Miss Arkansas Savvy Janine Shields (“Savvy” is short for Savannah, according to Cosmo) was crowned Miss America 2017 during the 96th annual Miss America beauty pageant in Atlantic City on Sunday.
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Savvy Shields, Miss Arkasas and the eventual victor of the night, performed a number from that network show we all loved to hate, Smash!
She became the new Miss America on a night where she referenced Arkansas’ Crater of Diamonds State Park in her introduction, performed a jazz dance routine and was cut off while responding to a question about her thoughts on Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.
Miss Arkansas Savvy Shields has won the Miss America pageant. Djuan Trent competed in the Miss America pageant as Miss Kentucky in 2011, when she finished in the top 10. Third place was Miss New York Camille Sims.
The first openly gay contestant in the Miss America pageant has been eliminated from the competition.
She noted that the media has sensationalized the campaign so that it was “hard to tell what is truth and scandal”, then added that “both these candidates have done a great job, but they also need to watch what they’re doing”. Our country was founded on compromise.
Her response to her onstage interview question helped propel Shields to the title.
The outgoing Miss America, Betty Cantrell, placed the crown on the head of her successor. She said she still has the soundtrack from the canceled TV show in her auto, where she plays it often.
California; Oklahoma; Maryland; New York; Tennessee; Louisiana, and Mississippi. She came out as a lesbian in 2014.
Sunday’s finale was held on the 15th anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks.
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Meanwhile, Ciara, the 30-year-old singer and Miss America celebrity judge was in a stunning white off-shoulder gown with a sparkly choker, gave an encouraging advice to the victor.
