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Miss Indiana Katie Stam Wins 2009 Miss America Pageant

Encore presentation of the pageant airs January 25, 2009 at 1 PM, only on TLC

January 24, 2009

Contact - Dustin Smith
Vice President, Communications
310.975.1640
Contact - Sharon Pearce
none provided
(609)653-8700 x117

Las Vegas, NV – January 24, 2009 – Miss Indiana Katie Stam from Seymour, Indianawas crowned Miss America 2009 tonight at the Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino inLas Vegas. The Miss America Pageant was broadcast live from Las Vegas on TLC.Katie’s triumphant walk across the stage was just the beginning of a journey thatwill take her to every corner of the country during her year of service as MissAmerica 2009. She will travel approximately 20,000 miles each month speaking toaudiences about her platform of Passion for Service: Promoting Community Serviceand Involvement and acting as the official National Goodwill Ambassador forChildren’s Miracle Network. Children’s Miracle Network, a non-profit organizationdedicated to saving and improving the lives of children by raising funds forchildren’s hospitals, is the national platform partner of the Miss AmericaOrganization.

Katie also appeared along with the other 51 Miss America contestants in TLC’s fourpartreality series COUNTDOWN TO THE CROWN. Katie secured the first gold sash,which made her eligible for “America’s Vote” – a possible spot in the pageant’s top15. America responded and placed Katie directly into the semi-finales, bringing herthat much closer to the crown.

Katie is a student at the University of Indianapolis. Her scholastic ambition is to earnher bachelor’s degree in Communication with an emphasis on electronic media andshe ultimately hopes to become a television news reporter and anchor. Along withthe title of Miss America 2009, Katie won a $50,000 scholarship to continue hereducation. For the talent portion of the competition, Katie sang “Via Dolorosa."The first runner-up was Miss Georgia Chasity Hardman, who earned a $25,000scholarship. Her talent performance was the song, “Home” for the musical, The Wizand her personal platform is Boys and Girls Club of America: DREAMing ThroughMusic.

Second runner-up honors and a $20,000 scholarship were awarded to Miss IowaOlivia Myers. Her talent was a tap dance to “Fever”, and her personal platform isTeaching Tolerance: Fostering a Just and Caring Culture from the Classroom Out.”Miss Indiana Katie Stam, Miss South Dakota Alexandra Hoffman, Miss GeorgiaChasity Hardman, and Miss Alabama Amanda Tapley were the winners of TLC’sAmerica’s Choice, an online competition where viewers got the opportunity to votefour Miss America contestants into the Top 15. The contestants were announced at the beginning of the 2009 Miss America Pageant broadcast.

As the world’s largest provider of scholarship assistance for young women and one of the nation’s leading achievement programs, the Miss America Organization last year made available more than $45 million in cash and scholarship assistance. The Miss America Organization provides young women with a vehicle to further their personal and professional goals and instills a spirit of community service through a variety of nationwide community-based programs.

Additional information about the Miss America Organization can be found at Miss America.

For up-to-the-minute competition news and information, as well as downloadable High-resolution images of Miss America 2009 Katie Stam and the 2009 contestants,visit the at 24-hour online pressroom. To download photos of tonight’s crowning moment, go to Miss America.

About TLC

TLC’s innovative docu-series and reality-based programming include favorites Jon &Kate Plus 8, Little People, Big World, What Not to Wear, and LA Ink. The channel introduced Miss America Reality Check in 2008, which helped drive the Miss America Pageant to its highest rating in years. TLC defined home design with Trading Spaces and continues to renovate the genre. TLC’s daytime lineup includes the Emmy Award-winning A Baby Story. The channel is available in more than 96 million homes in the US, nearly 8 million homes in Canada and through the website at TLC. TLC is part of Discovery Communications (NASDAQ: DISCA, DISCB,DISCK), the world’s number one nonfiction media company reaching more than 1.5 billion cumulative subscribers in over 170 countries.