lauren Perry, Miss Arkansas TEEN USA 2008; Julia Dalton, Miss North Carolina TEEN USA 2008; and Courtney Morgan, Miss New Hampshire TEEN USA 2008, pose on Poseidon's Throne.

Caroline Lunny, Miss Massachusetts TEEN USA 2008; Sydney Marie Perry, Miss Vermont TEEN USA 2008; Shannen Reil, Miss Kentucky TEEN USA 2008; and Callie Mae Bishop,

THURSDAY POOLSIDE EXCLUSIVE PICTURES

Miss Wunderlich with her newest friends poolside

Miss Green joins the fun!

Awaiting the group tableau shot

Pageant buddies!

Elizabeth Holloman never expected to win a beauty pageant, much less be competing on a national level this weekend from a tropical paradise in the Bahamas. But that's exactly what she will be doing as she represents Mississippi in the Miss Teen USA pageant Saturday, Aug. 16 from the Atlantis Paradise Island Resort.

The 2008 Madison Central graduate said she was as surprised as anyone, joking that the judges must have switched up her voting card or something.
But now that she's here, she hopes to make the most of it. "I've never done any big pageants and I've never been much of a pageant girl, so I thought there was no way I would win it," Holloman said. "I just want to go in and have a good time. I know I'll meet some amazing new people and it's in the Bahamas! I just want to be myself and take it all in as a learning experience."

Holloman joins 51 other teens which will compete for the title in the 26th annual competition. They will be judged in three categories; swimsuit, evening gown and interview. The winner will receive a laundry list of prizes, including: a two-year scholarship from the New York Film Academy valued at $100,000, a professional modeling portfolio by photographer Fadil Berisha, a New York City apartment and living expenses for the year of her reign and a four day-three night vacation for two including airfare at the Atlantis Resort.

Holloman said she's a little overwhelmed with the possibilities, but said she feels like just getting the opportunity to travel to the bahamas and compete is a win in her book. Ultimately the 18 year old aspires to be an actress. She will attend the University of Mississippi this fall and hopes to major in theater. "I know it sounds like a cliche, but I've always wanted to be an actress," Holloman said. "I'm looking for any way to get on stage and do what I was born to do."