The evening included a 9/11 tribute in honor of the 15th anniversary.
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Miss America finalists also receive scholarship money: $25,000 for first runner-up and $20,000 for second runner-up.
Shields will embark on a national speaking tour to serve her platform, Eat Better, Live Better, and will act as the official National Goodwill Ambassador for Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals.
The 2017 Miss America pageant is underway in Atlantic City.
Shields, 21, is the daughter of Todd and Karen Shields of Fayetteville. Miss Maryland Hannah Brewer sang “God Bless America” for her talent program.
Wearing a black strapless gown, she was crowned by the outgoing title holder, Betty Cantrell.
On the final night of preliminaries, Miss Michigan Arianna Quan won the talent portion by playing a piano composition, and Miss Ohio Alice Magoto won the swimsuit competition.
The top 15 finalists were: Kentucky; Washington; Massachusetts; Arkansas; South Carolina; Idaho; Iowa; Texas; California; Oklahoma; Maryland; New York; Tennessee; Louisiana, and Mississippi. 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.
Among the 52 representatives of the 50 USA states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, contestants from Michigan, Washington D.C., Arkansas, Maryland, Ohio and Tennessee were all poised for advantage at Sunday’s finale, having prevailed at preliminary judging in categories such as talent and fitness.
Koch advanced to the round of 15 and wore a white dress.
Founded in 1921, the Miss America Organization is one of the nation’s leading advocates for women’s education and the largest provider of scholarship assistance to young women.
Savvy Shields had only been Miss America for less than an hour, but she already had a clear vision of what she hopes America will look like at the end of her term next year.
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They’re vying to succeed Betty Cantrell as the new Miss America.
