| Miss America 1977 | |
|---|---|
| Date | September 11, 1976 |
| Presenters | Bert Parks [1] |
| Venue | Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City, New Jersey |
| Broadcaster | NBC |
| Winner | Dorothy Benham Minnesota |
Miss America 1977, the 50th Miss America pageant, was held at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey on September 11, 1976, on NBC Network. The winner was Miss Minnesota, Dorothy Benham. [2]
Before the finals, Benham and second runner up Carmen McCollum shared victories of the talent and swimsuit preliminary trophies. [1] Deborah Lipford, Miss Delaware, was the first black contestant to make it to the final 10, and only the sixth to win a state level Miss America contest. [2]
Benham became a singer, appearing often on the Crystal Cathedral religious-themed program Hour of Power .
Among the other contestants in 1977 was Miss Florida, actress Nancy Stafford, who would co-star with Andy Griffith 11 years later in the NBC TV series Matlock .
| Final results | Contestant |
|---|---|
| Miss America 1977 | |
| 1st runner-up |
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| 2nd runner-up | |
| 3rd runner-up |
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| 4th runner-up | |
| Top 10 |
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Top 10
|
| Awards | Contestant |
|---|---|
| Lifestyle and Fitness |
|
| Talent |
|
| Awards | Contestant |
|---|---|
| Talent |
 |
| State | Name | Hometown | Age | Talent | Placement | Special Awards | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Alabama | Denise Davis | Russellville | 18 | Popular Vocal | Toured with Miss America USO Troupe | ||
 Alaska | Kathy Tebow | Anchorage | 19 | Violin Solo, "Méditation" | Non-finalist Talent Award | ||
 Arizona | Anne DeVarennes | Tucson | 22 | Vocal, "As Long as He Needs Me" from Oliver! | |||
 Arkansas | Joyce McCormack | Little Rock | 21 | Ballet en Pointe, "Polonaise" | Non-finalist Talent Award | ||
 California | Linda Mouron | Orange | 19 | Tap Dance, "Puttin' on the Ritz" | 3rd runner-up | ||
 Colorado | Karen Land | Littleton | 22 | Vibraphone, "Bandstand Boogie" | |||
 Connecticut | Debra LaRoche | Cheshire | 20 | Popular Vocal, "I Feel a Song Coming On" | |||
 Delaware | Deborah Rica Lipford | Newark | 21 | Dramatic Interpretation, "It Was a Good Time" from Ryan's Daughter | Top 10 | First African-American contestant to reach the top 10 at Miss America | |
 Florida | Nancy Stafford | Fort Lauderdale | 22 | Piano, "Send in the Clowns" | |||
 Georgia | Sandy Adamson | Atlanta | 20 | Tap Dance, "I Can Do That" | Dr. David B. Allman Medical Scholarship | ||
 Hawaii | Haunani Asing | Kailua | 18 | Guitar &Vocal, "Hawaiian Lullaby" | |||
 Idaho | RaNae Peterson | Preston | 19 | Organ Medley, "I Got Rhythm" & "I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing" | Non-finalist Talent Award | ||
 Illinois | Betsy Jamison | Mundelein | 24 | Popular Vocal, "Who Will Buy?" from Oliver! | |||
 Indiana | Tamara Trittschuh | Plainfield | 21 | Piano, "Rhapsodies, Op. 79" by Johannes Brahms | |||
 Iowa | Ronda Frogley | Davenport | 20 | Popular Vocal, "Tomorrow" | |||
 Kansas | Linda Hall | Hill City | 21 | Piano, Theme from The Apartment | Wife of former U.S. Senator Tom Daschle | ||
 Kentucky | Victoria Harned | Leitchfield | 21 | Popular Vocal, "Send in the Clowns" | Non-finalist Talent Award | ||
 Louisiana | Candy Sue Crocker | Hammond | 22 | Vocal/Tap Dance, "Swanee" | |||
 Maine | Susan Wanbaugh | Presque Isle | 19 | Dramatic Monologue from As You Like It | |||
 Maryland | Barbara Jean Jennings | Greenbelt | 25 | Piano, "Morceaux de fantaisie" by Rachmaninoff | Top 10 | Dr. David B. Allman Medical Scholarship | |
 Massachusetts | Deborah Guastella | Methuen | 22 | Vocal, "Your World and Mine" | |||
 Michigan | Diane Kay Hansen | Berrien Center | 23 | Piano Medley, "My Country, 'Tis of Thee", "Dixie", & "Yankee Doodle" | |||
