New Miss America to be Crowned this Weekend

1/12/12 – A new Miss America will be crowned on Saturday night in Las Vegas, and Wisconsin’s entry has an early jump on the others. Kenosha native Laura Kaeppeler won the first round of the talent competition as an opera singer. She won a two-thousand dollar scholarship for her performance of “Il Bacio.” Talent covers 35-percent of a contestant’s preliminary score. Kaeppeler won the Miss Wisconsin title last summer as Miss Southern Wisconsin. Miss Utah, Danica Olsen, earned a one-thousand-dollar scholarship for her swimsuit entry in the lifestyle-and-fitness category. That represents 15-percent of the total score. Two more winners in each group will be selected during the next two evenings.