And the winner is…Miss North Dakota!  Cara Mund took the crown in the 97th year of the Miss America Pageant!  This is the first time in the history of the pageant that a contestant from North Dakota has won!  Actually, the state had never made the top five until Miss Cara Mund took the stage! Cara Mund defied the odds this year, a victory for herself and her home state!

The pageant consisted of interview, swimsuit and fitness, evening gown and the amusing and impressive talent show!   Cara’s performance was a jazz dance routine to a Michael Jackson classic, “The Way You Make Me Feel.”  It was cute and sweet, much like Miss North Dakota herself!

The evening gowns were as expected, elegant and sophisticated with varying degrees of embellishment.  Miss America wore a stunning velvet and chiffon Jovani gown!  The dress was a rich black and embellished with stones and beading around the neck line!  The front of the dress featured and modified plunge neckline with keyhole.  Then the back of the gown was just a stunning with a duplicate to the front yet add in a flowing chiffon train and the dramatic takes over!  Love it! The floor length Jovani showed her figure to perfection!  Afterall, Jovani gowns are known for flattering silhouettes!

Yes, glitz and shimmer was the look of the night, as it appeared throughout the top five contestants!   The top 5 finalists in the Miss America 2018 pageant looked perfectly suited for their couture inspired design!  The first runner up was Miss Missouri, Jennifer Davis.  Davis was elegant in her high neck, long sleeve black gown that looked phenomenal on her!  The second runner-up was Miss New Jersey Kaitlyn Schoeffel followed by Miss District of Columbia Briana Kinsey.  Schoeffel stunned the crowd with her chic look the caught every ray of light with beading over a low plunge pastel baby blue silhouette!  Kinsey stood out in a gorgeous yellow ball gown.  Miss Texas Morgana Wood was the fourth runner up of the night, adding a modern twist in a stylish geometric design!

The 2018 Miss America Pageant simply made history!  The stunning gowns, the impressive talents, and the gorgeous crown as well as Miss North Dakota Cara Mund made pageant world extremely proud!  Just remember, you can do anything you want to, no matter the odds!