Miss America 2020 competition delayed, relocated

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Gallery: Miss Michigan 2019 Mallory Rivard

By Justine Lofton | jmcguir4@mlive.com

MUSKEGON, MI - After a leadership shake up this summer, the 2020 Miss America competition is finally scheduled.

It will be in a new location, on a new date and will return to its “home” television network, according to a news release from the Miss America Organization.

The competition that will name the successor to Miss America 2019 Nia Franklin of New York is set for Thursday, Dec. 19 at Mohegan Sun, a casino and resort in Uncasville, Connecticut. It will broadcast live on NBC from 8-10 p.m.

Miss Michigan 2019 Mallory Rivard will be one of 51 competitors.

“The Miss America Organization is proud to partner with Mohegan Sun as we return to our longtime NBC home,” Regina Hopper, president and CEO of Miss America Organization said in a statement. “We are looking forward to a fresh take on this historic competition that will showcase the incredible women vying for the job of Miss America 2020.”

Last year, the competition was held in September at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey, and was broadcast on ABC.

The last time the pageant left Atlantic City was in 2008 when it was held in Las Vegas. That year, Miss Michigan Kirsten Haglund was named Miss America.

The national scholarship organization announced the 2020 pageant details during the Miss America’s Outstanding Teen competition week in Orlando, Florida. The pageant is scheduled for Tuesday, July 23 to Thursday, July 25.

Miss Michigan’s Outstanding Teen 2019 Madison McElvany,16, of Monroe, arrived in Florida earlier this week. Rivard traveled from Michigan on Tuesday.

Atlantic City is the birthplace of the Miss America Organization. The pageant was first held in 1921 as a bathing beauties revue in September to extend the tourism season.

The pageant - now marketed as a competition - has gone through a host of changes in the past year or so. It announced in March 2018 that there would no longer be a swimsuit phase of the pageant.

Franklin is the first Miss America who did not don a swimsuit on the national stage. She was crowned at the end of the revamped contest that claimed to focus on contestants’ interview skills instead of their appearance. The program was criticized for not being entertaining enough.

Rivard, 24, of Bay City, is the first Miss Michigan who didn’t compete in swimsuit for that title. She was crowned on June 15 at the Frauenthal Center in downtown Muskegon.

The woman who led the charge to shed the swimsuit competition, Gretchen Carlson, resigned from her position as the Miss America Organization board chairwoman on June 5, leaving the door open for more changes.

“I think we’re still in a creative stage right now - we don’t know how it will end up. Down the road, we’ll probably see other changes,” Shari Graham, Miss Michigan Organization board chairwoman, said in June.

The organization hasn’t announced any other changes to the competition for this year.

Rivard and other contestants are expected to compete in talent, evening wear with a social impact statement, on-stage interview and private interview as they vie for the 2020 crown in December. There’s also an emphasis on the contestants’ social impact initiative - formerly known as a platform.

Rivard’s talent is singing. She performed a rendition of “Somebody to Love” by Queen at the state pageant. She is a first-grade teacher with degrees from Saginaw Valley State University. Her social impact initiative is “Read to Succeed.”

Titleholders spend their year advocating for her social impact initiative and the organization’s national charity, Children’s Miracle Network.

Delaying the competition means Rivard - and other contestants - have more time to prepare.

For Rivard, it meant time for a trip to New York to create a custom wardrobe for the national pageant.

“This is very special because we never had the time in previous years,” Graham said. “Mallory is having a great experience so far and people are loving her and are very excited and supportive of her literacy initiative.”

https://www.mlive.com/news/2019/07/miss-america-2020-competition-delayed-relocated.html