Miss America 2024: Miss Colorado wins the crown
Madison Marsh, Miss Colorado 2023, was crowned Miss America 2024 on Sunday night at the Walt Disney Theater in Orlando, Florida.
Marsh, 22, a pilot in the U.S. Air Force, graduated in 2023 from the U.S. Air Force Academy. She’s pursuing a master’s degree in public policy at the Harvard Kennedy School in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Marsh will receive a $50,000 scholarship as Miss America and immediately start a yearlong reign.
A second lieutenant in the Air Force, Marsh is the first active duty Air Force officer to win the Miss America title.
Miss America 2023, Grace Stanke, crowned her successor at Sundays finals competition, which streamed on the Watch Miss America website. Marsh received a glittering crown, a flowing red cape and a bouquet of roses at the end of the ceremony. The new winner also received hugs from her fellow contestants and took her first walk on stage as Miss America 2024.
Marsh performed a spoken-word piece in the talent portion of Sunday’s finals, telling the story of her first solo flight. She answered on-stage questions, walked the runway in an evening gown, strutted in fitness clothes and emphasized her philanthropic platform. Marsh is the founder of the Whitney Marsh Foundation, raising money for research to fight pancreatic cancer. The foundation is named after her mother, who died from pancreatic cancer in 2018.
A total of 51 women competed in the Miss America finals, including Brianna Burrell, Miss Alabama 2023. Burrell didn’t make the top 11 in the competition, so she wasn’t featured in Sunday’s evening gown, interview, fitness or talent segments. Burrell could be seen during the show, however, as she introduced herself to the audience, danced in a production number, walked in a “Parade of Evening Gowns” segment and participated in videos filmed earlier in the week.
Burrell earned a $3,000 scholarship at Miss America, as one of three winners this week at the pageant’s evening gown preliminary competition.
Another woman in the running for Miss America has a tie to Alabama. Taylor Blatchford, Miss Nevada 2023, is a graduate of the University of Alabama, with a bachelor’s degree in business management. Blatchford was not among the 11 semi-finalists on Sunday.
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The top 11 contestants were featured in segments that emphasized fitness wear, talent, evening gowns and on-stage questions focusing on “hot topics in America” such as education, politics, money, drugs, technology and climate change. Each segment was weighted as 25 percent of the contestant’s total score in the semi-finals.
The 11 semi-finalists were:
- Miss Texas 2023, Ellie Breaux.
- Miss North Carolina 2023, Taylor Loyd.
- Miss Indiana 2023, Cydney Bridges.
- Miss Kansas 2023, Courtney Wages
- Miss Colorado 2023, Madison Marsh.
- Miss Maryland 2023, Kennedy Taylor.
- Miss Florida 2023, Juliette Valle.
- Miss Rhode Island, Caroline Parente.
- Miss Kentucky 2023, Mallory Hudson.
- Miss Arkansas 2023, Cori Keller.
- Miss New York 2023, Amelia Collins.
The contestant list was then trimmed to a top five, who returned to the stage for one more question apiece, focusing on their plans as Miss America.
The top five were:
- Miss Colorado 2023, Madison Marsh (winner).
- Miss Texas 2023, Ellie Breaux (runner-up).
- Miss Indiana 2023, Cydney Bridges (second runner-up).
- Miss Kentucky 2023, Mallory Hudson (third runner-up).
- Miss Rhode Island, Caroline Parente (fourth runner-up).
Terrence Jenkins, an actor and TV personality known as “Terrence J,” was the host of Sunday’s finals ceremony, along with model and actress Nikki Novak.
Miss America’s team of judges for this year featured Alabama native Cynthia Bailey, a reality star best known for her work on “The Real Housewives of Atlanta”; Nancy G. Brinker, founder of the nonprofit organization Susan G. Komen for the Cure; Susan Malzoni, a wellness consultant and founder of the Vitamyna company; David Tutera, a wedding planner and fashion designer; Elena Cardone, a real estate investor and author; and Shelley Goodstein, a model and entrepreneur.
Some previous Miss America winners appeared on stage, as well, in a segment called “Miss America Forever.” They included Alabama’s Heather Whitestone McCallum, Miss America 1995. The Dothan native was the first deaf woman to become Miss America.