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05/09/2018
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ERIN SERPICO Staff Writer
Miss America arrival
The 51 contestants of the Miss America pageant walk into Kennedy Plaza on the Atlantic City boardwalk on Thursday afternoon to celebrate their official arrival ceremony. Thursday, August 30. ERIN GRUGAN / Staff Photographer
ATLANTIC CITY — The stage in Boardwalk Hall will officially open for spectators and candidates Wednesday as the 51 hopefuls get closer to competing for the "Miss America 2.0" crown.
The Miss America Organization is pushing forward with the competition, the mission and re-branding of Miss America after months of uncertainty following months of controversy. That includes the ousting of past leadership in December, controversy with the elimination of the swimsuit segment, and calls for the resignations of top two MAO leaders, Chairwoman Gretchen Carlson and President/CEO Regina Hopper.
The 2019 Miss America Competition preliminary competitions will take place from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday this week at Boardwalk Hall. These preliminaries lead up to the final night, which will be broadcast live from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. Sunday on ABC.
Carlson, speaking publicly at the arrival ceremony for the candidates on Thursday afternoon, reiterated the new mission statement: “To prepare great women for the world and to prepare the world for great women.”
"There she is, Miss Neurosurgeon, Miss Social Activist, Miss Jet Pilot, Miss Investigative Journalist, Miss Expert Coder, Miss CEO, Miss-whatever she wants to be,” Carlson said, citing the organization’s vision statement. “There she is, Miss America. No wonder she has a crown — she rules."
The candidates will compete in talent, on-stage questions and evening wear segments during the preliminaries and have been split into three groups of 17 to determine which days they will compete in the different segments, according to the Miss America Organization.
The organization hasn't announced much about the structure or format of the competition for this year, but spectators and candidates heard from Hopper at Thursday afternoon's arrival ceremony that a new Miss America stage was being built, but no details were released on what it looks like.
“The stage is incredible,” Hopper said at the ceremony. “It is different. And you’re going to love it.”
Less than two weeks before the competition, the organization announced changes to the MAO board of trustees, as well as changes to the Miss America Foundation board.
In April, the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority approved $4.325 million in supplemental funding for the 2019 Miss America Competition returning to the city.
Atlantic City Mayor Frank Gilliam spoke highly of the competition at the arrival ceremony, saying the candidates bring “resilience and brilliance” to the city.
“Miss America was born in Atlantic City before many of us ever came to this planet,” Gilliam said Thursday. “Atlantic City is not a city without Miss America.”
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