Miss Michigan, Kirsten Haglund, was crowned Miss America in Las Vegas on Saturday night.
According to the Associated Press, the 19-year-old aspiring Broadway star sang “Over the Rainbow” to clinch the title at the 87-year-old pageant.
She beat Miss Indiana, Nicole Elizabeth Rash, the first runner up, and Miss Washington, Elyse Umemoto, the second runner up for the $50,000 scholarship and year of travel that comes with the crown.
This year the pageant has undergone some image reshaping — trying to be a little sassier to appeal to young viewers.
I understand the need to make the pageant hipper, but I confess I have mixed feelings about it. I got to cover it one year in Atlantic City, and I have to say it was a charming, but slightly odd experience.
In the audience that night, besides the families, were hundreds of beauty queens — from 7 to 70, sporting crowns and sashes. It was a little like a convention. I hope that pageant retains that feel, even with its new digs in Vegas
Would love to hear what you think.
