'You let your light shine and people see what happens': Swimsuits and songs give DC and Tennessee the top spots in the first Miss America preliminaries
- Miss District of Columbia, Cierra Jackson, won the swimsuit competition
- Miss Tennessee, Grace Burgess, sang Eagles' 'Desperado' in talent section
- They will take part in the Miss America televised final on Sunday
- Two more preliminaries will occur over the next two days
Miss District of Columbia and Miss Tennessee were declared the winners of the first night of the Miss America competition preliminaries Tuesday.
Cierra Jackson, Miss District of Columbia, won the swimsuit competition, while Miss Tennessee, Grace Burgess, topped the talent competition with a rendition of the Eagles classic 'Desperado.'
The event was the first of three nights of preliminary competitions at Atlantic City's Boardwalk Hall, leading up to the new Miss America being crowned during Sunday night's nationally televised finale.
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Miss Tennessee, Grace Burgess (left) and Miss District of Columbia, Cierra Jackson (right) won the first Miss America preliminaries in Atlantic City on Tuesday
Jackson (pictured) won the swimsuit competition, while Burgess took the top position in the talent competition when she sang the Eagles classic 'Desperado'
Contestants compete in the evening gown portion of the Miss America pageant on Tuesday. There will be two more preliminaries before the televised finale on Sunday
The contestants participate in the swimsuit portion of the Miss America pageant. Jackson called her swimsuit win a 'blessing'
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.
She said she had been rehearsing the song for several years with her uncle, a gospel musician in the Nashville area, who died of lung cancer while they were working on the arrangement.
'I felt it was up to me to try my best to carry on his legacy,' she said. 'I know he's looking down and smiling on me with a big grin on his face.'
Jackson called her swimsuit win 'a blessing.'
'You let your light shine and let other people see what happens,' she said.
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Although they didn't win, the other contenders put on quite a show.
Miss Rhode Island, Shruti Nagarajan, performed a Bollywood fusion dance in which she employed a facial mask, while Miss Ohio, Alice Magoto, sang 'Astonishing' from 'Little Women.'
Miss Mississippi Laura Lee Lewis sang 'A Piece Of the Sky' from 'Yentl,' and Miss Colorado Shannon Patilla sang 'Something's Got a Hold On Me.'
Miss Nebraska, Aleah Peters, showed off her baton-twirling skills during the talent section
Miss Iowa, Kelly Koch, chose 'dance' as her talent
Miss Oregon, Alexis Mather, chose to sing opera as her skill
Miss New York, Camille Sims, also lent her vocal talents to the show's roster of events
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 offered: 'From the state that brought you bands like Boston, The Cars and Aerosmith, I'm here to rock and roll!'
The contestants take part in the gown portion of the show
More stunning ball gowns are on display during Tuesday's preliminaries
The contestants also strutted their stuff in swimsuits
Miss Indiana, Brianna DeCamp, leads the pack during the Lifestyle and Fitness portion of the first night of Miss America Preliminaries
But it wasn't all quips: Each contestant also offered up a deeper cause that they hoped to promote if they were declared Miss America.
Bullying, suicide prevention, support for the military and helping both children and the elderly figured prominently in the contestants' onstage interviews.
Musto, Miss Massachusetts, has a pageant platform that calls for placing pianos in schools and community centers, 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.
Beijing-born Quan said she hopes to 'provide tools to Americans to celebrate their backgrounds.'
'Let's face it,' she continued, 'unless you are Native American, we are all the sons and daughters of immigrants.'
Host Dena Blizzard (left) stands with Miss West Virginia, Morgan Breeden as she takes a no-bullying oath while presenting a no-bullying message during the on-stage question portion
Contestants show off their sparking evening gowns
Miss America 2016, Betty Cantrell, walks on stage during the first night of the preliminaries
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3775416/Miss-America-competition-begins-Tuesday-Atlantic-City.html#ixzz4JgthMsRo
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