Her talent is probably the reason why she won. It was truly outstanding. She's also very, very beautiful. On Stage Question isn't worth as much as talent was. The Composite score from Prelims comes into play as well, and she absolutely killed it in Talent and Gown there.

My heart was breaking when she answered that question, because her answer and its presentation was sorely not good to say the least. I wanted either Betty, Mary Katherine or Kelly to win...I'm happy to get my wish.

RATS!! I missed the last fifteen minutes, and am at loss.

I did like Miss Georgia, though.

That makes Adeline Kenerly, a UGA Zeta Tau Alpha, as the new Miss Georgia!

I'm on the west coast and I must admit that I cheated and looked online at who won the crown! I think Miss Georgia is absolutely beautiful. My favorite evening gown was Miss Texas. I switched over to another show during the talent portion--too painful to watch. Was surprised to see Miss Georgia stumble twice , or get her heal caught, in her evening wear! You would think she'd have that skill down! What is the purpose of the swimsuit segment? It's just a display of T & A in my opinion. They could get rid of that segment altogether. Loved the public apology to Vanessa Williams! She is a class act. BTW I am writing this at 10:33 PM PST-- not middle of the night.

I think that Miss Georgia is a good pick. I was rooting for Miss Colorado up until Miss Georgia sang, then I realized that she was probably the best choice. Greek women had excellent representation last evening.

I think that overall the dresses looked a little too "pageant" to me. I would prefer to see somewhat more youthful styles. It was fun to see the shots of the judges as they were evaluating the girls. They were trying hard to maintain fixed expressions, but not always succeeding. Zendaya looked so serious!

For those keeping count, out of the Top 15 are Greek: (listed in alphabetical state order)
Miss Alabama, Meg McGuffin - Phi Mu (Auburn)
Miss Arkansas, Loren McDaniel - Kappa Delta (Arkansas)
Miss Florida, Mary Katherine Fechtel - Kappa Delta (Florida)
Miss Louisiana, April Nelson - Alpha Phi (Okla. City Univ.)
Miss Mississippi, Hannah Roberts - Kappa Delta (Univ. of So. Miss.)
Miss Nebraska, Alyssa Howell - Pi Beta Phi (Creighton)
Miss Oklahoma, Georgia Frazier - Alpha Chi Omega (Univ. of Oklahoma)
Miss Tennessee, Hannah Robison - Alpha Omicron Pi (U. Tenn. - Martin)
Miss Texas, Shannon Sanderford - Chi Omega (Univ. of Oklahoma)
Miss Wyoming, Chelsea Malone - Alpha Phi Omega (service fraternity)

10 out of the top 15 -- 67%!

Top 10:
Miss Alabama, Meg McGuffin - Phi Mu (Auburn)
Miss Florida, Mary Katherine Fechtel - Kappa Delta (Florida)
Miss Louisiana, April Nelson - Alpha Phi (Okla. City Univ.)
Miss Mississippi, Hannah Roberts - Kappa Delta (Univ. of So. Miss.)
Miss Oklahoma, Georgia Frazier - Alpha Chi Omega (Univ. of Oklahoma)
Miss Tennessee, Hannah Robison - Alpha Omicron Pi (U. Tenn. - Martin)
Miss Texas, Shannon Sanderford - Chi Omega (Univ. of Oklahoma)

7 out of 10 - 70%!

Top 5:
Miss Alabama, Meg McGuffin - Phi Mu (Auburn)
Miss Louisiana, April Nelson - Alpha Phi (Okla. City Univ.)
Miss Mississippi, Hannah Roberts - Kappa Delta (Univ. of So. Miss.)

3 out of 5 - 60%!

Okay, I recorded this and just watched it today, so, a little late, but...

- I thought Tennessee and Oklahoma looked the best for swimsuit (and I know I ALWAYS wear 6 inch heels with my swimsuits LOL)
- Several of the dresses looked all the same. I don't like when you can see the seam lines in satin dresses. It drives me crazy. There were a few pretty ones but I don't remember which ones. I REALLY hate the 2 piece thing, it just doesn't work for these kind of dresses.
- Talents were questionable. Georgia was definitely the best talent. Some of the singers were very pitchy and the violin girl sounded really squeaky. I liked the story behind being an RN but I didn't really think that was a 'talent' per se.
- Tennessee and Louisiana's answers were my favorite, but Alabama and Georgia's OUCH. Alabama was waaaaayyyyy too outspoken.
- Georgia's facial expressions every time they called her name were a little over the top though

I love my alma mater
 

Miss America is a Mercer Bear!

I didn't know what all the talk in the news here was about, now I get it. All I kept seeing was how New England is not a fan of the new Miss America. Didn't know why and didn't care enough to read an article...

After hearing some of the singing performances this year, I miss the days of saxophone and banjo performances.

Does anyone else remember a 1970's contestant who performed a handstand while tap-dancing upside-down against a board that was held up by a stagehand? Or was that not during Miss America? Maybe Miss Teenage America?

I don't remember that, but I do remember when Miss Michigan Kaye Lani Rai Rafko won with her hula dancing talent. I audibly groaned when they announced that was her talent, but it worked!!

Here's a look back:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2jk3MRGGJkA

She had absolutely no idea how to answer a terribly-worded question about a topic she clearly knew nothing about. I felt bad for her, honestly.

Miss Michigan should have won for her outfit alone!

I remember one year a contestant did a ventriloquist act for her talent. Now it seems that everyone sings or does lyrical dance.

I miss the cheesy production number all the contestants would do.

HAD to Google it. 1973 Miss New Mexico, tapping upside down.
http://www.pageantopolis.com/national/america.htm

That was, uh, Miss Ohio. Last year. (It was amazing!)

