Miss America preliminary judges announced

LAUREN CARROLL Staff Writer Aug 16, 2018 

As this year's competition draws closer, The Miss America Organization announced Thursday the seven men and women who will judge the three nights of preliminary competition.

The panel includes: Courtney Blackwell Burton, an arts and education executive; Bonnie Carroll, President and Founder of Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors, a national support network for families of America's fallen military personnel; Bobby H. Grayson, an Emmy award winning hair stylist; J'Anna Jacoby, professional violinist and member of Rod Stewart's touring band; Lyne Pitts, journalist and managing editor of online magazine "The Root"; Nancy Redd, bestselling author and former Miss Virginia 2003; and Bill Townsend, entrepreneur and President and CEO of RevolutionSports.

“These judges have a challenging job ahead of them as they interview an extremely impressive field of 51 candidates,” said Regina Hopper, President and CEO of the Miss America Organization.

Miss America leadership assure that the same two-panel judging process would be in place with preliminary judges and celebrity judges for the televised final night, during an interview in July.

Judges for the finals have not yet been announced.

The 2019 Miss America Competition preliminaries take place Sept. 5 to 7 at Boardwalk Hall. The final night of competition will be broadcast live on Sept 9 on ABC Networks.

https://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/missamerica/miss-america-preliminary-judges-announced/article_e3d348ad-675d-56e4-8df5-46d969cafcc2.html