As the yearly rite geared up over the past week, much of the attention has been on Missouri’s Erin O’Flaherty, 23, who in June became the first openly lesbian contestant in the history of the almost century-old pageant.
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“Shields” acceptance of the highly-coveted crown is just the beginning of a journey that will take her to every corner of the nation and around the world during her year of service as Miss America 2017.
It was a great night for Miss Arkansas Savvy Shields as she won the Miss America Competition on Sunday.
Miss New York Camille Sims is seen at the 2017 Miss America Competition, Sept. 11, 2016.
The Fayetteville native is a senior at the University of Arkansas and she’s a Goodwill Ambassador for the Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals. She then posed next to a lifeboat in the traditional pose that Miss Americas strike the morning after winning the crown.
In 2014, the Miss America pageant accidentally showed a wardrobe malfunction on stage as co-host Chris Harrison walked in front of Miss Nebraska Megan Swanson.
Shields performed a jazzy rendition of “They Just Keep Moving the Line” from the canceled NBC series during Sunday night’s competition.
Savvy Shields, 21, wore an elegant strapless black evening gown as she accepted the crown from the 2016 victor, Betty Cantrell of Georgia.
In a July interview Ms. Shields said, “Pageant girls and women, in general, are always striving, or it’s tempting to be striving, for perfectionism”.
Sunday’s pageant had included contestants from all 50 states of the United States of America, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.
“I am most #confident when I am surrounded by my people”, she posted on Instagram at the sendoff.
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During the Q&A part of the competition, Savvy was asked to give her opinion of Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton. She’d competed at the Miss Arkansas pageant as Miss University of Arkansas and was named first runner up.
