This weekend we'll find out who's representing our state in the Miss America competition. Miss Hawaii will be crowned on Friday and I'm going to go out on a limb and guarantee it's one of these lovely contestants right here.

Miss Hawaii 2008 Pageant Contestants:

• Miss Ala Moana, Lauren Cheape
• Miss Diamond Head, Marina Terwilliger
• Miss Downtown Honolulu, Rachel Gonzales
• Miss East O'ahu, Angela Everhart
• Miss Garden Isle, Marine Johnson
• Miss Honolulu, Raeceen Woolford
• Miss Island O'ahu, Nicole Fox
• Miss Kāhala, Lindsay Furuya
• Miss Kaua'i, Shawna Tamayose
• Miss Ko Olina, Yvette Nii
• Miss Kona Coffee, Malia Pucong
• Miss Lē'ahi, Pi'ilani Klein
• Miss Leeward, Tiffany Ibale
• Miss Maui, Kaui Souza
• Miss North Shore, Keaolani Mento
• Miss Ulalena, Lyndsay Quoicho
• Miss Waikīkī, Sasha Lykes
• Miss West O'ahu, Caroline Chapman
• Miss Windward, Alana Paulo-Tamashiro

This is a year of change for the Miss Hawai'i Organization. For the first time in more than 20 years, the Miss Hawaii Scholarship Pageant is returning to the Neal Blaisdell Concert Hall. Not only will Miss Hawaii be crowned in a new venue, with 19 contestants this year, the competition will span three full nights.

The Miss Hawaii Organization is pleased to announce that KINE's Billy V will host this year's pageant. Contestants will compete in the swimsuit, talent, and interview categories. The new Miss Hawaii 2008 will represent the State of Hawaii in the Miss America pageant in Las Vegas. The competition begins:

• Wednesday, July 9, 2008 Preliminary Competition
• Thursday, July 10, 2008 Preliminary Competition
• Friday, July 11, 2008 Final Top Ten Competition and Miss Hawaii 2008 crowned

All nights of competition will begin at 7:00 p.m. Doors at Neal Blaisdell Concert Hall will open at 6:00 p.m. Tickets for all three nights of competition are available for purchase at the Neal Blaisdell box office or online at www.ticketmaster.com.

The final night of competition and the crowning of the new Miss Hawaii 2008 will air live on Oceanic Cable OC 16.

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