ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) — Miss District of Columbia and Miss Tennessee won the first night of preliminaries in the Miss America competition Tuesday.
In this Tuesday, Aug. 30, 2016 photograph, Miss District of Columbia, Cierra Jackson is introduced during Miss America Pageant arrival ceremonies in Atlantic City. Jackson, never missed a day of school from the first day of kindergarten through high school graduation. She worked as a communications intern in the Obama White House and hopes for a career in music. (AP Photo/Mel Evans)
Cierra Jackson, Miss District of Columbia, won the swimsuit competition, while Miss Tennessee, Grace Burgess, won the talent competition, singing the Eagles’ classic “Desperado.”
It was the first of three nights of preliminary competition at Atlantic City’s Boardwalk Hall. The new Miss America will be crowned during Sunday night’s nationally televised finale.
Here are some highlights from the first night of competition:
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STATING IT
With 52 women vying for the crown, finding a way to stand out from the crowd is imperative, and contestants traditionally incorporate their home state into a humorous introduction of themselves.
“From the state that gave you your first phone exchange — America, can you hear me now?” asked Miss Connecticut Alyssa Rae Taglia.
“From the state with the highest number of lightning strikes in the nation, I’m comin’ in hot!” said Miss Florida, Courtney Sexton.
“Whether it’s baked, mashed or fried, I’m one hot potato!” boasted Miss Idaho, Kylee Solberg.
And Miss Massachusetts Alissa Musto added, “From the state that brought you bands like Boston, The Cars and Aerosmith, I’m here to rock and roll!”
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SUCH TALENT
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.
Miss Rhode Island Shruti Nagarajan performed a Bollywood fusion dance in which she employed a facial mask, and Miss Ohio, Alice Magoto sang “Astonishing” from “Little Women.”
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SAY IT
Bullying, suicide prevention, support for the military and helping children and the elderly figured prominently in the onstage interviews some of the contestants gave.
Musto, Miss Massachusetts, has a pageant platform that calls for placing pianos in schools and community centers that don’t have one, in order to help foster a communal love of music.
“One piano can create 1,000 musicians,” she said. “Anyone can play them and anyone can listen.”
Miss Michigan, Arianna Quan, spoke about immigration and helping people show pride in their heritage.
“As we’ve all seen with this election year, a talk about immigration has been extremely painful,” she said. The Beijing-born Quan said she hopes to “provide tools to Americans to celebrate their backgrounds. Let’s face it: unless you are Native American, we are all the sons and daughters of immigrants.”
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