Here are five highlights from the show.
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Expanding on her comments about the political climate after the ceremony, Shields said, “Our country was founded on compromise”.
The finalist’s eloquent answer, complete with ever-so-subtle shade thrown at the billionaire businessman, is arguably what contributed to her being named second runner-up out of 52 contestants.
It was a great night for Miss Arkansas Savvy Shields as she won the Miss America Competition on Sunday. All of your actions are held to a higher standard. “And unfortunately the media does love to sensationalize everything and it’s hard to tell what is truth and what is truly scandal”.
USA Today says Sims “won the Q&A” with a response about Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump.
The pageant from Atlantic City’s Boardwalk Hall included contestants from all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico as well as the first openly gay contestant.
The judges all had a chance to speak about their feelings on Shields being the new Miss America. However, she did not get the opportunity to reach out to more people as she wasn’t selected as part of the Top 15 for Sunday’s finale.
Miss Oregon Alexis Mather sings opera during the first night of Miss America preliminaries Tuesday in Atlantic City. This led to one of the creepier memes of the night. Not that the talent portion didn’t rely heavily on modern entertainment. What’s the point of the swimsuit competition? Miss Maryland Hannah Brewer sang “God Bless America” for her talent program.
Miss Iowa Kelly Koch is seen at the 2017 Miss America Competition, Sept. 11, 2016.
The contestants had only 20 seconds to come with and answer to questions about immigration, politics, 9/11, Colin Kaepernick and his national anthem protest, Gretchen Carlson’s lawsuit against Roger Ailes and Matt Lauer’s interview of Hillary Clinton.
Arianna Quan, who was representing MI, did not qualify for the top 15.
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ABC reports that O’Flaherty is the first Miss America contestant to win a title after coming out.