I do love the more aesthetically pleasing talents--singing, dancing, playing the piano/violin--when they're the cream of the crop, but the pageant definitely prejudices certain types of talents over others. Being really great at science or coding or soccer takes just as much dedication and can be just as fun to watch if you can figure out a good platform for it. (Video?) I wish the MAO was a little more rewarding of the women who took risks in the talent competition. It's really obvious when a woman whose talents lie elsewhere ends up doing a lackadaisical singing/dancing act because she's "supposed to"--I'd rather see something a bit more out there that clearly reflects the talent/practice/passion put into it.

Miss Vermont actually performed a science experiment for talent at this year's pageant. Here's the video from preliminaries. (Too bad she didn't make the finals! I will take that over bad singing any day.)

Miss Alabama is not a Trump fan
https://www.yahoo.com/politics/miss-...072235416.html

Oh, thank you for finding this!

Back in 1973 the pageant must have briefly shown a tape of her talent, during their regular broadcast, simply for its uniqueness. Today online she is not listed as having been in the Top Ten nor did she win Preliminary or Non-Finalist Talent awards, any of which would have meant automatically being shown on television.

I'd rather see something like that rather than someone singing who has NO business singing. lol IIRC, Deborah Norville (Tri Delt) sewed for her talent for the America's Junior Miss pageant. Later on she made her own bridesmaids dresses for her wedding. :eek: There's no way on God's green earth I could do that.

Miss Colorado's talent was mocked by Joy Behar on the View. It went viral and now the View is getting roundly mocked and scorned on social media.

http://www.nj.com/entertainment/inde...lorado_th.html

Were you thinking of Paige Phillips, Miss Alabama 1981? Her routine was corny as hell, but she killed it from a technical standpoint. She got something like a 5-minute ovation. Locally everybody thought she was a shoo-in, but she ended up first runner-up.

http://i.imgur.com/7rWUhmt.jpg

This photo is going to haunt my dreams.

There's a video of this on Youtube somewhere--I watched it a while back. I'm generally not super-impressed by ventriloquist acts, but she was legitimately amazing. She did voices for both her dolls, they had entirely distinct voices from each other--while singing!--and you couldn't see her lips moving at all. I think she actually works at least part-time as a ventriloquist now, or at least did for many years. It's ridiculous good.

Yeah, that's what got me thinking about it. It just seems so silly that some of these women are so talented in so many ways, and yet the pageant definition of "talent" remains pretty narrow. I remember watching a Miss Wisconsin who was a doctor at the age of 22, who ended up playing a violin solo for her talent (and was surprisingly good at it). She was a 22-year-old doctor, isn't that enough talent? Haha.

Jayne Ann Jayroe, Miss Oklahoma, in 1966 conducted the miss America orchestra, sang and danced. Although this was regarded as a stunt and later conducting was "disallowed" as a talent, the reality is she was actually trained as a conductor, aspired to be a conductor, but lived in an era in which maestros were males. She rocked. I loved her.

As someone who's a musician and songwriter, that's AWESOME!

She was also an Alpha Chi Omega from Oklahoma City University, which for a small school, has produced more than it's share of broadway and pageant stars. She began by singing and dancing to, "1, 2,3" ( it's so easy, like taking candy from a baby) then went over, took the baton from the orchestra conductor, and conducted... Stunt...hmmmph.

Wish my 'career' as a musician got a blip. :'( Any lady Greek drummers or guitarists out there? We'll do a virtual band. I can play bass, sing and write lyrics. We'll rawk the world! :D :D :D Not joking. PM me. Let's rock!!!

Another ventriloquist first runner-up was Miss Louisiana 1987 Patricia Brandt. Ventriloquist Miss Arkansas 2011, Alyse Eady, also placed first runner-up.

And of course if your memory goes back to The Age of the Beatles (not quite dinosaurs) Vonda Kay Van Dyke Miss America 1965 from Arizona also performed ventriloquism as her talent; so far she is the only ventriloquist to WIN the Miss America crown.

I was rather grossed out by the clogger who won.

Miss Georgia 2015....Patricia Ford, Phi Mu from Georgia Tech.

As of 6/19/16, I've found 10 women from 8 NPC groups who will be competing on September 11, 2016 for the Miss America 2017 title. The current list, which will be updated until all the state contests are completed, is at:

http://wp.me/P20I1i-2Hz

Ooooppps...I just noticed the typo.....it should be 2016...not 2015...Miss Georgia 2016 is a Phi Mu from Georgia Tech. She was crowned last night.

Just fyi, it's not Georgia Tech University. It's Georgia Institute of Technology.

And here is Miss Georgia 2016's crowning picture, with current Miss America and Miss Georgia 2015 to the left, Betty Cantrell

https://scontent-lga3-1.xx.fbcdn.net...1b&oe=57C7148C

Thank you for the correction. I appreciate all the help I can get.

Were either of the Ga. Tech queens Greek?

Woops. Never mind. I see one is a Phi Mu.

Patricia Ford the current Miss Georgia is a Phi Mu, and Maggie Bridges Miss Georgia 2014 is an Alpha Delta Pi

Miss Minnesota is a Gamma Phi Beta from the University of Minnesota.

Your new Miss South Carolina is a proud sister of Clemson Alpha Delta Pi, Rachel Wyatt :) She was also Miss South Carolina Teen in 2012 and went on to win Miss America's Outstanding Teen. Miss Teen South Carolina is also from Clemson this year!

Miss Mississippi, Laura Lee Lewis, is a Chi Omega from Mississippi State.

Miss New Jersey, Brenna Weick (High Point) and Miss Tennessee, Grace Burgess (Univ. of Memphis) are Alpha Gams.