Miss Georgia USA and Teen crowned in Cartersville

Media release: The 2012 Miss Georgia USA® and Miss Georgia Teen USA® were crowned tonight at Woodland Performing Arts Center in Cartersville.   Both ladies take on the challenge of becoming Georgia's hopeful in the 2012 Miss USA® and Miss Teen USA® pageants.

Miss Johns Creek USA® Jasmyn Wilkins accepted her new crown from the reigning Miss Georgia USA®, Kaylin Reque of Suwannee.  Finalists for the Miss Georgia USA® crown were Miss Historic Marietta USA® McKenzie Beach, Miss Marietta USA® Jamie Kelton, Miss Forsyth USA® Sam Adams, and Miss Metro Atlanta USA® Brittany Sharp. 

Kara LeAnn Fountain, Miss Georgia South USA® was honored by her peers as Miss Congeniality.  Miss Henry County USA® Amy Brady was chosen as Miss Photogenic.  Receiving the People's Choice Award chosen by monetary votes benefitting Cartersville's Tranquility House was Miss Coastal Georgia USA® Chloe Kirby.

Crowned earlier tonight was Miss Georgia Teen USA®, Courtney Lynne Smits, Miss McDonough Teen USA®, age 15 of McDonough.  She accepted her new crown and title from the reigning Miss Georgia Teen USA® Kristen Robinson of Stone Mountain.  Runners-up were Miss Northeast Atlanta Teen USA® Liz Willis of Stone Mountain, Miss Golden Isles Teen USA® Brenda Smith-Lezama of Brunswick, Miss North Gwinnett Teen USA® Savannah Bradford of Dacula, and Miss North Atlanta Teen USA® Kaitlin Tatum of Flowery Branch.

Savannah Chrisley, Miss Johns Creek Teen USA® was awarded the People's Choice Teen Award.  Miss Buford Teen USA® Valentina Urrego was chosen as Miss Congeniality, while Miss AlpharettaTeen USA® Robyn Spreen earned the Miss Photogenic title.  The new titleholders received numerous prizes including an $2,800 prize-package donated by Cartersville-Bartow County businesses.  Most notably, the winners received 14k white gold crown pendants and engraved Tiffany-style heart charm bracelets courtesy of Official Jeweler – Stiles Jewelry of Cartersville.

Hosts for both events were Tiffany Fallon, Miss Georgia 2001; and Paul Ossmann, Emmy Award-winning Atlanta television personality.  Miss Georgia USA® judges were Herschel Walker, legendary collegiate and professional football star, USA Olympian, and owner of Herschel's Famous 34® food service line; Chelsea Cooley Altman, Miss USA 2005 and Miss Universe Top 10 finalist, and President of the image consulting firm, StandOut Productions, Inc.; Loren Ruch, Vice President of Programming Partnerships & Special Projects for Home & Garden Television; Jenny Palmieri, Miss Georgia 1996 and Mrs. Texas America 2004; and Ray Sells, a veteran television producer who currently oversees the weekly TV series "CMT Insider" for MTV Networks in Nashville.

Serving as Miss Georgia Teen USA® judges were Rebecca Shrager, owner of The People Store, one of the most successful talent agencies in the Southeast; Brian Balthazar, Director of Programming for HGTV; Julie Sanders, Director of Workforce Development and STEM Initiatives for the College of Engineering and Computer Science at the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga and owner of Top Five Pageant Consulting; James Edward, veteran makeup artist and cosmetics and fashion consultant, and creator of the J.EDWARD makeup line; and Ronda Gray, founder of Camp on the Move Children's Foundation, where Gray has raised more than $4.5 million for children in need.

The 2012 Miss Georgia USA® and Miss Georgia Teen USA® will go on to represent Georgia in the Miss USA® and Miss Teen USA® Pageants, productions of the Miss Universe® Organization and co-owned by NBC and Donald Trump.    The Georgia, Tennessee and Mississippi pageants are produced by Kimberly Payne Greenwood of Greenwood Productions.  Mrs. Greenwood is a former Miss Tennessee USA® and the wife of entertainer and Grammy award winner, Lee Greenwood.

Greenwood had this to say about the new title holders, "These women are savvy, goal-oriented and aware.  The delegates who become part of the Miss Universe Organization display those characteristics in their everyday lives, both as individuals, who compete with the hope of advancing their careers, personal and humanitarian goals, and as women who seek to improve the lives of others."

The 2012 Miss Georgia USA® and Miss Georgia Teen USA® pageants were hosted by the Cartersville-Bartow County Convention & Visitors Bureau.  For more information see www.MissGeorgiaUSA.com. To learn more about the Host City efforts see www.NotAtlanta.org or call 770-387-1357.