Winning Miss Teen Texas Friday in Arlington was Taylor Lowery.

Kristen Blair was crowned Miss Texas Friday at the University of Texas at Arlington.

Miss North Texas, 22-year-old Kristen Blair, sang her way to the title of Miss Texas Friday evening, winning the Miss Texas Scholarship Pageant at the University of Texas at Arlington.

The new Miss Texas wore a powder blue evening gown when she was crowned Miss Texas by outgoing Miss Texas, Rebecca Robinson. Blair now will compete for the title of Miss America at the Miss America Pageant Jan. 30 in Las Vegas, NV. Blair, a vocal performance major at the University of North Texas, sang Nessun Dorma in the talent competition. Her vocal talents made her a preliminary talent winner earlier in the week.

The Miss Teen Texas Pageant was held simultaneously at Texas Hall on the UTA campus. Miss Teen Frisco, Taylor Lowery, won the Miss Teen Texas title. She, too, had won a preliminary round earlier, but in the physical fitness category.

First runner-up to Miss Texas was Miss Carrollton, DaNae Couch. Others in the top five were Miss Grapevine, Ashley Melnick, second runner-up; Miss Fort Worth, Faith Bates, third runner-up; and Miss Frisco, Kathryn Dunn, fourth runner-up.

In the teen pageant, first runner-up was Miss Teen Texas Panhandle, Jordan Sheets. Rounding out the top five were Miss Teen Tarrant County, Destiny Velez, second runner-up; Miss Teen Harris County, Ali York, third runner-up; and Miss Teen Grapevine, Hadley Smith, fourth runner-up.

As Miss Texas, Blair will receive a $12,000 scholarship to the college of her choice. Blair graduated from high school in the state of Washington before entering the University of North Texas, according to Heather Edwards Bruce, the executive director of the Miss Southlake Pageant.

Friday’s pageant was dedicated to the late B. Don Magness. Magness, long associated with the Miss Texas organization, died last July, and his widow, Jean Magness, serves as CEO and executive director of the pageant.

Miss Frisco, Kathryn Dunn

Miss Texarkana, Adrianna Nelson

Kathryn Dunn, representing Frisco, and Adrianna Nelson, representing Texarkana, were named preliminary winners in the Miss Texas Scholarship Pageant Monday night at the University of Texas at Arlington.

The two received the honors after the pageant’s first evening of competition, being held for the first time at Texas Hall on the UTA campus. Dunn, 19, attends Baylor University and won the swimsuit competition. Nelson, a 21-year-old student at Houston Baptist University, took top honors in the talent competition for her vocal performance of “How Great Thou Art.”

They are two of 37 young women vying for the Miss Texas title and the chance to go on to January’s Miss America Pageant in Las Vegas. Preliminary competitions will continue Tuesday and Wednesday evenings, with the finals scheduled for 8 p.m. Friday. The pageant will be broadcast live Friday via a webcast, and details are available at www.misstexas.org.

The Miss Teen Texas Pageant is being held simultaneously with the Miss Texas competition. Preliminary winners for the teen pageant were Miss Teen Frisco, Taylor Lowery, for physical fitness and Miss Teen Plano, Madison Fuller, for talent with her ventriloquism act.

The Miss Texas Scholarship Pageant will crown a successor to Rebecca Robinson, Miss Texas 2008.  Robinson, a graduate of Texas A&M University with a degree in Spanish, performed a high-energy tap dance to “Hey Pachuco!” to win the Miss Texas title. Among her many accomplishments this year, she was chosen to sing the National Anthem at The Cotton Bowl and was selected as the subject of a United Way of America video promoting education.  

To become Miss Texas, a contestant must first win a local competition within the state. During preliminaries, the competitors are broken into three groups, with each group presenting a different part of the competition for the judges’ review. Those scores will be used to select finalists to compete in Friday’s finals.

The Miss Teen Texas Pageant, a competition that began in 1990, also will crown a new title holder Friday evening. The current Miss Teen Texas is Sydney Capello.

Tickets are available from Central Ticket Office. Check CentralTicketOffice.com.

Preliminary winners will be updated this week at www.eSocialWorld.com.