Put Your Best Side Forward: Miss America Preliminaries Get Under Way (Pictures)

We're pretty sure most people who've clicked onto this story have no interest in these words whatsoever, so off you go, have a good sure-to-be-fulfilling ogle. For the rest of you though, you might be interested to know that these pictures were taken from the Miss America preliminaries which took place last night (January 8, 2013) as the long and dubiously arduous road to being crowned Miss America 2013 got under way.

As we all know by now, the winning Miss America is the contestant that's best at doing things like spinning plates or dancing; they'll also be a fine orator whose ideas on how they'd change the world are irrelevant the instant they leave those perfectly formed mouths and - we reckon the biggest factor in winning - will look good standing around in a bikini, of which we have to say the ladies here are doing a great job at. It must have been an awful tough one for the judges to call.

The Miss America site forms us that the winner of this first preliminary was none other than Miss Oklahoma. Real name Alicia Clifton (they don't make them legally change their names if they want to contest in this), she impressed the judges with a pretty sophisticated tap dance and a winning smile. She receives a $2000 Amway Scholarship. Good work, Miss O.