Miss NH Wins First Night of Preliminary Talent Competition

Nobody's raining on her parade – for right now, at least, our Miss New Hampshire, Samantha Russo, of Nashua, is leading the pack, having won the first night of talent preliminaries with her rendition of "Don't Rain On My Parade."

Russo posted this on the official Miss New Hampshire Scholarship Facebook page last night, after the win: 

"Thank you all so much for your positive words. So incredibly happy to have won the first preliminary talent award this week. Thank you to Togatae Designs for my gorgeous costume, Liz Beaton and Rocco Boulay for preparing me vocally, and to everyone who has believed in me all along. I am over joyed but staying focused and ready to move on to the next phase of competition. On stage question tonight!"

Russo won a $2,000 scholarship for her performance.

The Associated Press reports Russo said she went ahead the number, from "Funny Girl," made famous by Barbra Streisand, despite "being warned against it by many supporters who felt it was just too difficult."

"Everyone told me not to, but I felt really confident with it," she told reporters afterward.

Miss Mississippi, Chelsea Rick, won a $1,000 scholarship in the lifestyle and fitness competition, also known as the swimsuit competition.

You can tune in Sunday night at 9 p.m. on ABC-TV to watch the action live and root for Russo.