7 things to know about Miss America 2017, Savvy Shields (VIDEO)
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on September 12, 2016 at 2:37 AM, updated September 12, 2016 at 3:08 AM
After a night of vintage pageantry in Atlantic City, Miss America has a shiny new face for its 95-year-old brand — Savvy Shields.
Alternately described by entrepreneur Mark Cuban and the singer Ciara, two of the pageant's celebrity judges, as "cute," "cool," "bubbly," "humble" and, yes, "savvy" — Shields, 21, the contestant with the unforgettable name, just had that special twinkle in her eye — and a strong talent routine.
Here's some more about the new pageant titleholder:
- Shields, a former Miss Heart of the Ozarks, competed as Miss Arkansas (she hails from Fayetteville), and is the second consecutive Miss America contestant from the South (after Miss Georgia in 2015) to take the title. Before that, the Atlantic City pageant saw three consecutive Miss New Yorks take the crown. So we may be seeing the beginnings of a contemporary Southern Miss America dynasty.
The 2017 Miss America pageant was broadcast live from Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City.
- Shields' final onstage question was less of a clearcut victory than her talent routine. When she was asked what she thought about presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, a former first lady of Arkansas, Shields mistakenly used the word "contestants" when she meant to say "candidates." Correcting herself, she said she thought the candidates have done a good job but "also need to watch what they're doing." Shields, who seemed to run out of time in answering the question (they only have 20 seconds), later said she thought both presidential candidates needed to "compromise" — "Our country was founded on compromise and we're living in a state now where both parties seem to be just yelling at each other," she said in a post-show press conference. "I hope that at the end of my year we're starting to reward politicians on compromising instead of just defending themselves."
- Shields wants to be an artist. And a teacher, and a museum employee. A senior fine arts major at the University of Arkansas, after her reign as Miss America is over, Shields plans to finish her bachelor's degree (and will likely have no problem doing so, thanks to the combined $90,000 she has earned from pageants). "I don't want to be a starving artist," she says. After school, Shields hopes to work in a museum after her year as Miss America, obtain a master's degree in fine arts, teach at the university level and eventually open her own art studio — "if I get good enough," she says.
- Her jazz dance to "They Just Keep Moving the Line," from NBC's canceled musical series "Smash," won an award and $2,000 in preliminary competition earlier this week at Boardwalk Hall. Her fantasy: to become a backup dancer for Beyonce.
- The former Miss Arkansas' pageant platform is "Eat Better, Live Better." The healthy-eating message isn't all that different "Healthy Children, Strong America," the platform held by Betty Cantrell, the previous Miss America.
- Shields, a painter, says her "defining moment" involves her choice of career (and she doesn't mean pageant queen). She says becoming an art major changed her life. "In doing so, I came to realize that there are so many different lifestyles and beliefs other than my own and that they are all equally validated," she says.
- Though Shields most recently used the Miss Arkansas social media accounts and will now take over the Miss America accounts, what appears to be a personal Twitter account hasn't been updated since 2012. A personal Instagram account looks to have been recently deleted. Here's a Jersey-relevant tweet she sent four years ago:
Amy Kuperinsky may be reached at akuperinsky@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @AmyKup or on Facebook.
http://www.nj.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2016/09/miss_america_savvy_shields_miss_arkansas.html
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