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13/06/2021
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June 13, 2021 - Updated 11:21 PM; Today 10:18 PM By Mary Colurso |
Bradford 21, was crowned Saturday night at the Alabama Theatre in Birmingham. She competed this year as Miss Jefferson County, besting 38 other contestants for the 2021 state title. Bradford will move on to represent Alabama at the Miss America competition.
Bradford takes over the role of Miss Alabama from Tiara Pennington, Miss Alabama 2019-2020. (Pennington kept her title for an extra year because the 2020 pageant was canceled during the coronavirus pandemic.) Pennington crowned her successor at the Alabama Theatre on Saturday and presented her with a bouquet of roses.
Bradford said it was “surreal” to be named Miss Alabama, especially when her win was announced on stage.
“I don’t think I was thinking anything, just how thankful I am, and just gratitude and shock,” Bradford said. “I’m still very much in shock. I’m so excited to get to start at representing Alabama.”
The yearlong reign of the new Miss Alabama starts immediately. She’ll make public appearances, do charity work, speak to community groups, motivate students and more. Bradford’s philanthropic platform (called a “social impact initiative” by the Miss Alabama organization) is “UNPLUG: The Digital Diet Plan.”
“This is truly such a gift from the Lord,” Bradford told AL.com. “This is just such a path I think the Lord has given me to steward for the past five years, since being involved in the Miss Alabama’s Outstanding Teen program. It has really grown in me a heart for service, and for this organization that’s meant so much to me to be a part of it. To represent it now is a dream come true, so I’m very overwhelmed with gratitude.”
Bradford, who attends Vanderbilt University graduate school, was one of 12 semifinalists chosen on Saturday, competing in segments that focus on talent, on-stage interview and social impact pitch, and evening wear. (The evening wear segment is called “red carpet” this year.) For talent, she performed a violin solo to “My Heart Will Go On” from the 1997 movie “Titanic.”
Bradford, from Gulf Shores, is working on a master’s degree in finance at Vanderbilt. She described herself as “anchored, motivated, positive” in her biographical info for Miss Alabama. During a backstage interview after her win, Bradford shifted the emphasis from herself to the people she’ll represent over the next year.
“The role of Miss Alabama is not all about the candidate, but ultimately about service to the state that I’m proud to call home,” Bradford said. “I’m so excited to serve the state of Alabama and to do it with intention, and everyone I meet on the day-to-day job as Miss Alabama, to show them real love and gratitude and joy.”
Two rounds of preliminary contests for Miss Alabama took place on Thursday and Friday at the Alabama Theatre, giving all 39 contestants a chance to strut their stuff in talent, evening wear and on-stage interview/social impact pitch segments. (Bradford earned the top score in the evening wear competition on Friday.) Private interview segments were held off stage, earlier in the day.
Scores received in the preliminaries were used to create a composite score that was considered by the judges on Saturday, and weighted as 40 percent of each contestant’s score in the finals.
Miss Alabama, like the Miss America organization, no longer has a swimsuit competition. It was eliminated at Miss America in 2018, and Miss Alabama followed suit in 2019.
The top 12 finalists this year were:
Lauren Bradford, Miss Jefferson County
Lindsay Fincher, Miss Birmingham
Charity Bowden, Miss Leeds Area
Lillie-Ann Dawson, Miss Tuscaloosa
Caitlyn McTier, Miss Hoover
Collins McMurray, Miss Auburn University
Leah Humble, Miss Magic City
Emee Baldwin, Miss River City
Chandler Mordecai, Miss Tennessee Valley
Ibby Dickson, Miss Sylacauga
Caroline Whatley, Miss Covered Bridge
Isabella Powell, Miss University of Alabama
Later on Saturday, the list of finalists was trimmed to the top five. They were:
Lauren Bradford, Miss Jefferson County (winner)
Lindsay Fincher, Miss Birmingham (first runner-up)
Collins McMurray, Miss Auburn University (second runner-up)
Charity Bowden, Miss Leeds Area (third runner-up)
Caitlyn McTier, Miss Hoover (fourth runner-up)
Although glitzy on-stage activity is the most public aspect of the Miss Alabama pageant, there’s significant scholarship money at stake behind the scenes.
Cash scholarships in various categories are awarded to contestants during pageant week, totaling $106,550 this year, according to the Miss Alabama pageant guide.
The title of Miss Alabama comes with a $10,000 scholarship. The first runner-up receives $3,500; the second runner-up receives $3,000; the third runner-up gets $2,500; the fourth-runner up receives $2,000, all in scholarship money.
Seven semi-finalists receive $1,250 each in scholarship money. The remaining 27 contestants receive $1,000 each for competing in the pageant. More than 50 other cash scholarships, in sums of $100-$2,000, are awarded by the pageant’s scholarship committee.
This week’s preliminary talent winners will receive $450 each in scholarship money, according to the pageant guide. Winners in the red carpet preliminaries will receive $300 each in scholarship money.
Several colleges and universities in the state also offer in-kind scholarships to the winner and other contestants, paying tuition, fees and other expenses.
Jamie Langley Henderson, Miss Alabama 2007, was the emcee for Saturday’s program.
Production numbers at this year’s competition featured songs such as James Brown’s “Living in America,” Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the U.S.A.” and Fleetwood Mac’s “Don’t Stop Thinking about Tomorrow.”
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