| Miss America 1998 | |
|---|---|
| Date | September 13, 1997 |
| Presenters | John Callahan Eva LaRue |
| Venue | Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City, New Jersey |
| Broadcaster | ABC |
| Winner | Katherine Shindle  Illinois |
Miss America 1998, the 71st Miss America pageant, was held at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey on Saturday, September 13, 1997 and was televised by the ABC Network. ABC replaced NBC as the pageant's television home.
| Placement | Contestant |
|---|---|
| Miss America 1998 | |
| 1st Runner-Up |
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| 2nd Runner-Up |
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| 3rd Runner-Up | |
| 4th Runner-Up |
|
| Top 10 |
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* Finalist Roxana Saberi entered the journalism field and made international headlines in 2009 when she was imprisoned in Iran on charges of espionage; she was subsequently released. [2]
Top 10
| Top 5
|
| Awards | Contestant |
|---|---|
| Lifestyle and Fitness |
|
| Talent |
|
| Awards | Contestant |
|---|---|
| Talent |
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| Interview |
|
| Results | Contestant | Platform |
|---|---|---|
| Winner |
| Child Abuse Education, Awareness, and Prevention |
| 1st runner-up |
| - |
| 2nd runner-up |
| - |
| State | Name | Age | Hometown | Talent | Placement | Special Awards | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Alabama | Beth Stomps | 20 | Mobile | Vocal, "Love Changes Everything" from Aspects of Love | |||
 Alaska | Michelle Titus | 19 | Fairbanks | Vocal, "There is a Savior" | |||
 Arizona | Stacey Momeyer | 21 | Phoenix | Vocal, "Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again" from The Phantom of the Opera | 3rd runner-up | Previously National Sweetheart 1996 | |
 Arkansas | Stacy Freeman | 22 | Sheridan | Tap Dance, "Sing, Sing, Sing" | Previously Miss Arkansas Teen USA 1992 | ||
 California | Rebekah Ann Keller | 22 | Lakewood | Vocal, "Someone Like You" from Jekyll & Hyde | 4th runner-up | Preliminary Lifestyle & Fitness Award | Later Miss California USA 2000 |
 Colorado | Regina Flores | 21 | Colorado Springs | Vocal, "Don't Cry For Me Argentina" | |||
 Connecticut | Merissa Starnes | 21 | Bloomfield | Contemporary Ballet en Pointe | Non-finalist Talent Award | ||
 Delaware | Alison White | 18 | Millsboro | Classical Vocal, "Poor Wand'ring One" from The Pirates of Penzance | Non-finalist Talent Award | ||
 District of Columbia | Sonya Gavankar | 21 | Joliet, IL | Vocal, "The Power of the Dream" | |||
 Florida | Christy Neuman | 20 | Jacksonville | Rhythmic Gymnastics Dance, Theme from Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves | Top 10 | Preliminary Talent Award | |
 Georiga | Candice Little | 23 | Hartwell | Tap Dance, "Jump 'N Jive" | |||
 Hawaii | Erika Kauffman | 18 | Kailua-Kona | Vocal, "God Help the Outcasts" from The Hunchback of Notre Dame | Top 10 | Preliminary Lifestyle & Fitness Award | |
 Idaho | Sherrie Belnap | 20 | Roberts | Classical Piano, "Polonaise in A Flat" | |||
| Illinois | Katherine Shindle | 20 | Evanston | Vocal, "Don't Rain on My Parade" | Winner | Preliminary Talent Award | |
 Indiana | Sara Engerman | 19 | Kendallville | Tap Dance, "Shout And Feel It" | |||
 Iowa | Sheri Riley | 19 | Clear Lake | Gospel Vocal, "His Eye Is on the Sparrow" | |||
 Kansas | Lesley Moss | 24 | Hoxie | Vocal, "You'll Have to Swing It" | |||
 Kentucky | Lori Menshouse | 24 | Ashland | Piano, "Revolutionary Etude" by Chopin | Later Miss Kentucky USA 1999 | ||
 Louisiana | Mette Boving | 24 | Ruston | Popular Vocal, "How Do I Live" | Top 10 | Later Mrs. Colorado 2015 | |
 Maine | Rachel Binder | 23 | Presque Isle | Lyrical Ballet, "Seasons of Love" | |||
 Maryland | Jaime Fox | 21 | Frederick | Vocal, "With One Look" from Sunset Boulevard | |||
 Massachusetts | Samira Zebian | 20 | Westfield | Irish Step Dance | Waterford Crystal Award for Business Marketing & Management | ||
