Miss Virginia Pageant Goes Public -- Sort Of
Public gets online vote for Miss Virginia, for a fee
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Tara Wheeler won without your help.
ROANOKE, Va. -- The recession is now hurting the Miss Virginia pageant, so organizers are turning to an established pay-for-skin platform to raise funds: the Internet.
Sponsorship for scholarships is down due to the economy, pageant organizers said, so for a fee, the public can vote, the Roanoke Times reported.
People can cast an unlimited number of votes online to choose a semi-finalist for Miss Virginia at a cost of 99 cents per vote.
The voting will engage more television viewers, organizers said.
Twenty-nine contestants will vie for the Miss Virginia title at the pageant, which will be held June 25 to June 27 in Roanoke. The top vote-getter in the online voting will become the 11th semi-finalist. She also will receive a people's choice scholarship at the end of the pageant.
The online voting began Monday. Votes can be cast at the pageant's website.
Copyright Associated Press / NBC4 Washington
