Nursing candidate from Alabama clinches the title of Miss America 2025
Nursing candidate from Alabama clinches the title of Miss America 2025
Triumphed over 50 other contenders, one from each US state, D.C., and Puerto Rico, during the annual competition in Orlando, Florida on Sunday, Stockard emerged victorious. Annette Addo-Yobo, the very first foreign-born delegate to clinch Miss Texas, secured the runner-up position, with representatives from Tennessee, Florida, and Ohio completing the top five.
The contest started with contestants strutting their stuff in dazzling gold mini dresses and black sashes. Eventually, the list was whittled down to 11 finalists based on their performance in preceding events.
Throughout the night, the finalists contested for the crown (and a $50,000 prize) by participating in coordinated dance performances and various live segments assessed by former Olympian Carl Lewis and Gabi Butler of Netflix’s “Cheer,” among others.
The event incorporated a fitness component, which replaced swimwear in 2023, and showcased contestants moving in red-and-gold athleisure two-pieces. Additionally, there were talent, evening wear, and interview rounds.
Talent exhibitions included slam poetry (Miss Texas), clogging (Miss Oklahoma), and a jazz dance routine to Lesley Gore’s 1963 hit “You Don’t Own Me” (Miss Wisconsin). Stockard displayed a contemporary dance, set to a track by Christian musician Lauren Daigle, before gracing the stage in a backless, glittering silver and white dress for her evening wear presentation.
The pageant featured delegates answering questions on randomly selected topics such as housing, censorship, and national debt. Stockard, when probed about unemployment, addressed the declining labor force participation rate among 25-to-54-year-olds following the Covid-19 pandemic (subsequently, the employment rate for this age group increased).
Addo-Yobo, in response to immigration, shared her personal experiences of becoming a US citizen two years prior, recounting how her parents arrived in the US with just a couple of suitcases, a few hundred dollars, and a young girl (Addo-Yobo herself).
Videos broadcast during the pageant showcased Stockard expressing her joy upon learning of her victory, stating “This is insane. I don’t know what I did to deserve this.”
Significant transformations
Established in 1921, Miss America began in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The pageant gained significant popularity as a televised event on major networks NBC and ABC, but its viewership eventually decreased. NBC’s streaming service Peacock aired the competition in 2022, but since then, it has been exclusive to pageant-specific streaming platforms.
The previous year's crown was bestowed upon Madison Marsh, a 22-year-old second lieutenant in the US Air Force, who became the first active-duty military member to secure the national title. After her victory, Marsh shared her sentiments with CNN, expressing that she felt like she "broke stereotypes in pageants and in the military for women all across the globe."
The pageant includes a teen competition, with Peyton Bolling of Arkansas crowned Miss America Teen on Saturday night. Contestants for Miss America Teen must be aged between 14 and 18 years old, while Miss America falls between 18 and 28 years old.
Miss America increased its maximum age limit to 28 in 2023, although other pageant organizations have adopted more lenient eligibility criteria in recent times. For instance, the Miss Universe Organization, which organizes Miss USA (a separate pageant from Miss America), eliminated its upper age limit entirely last year, allowing entries from the likes of 80-year-old Choi Soon-hwa and 71-year-old Marissa Teijo in Miss Universe Korea and Miss Texas USA, respectively.
In September, a New York mother filed a lawsuit against the Miss America Organization and Miss World Organization for disqualifying mothers from their respective competitions. Miss America also finds itself embroiled in an ongoing ownership dispute between estranged business partners Robin Fleming and Glenn Straub, according to Reuters.
The contestants showcased their beauty and style in their dazzling gold mini dresses and black sashes during the opening round. Stockard's contemporary dance performance, set to a Christian musician's track, demonstrated both her beauty and unique style in the talent round.