‘The King’ comes to town for the combined Miss University of Tennessee at Martin and Miss Tennessee Soybean Festival Pageant. The Elvis-themed event is set for 7 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 23 in the Harriet Fulton Performing Arts Theatre located in UTM’s Fine and Performing Arts Building.

The winners of each crown will advance to compete in the 2003 Miss Tennessee Scholarship Pageant.

The pageant is open to the public. Tickets are $10 and will be sold at the theatre box office beginning at 6 p.m.

The combined pageant, sponsored in its third year by the City of Martin and UTM, carries the theme of Presley’s song, “If I Could Dream.”

Co-hosts for the event include 2002 Miss Tennessee Valli Kugler, who advanced to the Miss Tennessee Scholarship Pageant after capturing the 2002 Miss UTM crown.

Lindsey Tapper, 2002 Miss Soybean Festival and second runner-up to Kugler in this year’s Miss Tennessee Pageant, will also serve as co-host.

Entertainer Eddie Miles will highlight the pageant with his specialty performance, “A Tribute to Elvis.”

“The fact Miss UT Martin Valli Kugler won this year’s Miss Tennessee has created some extra special excitement about this year’s pageant,” said Teresa Johnson, pageant executive director.

“This year promises to be more exciting than last year’s with the new Elvis theme and Eddie Miles as special entertainment.”

The crown winners each receive a $1,500 scholarship, as a well as crown, crown pins and a variety of gift certificates and other prizes.

Miss UTM Pageant contestants are restricted to current UTM students, while the Miss Tennessee Soybean Festival Pageant is open statewide.

More than 20 contestants are expected to compete for the titles.

Johnson said the pageant will recognize contestants in several categories, including presentation and community achievement, artistic expression through talent, presence and poise in evening wear, lifestyle and fitness in swimsuit and an overall composite score based on an onstage question asked of each contestant.

Besides the winners, two first and second runners-up will be named along with a Miss Congeniality, a nonfinalist talent winner and a nonfinalist swimsuit winner.

All seven pageant judges are Miss America level judges, and six have judged a Miss Tennessee preliminary pageant event.

“Miss UT Martin is one of our premiere student events,” said David Belote, assistant vice chancellor for student affairs at UTM. “It is a wonderful opportunity for our students to compete in the pageant and to be able to move on to the Miss Tennessee Pageant. These young ladies work very hard. They are so talented. It will be a wonderful show.”

For additional information, contact Johnson at (731) 514-1330 or by e-mail at tdjohn@aeneas.net.