 Minnesota | Dorothy Benham | Edina | 20 | Classical Vocal, "Adele's Laughing Song" from Die Fledermaus | Winner | Preliminary Lifestyle & Fitness Award Preliminary Talent Award | |
 Mississippi | Bobbye Wood | Hattiesburg | 19 | Vocal, "Starting Here, Starting Now" | |||
 Missouri | Marcia Kolich | Sugar Creek | 22 | Jazz Dance, "Everything's Coming up Roses", "On Broadway", & "That's Entertainment!" | |||
 Montana | Janice Frankino | Helena | 19 | Gymnastics/Jazz Dance, "The Yankee Doodle Boy" | Dr. David B. Allman Medical Scholarship | ||
 Nebraska | Marion Catherine Watson | Omaha | 22 | Vocal, "Over the Rainbow" | |||
 Nevada | Sandra Kastel | Las Vegas | 21 | Vocal, "My Man" | Non-finalist Talent Award | ||
 New Hampshire | Margaret Spellacy | Hampton | 21 | Comedy Dance, "The Yankee Doodle Boy" | |||
 New Jersey | Lori Johnson | Medford | 19 | Acrobatic Dance, "Love is the Answer" | |||
 New Mexico | Melody Griffin | Hobbs | 21 | Vocal, "The Music and the Mirror" from A Chorus Line | |||
 New York | Sonja Anderson | New York City | 25 | Vocal, "And This is My Beloved" | 4th runner-up | Preliminary Talent Award | Previously Miss New York USA 1975 |
 North Carolina | Susie Proffitt | Black Mountain | 22 | Tap Dance from Baby Face | |||
 North Dakota | Donna Grotberg | Valley City | 18 | Piano, "The Cat and the Mouse" | Top 10 | ||
 Ohio | Janice Cooley | Portsmouth | 20 | Piano, "Mephisto Waltz" | Non-finalist Talent Award | ||
 Oklahoma | Lucia Miller | Buffalo | 21 | Trumpet, "Won't You Come Home Bill Bailey" | |||
 Oregon | Shan Moss | Nyssa | 21 | Flute, "Concertino" | Non-finalist Talent Award | ||
 Pennsylvania | Marie McLaughlin | Levittown | 23 | Ventriloquism, "Together (Wherever We Go)" | Top 10 | ||
 Rhode Island | Debra Cerroni | Esmond | 20 | Vocal, "Much More" from The Fantasticks | Previously Miss Rhode Island USA 1974 | ||
 South Carolina | Lavinia Cox | Latta | 23 | Piano Medley, "The Man I Love" & "Sunny" | 1st runner-up | Preliminary Lifestyle & Fitness Award | |
 South Dakota | Beth Guthmiller | Tripp | 21 | Vocal, "My Tribute" | Younger sister of Miss South Dakota 1974, Barbara Guthmiller | ||
 Tennessee | Terry Alden | Memphis | 21 | Classical Piano, "Toccata" | |||
 Texas | Carmen McCollum | Odessa | 19 | Saxophone Medley, "Wabash Cannonball", "Yakety Sax", & "If He Walked Into My Life" from Mame | 2nd runner-up | Preliminary Lifestyle & Fitness Award Preliminary Talent Award | |
 Utah | Suzanne McKay | Salt Lake City | 22 | Organ Medley, "Yankee Doodle Dandy" & "God Bless America" | |||
 Vermont | Suzanne Wind | Saxtons River | 18 | Acrobatic Jazz Dance, "Wisdom" | |||
 Virginia | Pamela Polk | Richmond | 22 | Classical Vocal, "Mi Chiamano Mimi" from La bohème | Top 10 | Preliminary Talent Award | |
 Washington | Theresa Adams | Wenatchee | 19 | Classical Piano, "Prelude in G minor" by Rachmaninoff | |||
 West Virginia | Teresa Lucas | Elkins | 22 | Gymnastics Routine | |||
 Wisconsin | Julie Nowak | Greendale | 19 | Popular Vocal, "Do You Know Where You're Going To?" | |||
 Wyoming | Carol June Wallace | Jackson | 24 | Piano Medley, "Love is a Many-Splendored Thing", "Love Story", "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head", & "Strangers in the Night" | Non-finalist Talent Award | Previously Miss Kentucky USA 1975 Semi-finalist at Miss USA 1975 Mother of Miss Kentucky 2002, Mary Catherine Correll |
Miss America is an annual competition that is open to women from the United States between the ages of 18 and 28. Originating in 1921 as a "bathing beauty revue", the contest is judged on competition segments with scoring percentages: Private Interview (30%) – a 10-minute press conference-style interview with a panel of judges, On Stage Question (10%) – answering a judge's question onstage, Talent or HER Story (20%) – a performance talent or 90 second speech, Health and Fitness (20%) – demonstrated physical fitness onstage dressed in athletic wear, and Evening Gown (20%) – modeling evening-wear onstage.