 Michigan | Kimberly Stec | 22 | Rochester | Jazz Dance, "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going" | |||
 Minnesota | Jennifer Ostergaard | 22 | Winona | Dramatic Monologue, "Clear Glass Marbles" from Talking With... | Non-finalist Talent Award Quality of Life Winner | ||
 Mississippi | Myra Barginear | 23 | Grenada | Classical Vocal, "Una Voce Poco Va" from The Barber of Seville | 2nd runner-up | Dr. David B. Allman Medical Scholarship | |
 Missouri | Michele Eise | 24 | St. Louis | Gospel Vocal, "How Great Thou Art" | |||
 Montana | Kristen Garlock | 24 | Billings | Vocal, "Romany Life" from The Fortune Teller | |||
 Nebraska | Kendra Quandt | 23 | Davenport | Classical Piano, "Prelude in C Sharp Minor" by Rachmaninoff | Non-finalist Talent Award Quality of Life 1st runner-up | ||
 Nevada | Amanda Gunderson | 19 | Reno | Classical Vocal, "Der Hölle Rache kocht in meinem Herzen" | |||
 New Hampshire | Michelle Lamontagne | 22 | Goffstown | Vocal, "Route 66" | |||
 New Jersey | Kathy Nejat | 21 | Voorhees | Classical Ballet en Pointe, "The Dying Swan" | Preliminary Lifestyle & Fitness Award Non-finalist Talent Award | ||
 New Mexico | Jennifer Babin | 22 | Alamogordo | Piano | |||
 New York | Lisa Esler | 21 | Northville | Vocal, "Memory" | |||
 North Carolina | Michelle Warren | 22 | Gastonia | Vocal, "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going" | 1st runner-up | Preliminary Talent Award | |
 North Dakota | Roxana Saberi | 20 | Fargo | Classical Piano, Prelude in G minor by Rachmaninoff | Top 10 | Miss America Scholar | In 2009 gained worldwide attention after being imprisoned for 100 days for alleged espionage in Iran |
 Ohio | Kelly Creager | 19 | Hamler | Vocal, "Remember Me This Way" from Casper | |||
 Oklahoma | Kelli Master | 24 | Midwest City | Baton Twirling, "Gonna Fly Now" | Non-finalist Talent Award | ||
 Oregon | Tamara Ann Finch | 24 | Myrtle Creek | Classical Piano, "Scherzo No. 2 in B Flat Minor" by Chopin | Top 10 | Steinway Talent Award | |
 Pennsylvania | Heather Busin | 20 | Grove City | Vocal, "I Will Listen" | |||
 Rhode Island | Kelly Jo Roarke | 24 | Cranston | Comic Reading, "Non-Bridaled Passion" | Non-finalist Talent Award | ||
 South Carolina | Janet Powers | 21 | Hartsville | Vocal Medley, "Go Tell It on the Mountain," "Gonna Build a Mountain," & "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" | Non-finalist Talent Award | ||
 South Dakota | Shantel Swedlund | 24 | Arlington | Alto Saxophone | Current chairwoman of the Miss America Organization Board of Directors | ||
 Tennessee | Lanna Keck | 23 | Knoxville | Gospel Vocal, "Go Light Your World" | |||
 Texas | Reagan Hughes | 23 | Midland | Dramatic Vocal, "I Dreamed a Dream" | |||
 Utah | Mary McDonough | 19 | Layton | Piano, "Des Danzas Creoles" by Alberto Ginastera | Non-finalist Talent Award Quality of Life 2nd runner-up | ||
 Vermont | Jill Renee Cummings | 20 | Montgomery Center | Vocal, "Someone to Watch Over Me" | |||
 Virginia | Kelli Quick | 20 | Lynchburg | Vocal, "I Go To the Rock" from The Preacher's Wife | Non-finalist Talent Award | ||
 Washington | Mariana Loya | 19 | Tacoma | Classical Violin, "Concerto in E minor" | Miss America Scholar | Later Miss Arizona USA 2005 | |
 West Virginia | Eisa Krushansky | 24 | Westover | Tap Dance, "Dancin' Fool" from Copacabana | |||
 Wisconsin | Nicole Jean Locy | 22 | Glendale | Vocal, "Someone Else's Story" from Chess | Non-finalist Interview Award | ||
 Wyoming | Jeffie Ventling | 24 | Laramie | Vocal, "The Phantom of the Opera" |
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 now judged on these competition segments with the following scoring percentages: Private Interview (30%) – a 10-minute press conference-style interview with a panel of judges, On Stage Question (10%) – answering of a judge's question while onstage, Talent or HER Story (20%) – a performance talent or 90 second speech, Health and Fitness (20%) – contestants demonstrate physical fitness onstage while dressed in athletic wear, and Evening Gown (20%) – contestants model evening-wear onstage.
