MISS USA PAGEANT PLANS MORE THAN TWO WEEKS IN VEGAS
LAS VEGAS (AP) -- Plans call for Miss USA contestants to spend more than two weeks in Las Vegas before the pageant airs this year from the Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino on April 19.
Pageant spokeswoman Dara Busch in New York said Monday that contestants from all 50 states and the District of Columbia will arrive April 2 to begin rehearsals.
Crystle Stewart of Texas was crowned Miss USA 2008 during last year's telecast from the Planet Hollywood.
Pageant officials later agreed to keep the pageant at the Las Vegas Strip hotel through 2010. The pageant was held in Los Angeles in 2007.
The Planet Hollywood also hosted the rival Miss America pageant in January.
The Miss USA event is owned by the Miss Universe Organization, which is co-owned by Donald Trump.
