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09/11/2020
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Posted on 2020.11.09
As the 16 finalists of the Miss Teen USA pageant marched across the Graceland stage in their Sherri Hill-designed evening gowns on Saturday night, Elvis Presley's recording of "Pocketful of Rainbows" from the 1960 film "GI Blues" was played over the sound system.
"I'm not worried / Whenever the sky is gray above / I have a bag full of rainbows / I have a heart full of love ..."
The mood was reasonably optimistic, but a selection from a film Elvis made the following year, "Blue Hawaii", might have been more cautious: Miss Teen USA 2020 - crowned after a roughly 90-minute ceremony at a socially distant soundstage in Graceland - is Ki'ilani Arruda, who represents Hawaii.
Arruda, a self-described "island girl," was the second Miss Hawaii Teen USA to win the title. The first, in 1985, was Kelly Hu, who played a super villain, Lady Deathstrike, in the second "X-Men" movie, "X2: X-Men United".
Arruda has less glamorous plans: she hopes to become a dermatologist, according to a biography of the Miss Universe Organization that brings out Miss Universe, Miss USA, and her "little sister" (to make another reference to Elvis), Miss Teen USA.
Ki'ilani Arruda, Miss Hawaii, winner of Miss Teen USA 2020, will be crowned with the "Power of Hope" crown awarded by Mouawad, the official crown sponsor of the Miss Teen USA 2020 competition, by Kaliegh Garris, Miss Teen USA 2019, will be presented at the Miss Teen USA competition on November 7, 2020 at Graceland, Memphis, Tennessee.
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To this end, Arruda is currently studying molecular and cell biology at the University of Puget Sound. Arruda grew up on the "Garden Island" of Kaua'i and is also committed to promoting awareness of autism. (The subject is very important to her because she has an autistic younger brother.)
In contrast to the lengthy pre-competition of Miss USA and Miss Teen USA the night before, in which all 102 participants had to model active clothing and evening wear for the judges on the soundstage, the Miss Teen USA pageant on Saturday offered home viewers ample tourism subsidies for Memphis and Graceland. including many overseas - who saw the livestream pageant on Miss USA's Facebook page and other social media channels.
A humorous TikTok montage was shown on the video screens of the soundstage in which the girls, who have been stationed in the hotel next to the Presley mansion The Guesthouse at Graceland for a week, show Elvis poses in Elvis overalls and a remix version of the Presley songs score "Bossa Nova Baby."
The pageant hosts Cheslie Kryst (the reigning Miss USA 2019) and Allie LaForce (Miss Teen USA 2005 and an "NBA on TNT" reporter) as well as special guests such as the current Miss Universe, Zozi Tunzi from South Africa and the current Miss Teen USA Kaliegh Garris praised the host city.
"Special shouts to Memphis, one of the largest and safest places to produce," said LaForce. Meanwhile, Garris said she particularly enjoyed visiting the National Civil Rights Museum. "I think Memphis is just full of history," she said, adding that she appreciated "learning everything that got us where we are today."
When Miss Universe Organization President Paula Shugart took the stage, Kryst asked her, "What do you love about this magical city?"
"We had a great event here," Shugart replied. "Your security logs and everything is amazing."
The 16 Miss Teen USA finalists announced at the beginning of the show included two representatives from three states, Anna Claire Hay of Siloam Springs, Arkansas, and Ansley Ecker, a Munford High School (according to the host) graduate who wants to study Physiotherapy at the University of Memphis.
Neither girl, however, made it out of the pool of 16 finalists to the top five list that preceded the announcement that Miss Teen USA Hawaii would be the new Miss Teen USA. Miss Oregon Teen USA Shayla Montgomery finished second while Miss Georgia Teen USA Shayla Jackson finished second.
Although no candidate was approved, the recent presidential election was referred to frequently, albeit at an angle. Many of the participants mentioned that they turned 18 this year and therefore could vote. LaForce said, "It's great to see young women doing their civic duty and voting for the first time in their lives."
However, the ubiquitous theme of the evening was the COVID-19 pandemic, which cut attendees' schedules and largely confined them to the Graceland campus, where they have been tested for coronavirus daily since arriving in Memphis earlier this week.
In a surprising visual reminder of the pandemic, the young women wore masks as they returned en masse to the stage towards the end of the show to announce the winner. The black masks, which covered their typical radiant smile, contrasted strongly with the bright colors of their glittering robes, the careful preparation of their hairstyles and the characteristic sashes of the pageant, which were decorated in bold red letters with their state names.
With the Miss Teen USA competition now in the record books, Graceland will next host the biggest festival of the week: Miss USA. The show will be broadcast live at 7 p.m. Monday on the FYI cable duct. LaForce will host again, this time together with professional soccer player Akbar Gbaja-Biamila.
This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Miss Teen USA 2020: Hawaii's Ki'ilani Arruda Crowned Winner
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