All the contestants have been crowned. The host and-finally!-the panel of judges have been announced. You guys, Miss America 2010 is almost here.

Before I launch into my annual speech of how I can't believe how fast time flies and what I am going to pack for Miss America—because really, we all know time flies and I'm going to wear black all week.

What's on my mind today is how...magical the whole process is! All of you hardworking volunteers, contestants, parents, enthusiasts, and everyone else have worked together for a whole year just to make Miss America happen.

If there were no locals, there would be no state pageants. No scholarships, contestants, production numbers, program books. Those things are the parts that make the sum of our new Miss America.

I can't wait to meet our new Miss America. Because in a very real way, we've all chosen her through our work, our dedication, our passion. It's a very special thing.

Now how about that judges panel?

Obviously, Rush Limbaugh was announced as a judge much earlier and there was plenty of discussion about that.

And now that the whole panel has been revealed, I'm excited to see who they choose. It's a very diverse panel and I feel like each judge has an area of expertise that can help them pinpoint the very best Miss America among the contestants - although I do believe any one of them would be a wonderful Miss America.

I would love to be a fly on the wall during interviews or even during judges training!

Something that I don't think we take the time to realize or appreciate is that it's really easy to take a look at a panel and say, "Oh, those aren't pageant people," and kind of dismiss them.

But something I've discovered is that the Miss America pageant is such an iconic event - everyone has been touched by it. Everyone has a memory of it, an attachment to it.

And that, too, is magical.