Miss Tennessee 2005 Tara Burns (rear) congratulates Miss Metropolitan Blaire Pancake of Chattanooga for her talent preliminary victory Friday night at the Miss Tennessee Pageant in Jackson.
photo by Wendy King
Blaire Pancake of Chattanooga was chosen Miss Tennessee in the annual pageant in Jackson on Saturday night.
The 23-year-old, who entered as Miss Metropolitan, won a $10,000 scholarship and the right to enter the Miss America pageant.
Ansley Reagan of Ooltewah (Miss Cleveland) was first runner-up.
The third runner-up was Stefanie Wittler of Soddy-Daisy, finishing behind Rebecca Turner of Knoxville (Miss Pioneer).
Ms. Reagan was a $6,000 scholarship and Ms. Wittler $4,000.
Ms. Pancake will put her law school plans on hold as she becomes the governor’s new spokesperson for a Safe and Drug-Free Tennessee.
She won the talent competition on Friday with a rendition of the song “I’m A Woman” from the musical “Smoky Joe’s Café.”
She is the oldest of the four daughters of Dr. Bruce and Debbie Pancake.
April Lancaster of Bartlett (Miss Memphis) was the fourth runner-up.
Other semifinalists were Erica Jacobs of Jackson (Miss Bluegrass Festival), Lindsay Harper of Trenton (Miss Capital City), Tiffany Collier of Nashville (Miss Spirit of the South), Rachel Parsons of Jasper (Miss Chattanooga) and Elizabeth Jane Chedester of Knoxville (Miss Volunteer).
Ms. Pancake, the former president of the University of Tennessee Anthropology Association, acquired a shiny new artifact when she won the coveted crown.
Miss Tennessee 2005 Tara Burns crowned her successor and special guest Miss America 2006 Jennifer Berry of Oklahoma presented Miss Pancake with a bouquet of roses.
Ms. Pancake is the second local Miss Tennessee in four years. Former Soddy-Daisy resident Jamie Watkins Davenport was Miss Tennessee 2003. Mrs. Davenport, who now lives in Nashville, co-hosted the pageant with longtime emcee Miss Tennessee 1999 Allison Alderson DeMarcus.
Thirty eight women from across the state competed for the crown, but it was the Hamilton County representatives who dominated the four-day event.
Misses Reagan and Wittler were also honored for their community service endeavors. Miss Reagan was named the recipient of the Miss America Community Service Award for her work with Project CARE which assists senior citizens. Miss Wittler received the Miss Tennessee Community Service Award for her Think SMART program which encourages young people to get involved in their schools. Both women received $1,000 scholarships.
Miss Southeast Tennessee Danielle Colburn also received a $1,000 scholarship for having the highest interview score for a non-finalist.
Miss Pancake won the title on her first and what would be her only attempt to win or lose because she would have been ineligible to compete next year as she will turn 24 on Aug. 5 which is the cut-off age for Miss America and its preliminaries.
She will travel to Hollywood in early September to compete in the Miss America preliminaries which will undergo a drastic format change this year. Country Music Television (CMT) which acquired the broadcast rights last year from ABC only to score its highest ratings ever when the network televised the Miss America Pageant from Las Vegas in January will launch a seven week series titled “Finding Miss America”. For the first time ever, viewers will see all 52 contestants compete in interview, talent, swimsuit and evening wear. Furthermore, the viewing public will determine eight of the 15 semi-finalists through internet and telephone voting.
The “Finding Miss America” series will debut in January leading up to the pageant finals which will be held in a location to be announced later.
Miss Pancake, a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of UT-Knoxville with a Bachelor of Science in Anthropology hopes to attend law school once her new job of Miss Tennessee is completed next year. Miss Pancake clerked at a Knoxville law firm until recently when she left to prepare for the pageant.
Miss Pancake has been working on her website Keep Tennessee Kids Safe (KTKS) (www.keeptnkidssafe.com) which advocates child abuse neglect and prevention.
She said recently KTKS is in the process of becoming a non-profit organization. She is a partner/spokesperson for Prevent Child Abuse Tennessee (PCAT).
She has also been honored by the Chattanooga Exchange Club for her fundraising efforts, which included the successful Clip-4-Kids Cut-A-Thon at the Splash! Salon in East Brainerd. The Easter weekend event raised over $1500 for the Children’s Advocacy Center which provides a safe haven for abused and neglected youth.
In an earlier interview, Miss Pancake said she was humbled to be involved in the Miss Tennessee organization.
“I have always had a deep admiration and respect for the women in the Miss Tennessee and Miss America programs.” she said at the time. “I feel honored to be finally be a part of the Miss Tennessee family.”
Dig this – Miss Tennessee has been found in Chattanooga.
Expedition accomplished.
Miss Metropolitan Blaire Pancake rehearses "I'm A Woman" that helped her win the Miss Tennessee Pageant
photo by Wendy King