Here she comes: Miss America pageant in the homestretch

WHAT WILL likely be the quickest two weeks of their young lives are winding down for the 53 Miss America contestants in Atlantic City.

The grueling rehearsals, daily media interviews, endless photo ops and private parties that had them schlepping around the seaside gambling mecca like day-trippers on Red Bull are behind them.

What awaits are tomorrow's "Show Us Your Shoes" parade on the Boardwalk (broadcast live on PHL17 at 6 p.m. and re-broadcast Sunday at 4 p.m. on 6ABC) and Sunday's nationally televised final round (9 p.m., 6ABC) at Boardwalk Hall, which culminates with the crowning of Miss America 2014.

To describe the contestants' last two weeks as a "whirlwind" would be insufficient.

"The experience is definitely almost overwhelming," said Annie Rosellini, the 21-year-old Butler native who is representing Pennsylvania this year.

"It is very tiring. We're up at 6 a.m. most days and don't get back [to the hotel] until 11 p.m. The most important thing is to try and rest during the day. You'll find periods during the day when you can go back to the hotel and nap. You try to reserve your energy for the stage. That's what I've been trying to do."

For Rebecca Lee Jackson, who hopes to become the first Miss America from Delaware in the pageant's 92-year history, the crazed schedule has meant foregoing physical fitness routines.

"When you watch it on TV, everyone looks like they're in such great shape," she offered, "but there is no time to work out here. We are running from every single place. So finding the time to do 20 crunches or a little workout here and there has been very difficult."

Jackson, 21, is representing the First State because she attends the University of Delaware. But she hails from Kennett Square in Chester County, which makes her the only contestant this year from the Delaware Valley. (Miss New Jersey, Cara McCollum, 21, is a Princeton University student, but was born and raised in Forrest City, Ark.).

Because Sunday evening's finale - emceed by "Good Morning America" lifestyle anchor Lara Spencer and "The Bachelor" host Chris Harrison - is, first and foremost, a television broadcast, it may be better to watch on TV than to attend in person. That's because the enormous stage - with a three-dimensional Art Deco motif accentuated by illuminated rails that change colors and anchored by a large, stylized, bronze-hued woman holding aloft an oversized Miss America tiara - tends to overwhelm the individual contestants as they sing, dance, play piano and otherwise display the talents that figure heavily in the judging. And many seats in the cavernous Boardwalk landmark are so far from the stage, that those in them will likely prefer watching the action on the auditorium's giant video screens.

It's the stage - and the iconic 115-foot Boardwalk Hall runway - that has figured prominently in the experiences of Rosellini and Jackson.

"Oh, my God, it was incredible. I've never seen a stage that size," said Rosellini, whose talent is lyrical dance and platform issue is heart-disease awareness and prevention.

"I've never stepped on a stage that big, much less danced on one. I'm just hoping my movements will be really big so it takes up part of the stage. But the stage is gorgeous, all the lights and the flooring, and to look down the runway is pretty dang incredible. Every time I step on the stage, I remember, yeah, I'm competing for Miss America."

Delaware's Jackson is likewise impressed.

"The best moment I've had here so far is seeing the stage revealed, because it is amazing," said Jackson, whose talent is singing and platform issue is music education. "I just got this feeling that I've accomplished something because I'm on the Miss America stage, and there are so few women who get to do this. And the fact I stood on that stage and [sang] on that stage is such a wonderful feeling that I've accomplished a dream."

As Pennsylvania's representative, Rosellini isn't just facing off against 52 other capable hopefuls. She, like Jackson, is battling history as well. The last time a Keystone Stater won the crown was 1954, when Evelyn Ay of Lancaster County got to take the winner's stroll down the runway. But Rosellini's take on this can pretty much be boiled down to "history, schmistory."

She explained she has become friends with Emily Wills, Miss Pennsylvania 2006, and the two have discussed this situation.

"She said, 'Don't let our history and the fact that we're not a "Southern pageant state" get in the way of how you feel about everything,' " said Rosellini.

Besides, she added, "I think each year there's a different Miss Pennsylvania. It's her own shot, not Pennsylvania's shot. I'm trying to go into it with an open mind. And actually, I keep reminding myself that although we haven't had a winner since 1954, we had two girls in the top 15 . . . in 2005 and 2006, and [Wills] actually won a preliminary" in the swimsuit category.

The Miss America pageant has changed significantly through the decades. It was conceived as a beauty contest, but has evolved into what is billed as the world's largest dispenser of college scholarships. The contestants' garb has similarly undergone alterations. Through the late 1940s, entrants were judged solely on how they looked in one-piece bathing suits. Then evening gowns were added to the program.

In the late 1990s, two-piece swimsuits were OK'd (Camden County native Kate Shindle, representing Illinois as a Northwestern University student, was the first to win the crown wearing a two-piece ensemble - a relatively modest, high-waisted affair with a sports-bra top).

During Tuesday night's "Lifestyle and Fitness" judging, all 18 contestants participating in that category donned bikinis (courtesy of pageant sponsor Catalina Swimwear) that wouldn't be out of place in a Victoria's Secret catalog.

But some things about the Miss America pageant don't change, including the idea that every young woman who has made it to Atlantic City is already a winner. To Pennsylvania's Rosellini, copping the title would merely be icing on the cake. And even if she doesn't win, she'll leave AyCee knowing she and her fellow contestants have "created a close bond, and we're all in this together. It will really be cool to know I know the next Miss America."