Michelle Doris Thomas was an American actress. She was known for her roles as Justine Phillips on the NBC sitcom The Cosby Show (1988–90), as Myra Monkhouse on the ABC/CBS sitcom Family Matters (1993–98), and as Callie Rogers on the CBS soap opera The Young and the Restless (1998).
The Miss Florida Teen USA competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of Florida in the Miss Teen USA pageant.
The Miss Alabama competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of Alabama in the annual Miss America Competition.
The Miss Washington competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of Washington in the Miss America pageant.
The Miss Tennessee competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of Tennessee in the Miss America Scholarship Competition.
The Miss Illinois is a pageant program affiliated with Miss America, which is competition for women models representing the state of Illinois.
The Miss Florida competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of Florida in the Miss America pageant. Florida has twice won the Miss America crown.
The Miss Connecticut competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of Connecticut in the Miss America pageant. Connecticut has won the Miss America crown once, and is the only New England state which has produced a Miss America.
The Miss Delaware competition is the pageant that selects the representative of Delaware in the Miss America pageant. The event takes place annually in the month of June and has previously been held in Rehoboth Beach at Convention Hall, in the state capital of Dover, Delaware at the Dover Downs Hotel and Casino, and in Milton at the Milton Theatre. Miss Delaware serves as the official hostess to the state of Delaware. In 2023, the pageant announced that it will be held at Harrington Raceway & Casino in Harrington.
The Miss District of Columbia competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the District of Columbia in the Miss America Pageant.
The Miss Indiana competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of Indiana in the Miss America Pageant.
The Miss Oregon competition is a regional scholarship competition that selects the representative for the US state of Oregon in the Miss America pageant. The annual event includes contestants from across the state and awards scholarships to the participants.
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.
Miss America 2014, the 87th Miss America pageant was held at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey Sunday, September 15, 2013. Miss America 2013, Mallory Hagan crowned the winner, Miss New York, Nina Davuluri, who served as Miss America until September 14, 2014.
Miss America 2016, the 89th Miss America pageant, was held at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey on Sunday, September 13, 2015. It was broadcast on ABC and streamed to mobile devices and Xbox 360 consoles via the WatchABC app. Tickets for the 2016 Miss America competition went on sale June 5, 2015.
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.
Miss America 2019, the 92nd Miss America pageant, though the Miss America Organization celebrated its 98th anniversary in 2018. This discrepancy is due to national pageants not being held from 1928 to 1932 or in 1934 because of financial problems associated with the Great Depression. The 2019 competition was held in Atlantic City, New Jersey. On May 23, 2018, it was announced that the pageant would air live on ABC on Sunday, September 9, 2018. This was the last Miss America to be aired on ABC before would be moving to NBC beginning from 2020 pageant.
The Miss America 2020 competition was held on Thursday, December 19, 2019. This was the 93rd Miss America pageant/competition, though the Miss America Organization celebrated its 99th anniversary in 2019. This discrepancy is due to national pageants not being held from 1928 to 1932 or in 1934 because of financial problems associated with the Great Depression.
