Miss Geogia Maggie Bridges
Miss Alabama Caitlin Brunell
photo by Miss Tennessee Hayley Lewis
Twelve weeks ago Hayley Lewis was representing the Tennessee Valley when she won the Miss Tennessee Pageant and on Sunday night she will be one of 53 contestants hoping that she will be selected as Miss America 2015.
The three-hour event begins at 8 p.m. on WTVC News Channel 9 with “The Countdown to the Crown” preview followed by the finals hosted for the second straight year by Chris Harrison and Lara Spencer from Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City.
The contestants have been in Atlantic City for two weeks participating in various civic events and competing in three rounds of preliminaries which started on Tuesday and concluded on Thursday.
The top 15 finalists and the winner of the America’s Choice video vote will be revealed shortly after the parade of states. They will compete in swimsuit after which twelve will advance to the evening gown segment. The top 10 will perform their talents and the final five will answer their on-stage questions as the celebrity judges make their ultimate decision as to who will receive a $50,000 scholarship and become Miss America 2015. The winner will succeed New York’s Nina Davuluri who was the first Indian-American to win the title one year ago.
Miss Lewis, 21, is a rising senior at Nashville’s Belmont University where she is majoring in Music Business with a minor in Classical Voice Performance. She competed at the Scenic City Pageants in July, 2013 which has produced several Miss Tennessee winners including 2012’s Chandler Lawson who was a top 10 finalist at Miss America 2013.
Miss Lewis’ platform is the Children’s Miracle Network which is the national philanthropy of the Miss America Organization. She is a member of Belmont’s internationally acclaimed a cappella group The BelTones which finished fourth at April’s world championships in New York City. She is guaranteed a minimum $3,000 scholarship as a Miss America national finalist.
Tennessee is well represented at the national level this year. Miss Rhode Island Ivy DePew who made headlines on Wednesday night when she collapsed on stage during the preliminary awards ceremonies was Miss Chattanooga 2009. Medical personnel later determined that she had a previously undiagnosed sinus infection. Miss DePew is from the Memphis suburb of Bartlett and relocated to Rhode Island to obtain her graduate degree in Public Affairs at Brown University which she completed in May. She received her undergraduate degree from the University of Memphis in 2012 in Sociology and Non-Profit Management.
Miss Nebraska Megan Swanson is Miss Lewis’ classmate at Belmont. Alabama is represented by Caitlin Brunell who won the coveted Quality of Life Award earlier this week for outstanding community service for starting Caitlin’s Closet which provides wardrobes for low income teens through clothing drives nationwide. Miss Brunell, a recent graduate of the University of Alabama, is the daughter of former NFL quarterback and current ESPN football analyst Mark Brunell.
Georgia’s candidate is Georgia Tech student Maggie Bridges who wants to pursue careers as both a pharmacist and information technologist. Miss Bridges was named as a finalist for one of five STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) Scholarships being awarded by the MAO. Each recipient receives a $5,000 scholarship.
Tennessee has produced two Miss Americas both of whom were from Memphis - the late Barbara Walker (1947) and 1987 winner Kellye Cash Sheppard whose daughter Cassidy was a top 10 finalist at this year’s Miss Tennessee competition.