The outgoing Miss America, Betty Cantrell (back), crowns Miss Arkansas Savvy Shields as Lynn Weidner, chairman of the pageant.
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Miss Arkansas Savvy Shields was named the victor of the 2017 Miss America pageant that was held in Atlantic City Sunday night.
Fans of Miss Oregon Alexis Mather hold up a sign during the Miss America pageant Sunday in Atlantic City, N.J.
Shields, 21, impressed the judges during a jazz routine, which also won her the preliminary talent competition earlier in the week, USA Today noted.
Recently crowned Miss America Savvy Shields was asked about Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton during Sunday night’s pageant, but she ultimately had a message for both candidates.
Erin O’Flaherty (Miss Missouri), for instance, was boasted as “the first openly gay contestant”. She’d competed at the Miss Arkansas pageant as Miss University of Arkansas and was named first runner up.
“I was watching an interview and I loved what one of the girls said – they don’t think it’s outdated, because it shows their hard work”, she said.
The first runner-up was Rachel Wyatt, Miss South Carolina, who fielded a question about immigration in the United States. Doubling up on her course load with a major in art and a minor in business, Shields may not have much free time, but what time she does have is divided up between her sorority activities and charities.
Weirdest state claim to fame: With respect to Miss Wyoming touting her state’s plethora of hot cowboys (how’s *that* for a tourism booster) and Miss New Mexico paying homage to her homestead’s delivery of Neil Patrick Harris to the world, we’ve gotta give this one to Miss Illinois, who overlooked the state’s many ordinary accomplishments – the sitting President being a former Senator there, Chicago-style pizza, OPRAH – and bragged about her home state being the headquarters for John Deere tractors.
The victor receives a six-figure salary, expenses for the year and a $50,000 scholarship.
“I hope that by the end of my year, we’re starting to reward politicians on compromising instead of just defending themselves”.
Along with her dance skills, Shields is a talented artist. Savvy’s secret dream is to perform as a backup dancer for Beyonce.
The top 15 finalists were: Kentucky; Washington; Massachusetts; Arkansas; South Carolina; Idaho; Iowa; Texas; California; Oklahoma; Maryland; New York; Tennessee; Louisiana, and Mississippi.
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Last year, Steve Harvey made worldwide headlines when he accidentally read the wrong name for the victor of the Miss Universe pageant.
