Thursday night preliminary winners, left, Miss Heartland Brandi Jolly and Miss Southern Magnolia Kim Blackwell.(Melanie Duncan Thortis The Vicksburg Post)

[06/27/03]Two veterans of the Miss Mississippi pageant took top honors in the second round of preliminary competition Thursday night.

Miss Heartland Brandi Jolly, competing for the Miss Mississippi crown for the fifth time, won the talent competition and a $400 scholarship.

Jolly, 22, from New Albany sang a song titled “If I Had My Way.”

Miss Southern Magnolia Kim Blackwell, 22, from Meridian, won the swimsuit competition.

Blackwell, who is in the pageant for a fourth time, won a $300 scholarship.

The contestants are competing for a chance to represent the state in the Miss America Pageant in Atlantic City, N.J.

Preliminary competition ends Friday night at the Vicksburg Convention Center. Thirty-nine contestants are vying to become Miss Mississippi 2003, with the winner being determined Saturday.

The Miss Mississippi Corporation will award more than $110,000 in cash scholarships and more than $480,000 of in-kind college/university tuition waivers, making it one of the largest cash scholarship providers in the nation.

Each participant receives at least a $1,250 scholarship for competing.