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| Carrie Ann Inaba is to host the 2018 Miss America contest on Sept. 9. File Photo by Jim Ruymen/UPI |
By Karen Butler, UPI
Laila Ali, Bobby Bones, Jessie James Decker and Randy Jackson are to judge the 2019 Miss America competition in Atlantic City on Sept. 9.
The panel for the ABC telecast will also include Soledad O'Brien, Alli Web and Carnie Wilson.
Television personalities Carrie Ann Inaba and Ross Mathews are to host the event.
"I am SO excited to announce that I am hosting the 2019 @missamerica Competition on Sunday September 9th on @abcnetwork. Co-hosting and joining me throughout the evening will be the hilarious @helloross," Inaba wrote in an Instagram post Thursday. "I was a part of the choreography team (under Barry Lather) for the Miss America Competition for years and am thrilled to be this year's host. I'm humbled to have the chance to be a part of an evening that will give young women the opportunity to further their education and crown a new Miss America. I have always been a fan of the #MissAmerica Organization that consistently encourages women to be strong, intelligent and radiant women in the world."
Organizers announced in June that the nearly century-old contest had scrapped its traditional swimsuit component. Instead, the 51 women will be judged based on their talent, achievement, poise and answers to questions, rather than on their looks.
"We will no longer judge our candidates on their outward physical appearance. That's huge. And that means we will no longer have a swimsuit competition," Miss America chairwoman Gretchen Carlson said at the time.
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