The 23-year-old made national news when she was crowned Miss Missouri back in June. A pageant veteran, Brewer, previously competed for Miss Teen USA, representing Maryland in 2013. Barber, 22, says she didn’t have an eye exam until she was 16 and now wants to be an optometrist. The judges’ decision resulted in her winning a $1,000 scholarship in the health and fitness category. According to the pageant’s website, the majority of this year’s contestants will either be dancing or singing.
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Preliminary competition starts Tuesday and the victor will be crowned on Sunday night.
But the long-thought archaic world of pageants has finally stepped into the 21st century, with a contestant who will have the attention of women who bat for the other team. She now is a news anchor for a San Diego television station.
Shields, who hails from Fayetteville, Ark., is a fine arts major at the University of Arkansas and says her “secret dream” is to become a background dancer for Beyonce. She was named a preliminary victor in the talent category.
Burgess chose the well-known crowd pleaser “Desperado” by The Eagles as her talent performance, delivering it with a slight country tilt, earning one of the loudest ovations of the evening.
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Then in 2014 Patricia Yurena, a two-time victor of Miss Spain and a runner-up in the 2013 Miss Universe pageant, announced that she is a lesbian. Her pageant platform is Sight for Small Eyes, which works to ensure children have access to vision care. Djuan Trent competed as Miss Kentucky in the 2011 Miss America pageant and finished in the top 10-three years later she later came out as a lesbian.
