(ABC)
Miss Arkansas Savvy Shields was crowned the 2017 Miss America winner on Sunday at Atlantic City’s Boardwalk Hall. She beat out 51 other women who also vied for the coveted title. Watch her victory in the video below!
Miss America 2016 winner Betty Cantrell, who represented Georgia in last year’s competition, crowned her successor at the end of the exciting show.
After preliminary competitions earlier, the remaining 15 contestants in the televised pageant were Miss Kentucky Laura Jones, Miss Washington Alicia Cooper, Miss Massachusetts Alissa Musto, Miss Arkansas Savvy Shields, Miss South Carolina Rachel Wyatt, Miss Idaho Kylee Solberg, Miss Iowa Kelly Koch, Miss Texas Caroline Carothers, Miss California Jessa Carmack, Miss Oklahoma Sarah Klein, Miss Maryland Hannah Brewer, Miss New York Camille Sims, Miss Tennessee Grace Burgess, Miss Louisiana Justine Ker, and Miss Mississippi Laura Lee Lewis.
Following the swimsuit competition, three contestants were eliminated, leaving Miss Texas, Miss Kentucky, Miss California, Miss Mississippi, Miss Washington, Miss Arkansas, Miss Oklahoma, Miss Tennessee, Miss New York, Miss South Carolina, Miss Maryland and Miss Iowa. Next was the formal evening wear round, and 10 of the 12 contestants advanced to the talent competition, but Miss Kentucky and Miss Oklahoma were eliminated.
After that, the remaining women showed off their talents, with Miss Iowa, Miss California, Miss Washington, Miss Arkansas, and Miss South Carolina dancing. Meanwhile, Miss New York, Miss Maryland, Miss Mississippi, and Miss Tennessee sang. And Miss Texas impressed with her baton twirling skills.
During the question and answer portion of the competition, Miss Arkansas was asked what she thought about Hillary Clinton, while Miss New York was asked to weigh in on Donald Trump. Other contestants were asked about immigration, Colin Kaepernick kneeling during the National Anthem, and what the president can do to protect Americans on this 15th anniversary of September 11th. Those who didn’t make the cut and weren’t asked questions were Miss Texas, Miss Iowa and Miss California. Going into the last round of the Miss America pageant were Miss New York, Miss Washington, Miss Mississippi, Miss South Carolina, Miss Arkansas, Miss Maryland, and Miss Tennessee.
The Miss America pageant was hosted for the eighth time by Chris Harrison, along with ABC and ESPN anchor Sage Steele. And the judges were Ciara, Mark Cuban, Gabby Douglas, Sara Douglas, Laura Marano, Cole Swindell. Joining them was Sharlene Wells Hawkes, who was Miss America 1985.
Check out video below of the winning moment in which Miss America 2017 was chosen.
