Burgess chose the well-known crowd pleaser “Desperado” by The Eagles as her talent performance, delivering it with a slight country tilt, earning one of the loudest ovations of the evening.
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Savvy Shields performed a jazz dance number to a tune from “Smash”.
The award, bestowed to several other Miss America contestants in a silver and gold variation, is part of an worldwide program founded by the United Kingdom’s Prince Philip in 1956 that recognizes young people ages 14 to 24 who have made strides in physical fitness, serving their communities or cultivating skills outside of school.
As far as “Smash”, Shields still has the soundtrack in her vehicle.
Miss District of Columbia, Cierra Jackson, who walked the runway in a bright orchid bikini to the sounds of “Me Too” by Meghan Trainor, won a $1,000 scholarship for “Lifestyle and Fitness in Swimsuit”.
“From the state that gave you your first phone exchange – America, can you hear me now?” asked Miss Connecticut Alyssa Rae Taglia. The new Miss A.
Miss Nebraska Aleah Peters spoke of combating cyberbullying by thinking twice before reposting something potentially hurtful to someone.
“As we’ve all seen with this election year, a talk about immigration has been extremely painful”, she said.
Miss Oklahoma Sarah Klein’s platform is helping military service members “from deployment through employment”. “They have done their part and now it’s time to do ours”.
The competition will include contestants from all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.
The 2017 Miss America will be crowned Sunday night.
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Grace Burgess, 22, took home the Miss Tennessee title back in June, and this Sunday on ABC 7 she’ll compete for Miss America.