The Miss Minnesota USA competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of Minnesota in the Miss USA pageant. It is directed by Future Productions based in Savage, Minnesota since its inception in 1995, which also directs the state pageants for Colorado, Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wisconsin and Wyoming.
The Miss California competition selects the representative for the state of California in the Miss America competition.
Miss Wyoming is a state-level pageant that sends winners to compete for the title of Miss America. The competition, which awards scholarships, is open to women aged 19 through 28.
The Miss Minnesota competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of Minnesota in the Miss America pageant. Women from Minnesota have won the Miss America crown on three occasions. The most recent winner was Gretchen Carlson in 1989.
The Miss Ohio Scholarship Program selects the representative for the U.S. state of Ohio to compete for the title of Miss America. The pageant is held annually, during the "Miss Ohio Festival" week, at the historic 1,600 seat Renaissance Theatre in Mansfield.
The Miss New York scholarship competition selects the representative for the state of New York in the Miss America scholarship competition.
The Miss Iowa competition is the official preliminary for the state of Iowa in the Miss America Scholarship Competition.
The Miss New Jersey competition is an annual pageant held to select the representative for the state of New Jersey in the Miss America pageant.
Dorothy Kathleen Benham is an American beauty pageant titleholder from Edina, Minnesota who was Miss America 1977 and Miss Minnesota 1976.
The Miss Pennsylvania competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of Pennsylvania in the Miss America pageant. Pennsylvania, including early years' city representatives, has won the Miss America crown on five occasions.
The most frequently presented Miss America awards are for preliminary talent and swimsuit. The talent award was introduced in 1936, and the swimsuit award in 1940. In the 2000s, preliminary awards for evening gown and interview were briefly introduced but were discontinued after two years as it was felt that they made the semi-finalists too predictable.
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Miss America 1978, the 51st Miss America pageant, was held at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey on September 10, 1977. The pageant was televised on CBS, making this the last Miss America Pageant broadcast by CBS, and the only one from 1966 through 1996 not televised by NBC. The winner was Miss Ohio, Susan Perkins.
Tina Louise Thomas is a former Miss Pennsylvania (1973) and Miss America scholarship pageant national talent winner and 4th runner-up (1974), as well as being a musician and writer. Thomas was baptized Christina Hatzithomas in her father's Greek Orthodox church..
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Miss America 1933, the eighth Miss America pageant, was held at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey on Saturday, September 9, 1933. This was the first competition since postponing the event after the 1927 contest. Armand Nichols attempted to organize it with the support of the Mayor and City Council, but without support from either the Atlantic City Chamber of Commerce. or the Hotelsmens Association,
Miss America 2018, the 91st Miss America pageant, though the Miss America Organization celebrated its 97th anniversary in 2017. This discrepancy is due to no national pageants being held from 1928 to 1932 or in 1934 because of financial problems associated with the Great Depression. The 2018 pageant was held in Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey on Sunday, September 10, 2017. This was the first Miss America pageant to be held in Atlantic City since the Miss America Organization headquarters relocated to Boardwalk Hall.
