The 66th Miss Georgia Scholarship Pageant begins today.
The 40 contestants will have been placed into three groups and will compete in swimsuit, talent and evening wear in rotating groups in the preliminaries today through Friday at the Bill Heard Theatre inside the RiverCenter for the Performing Arts.
The finals are Saturday. The competition begins at 7:30 p.m. each night at the Heard Theatre. Tickets for Wednesday and Thursday is $30, Friday is $60 and Saturday is $80.
New this year in entertainment are hip-hop dancers from South Carolina called UNEEK-EFX. DJ LuCa will spin tunes before each show and during intermission to get the crowd going.
Janet Roddy, a longtime Miss Georgia board member, is the director/producer of the show for the third year.
She’s assisted by another longtime board member Barbara Motos and this year, has a co-producer, Michael Ruddell of Atlanta, who works for Michael Blair Productions. Ruddell has been a co-host for several years and has been a featured vocalist as well.
Ruddell is also the co-host of the pageant, working with Miss Georgia 1998 April Brinson Slaughenhoup.
One of the judges will be a familiar face — Miss Georgia 1997 Candice Little Wickersham, who has been working as a television news anchor, including a stint at WRBL-TV 3. She’s now a stay-at-home mother with a daughter, Willow. She joins four other judges this year.
Here are the women who will compete for the Miss Georgia title:
MISS MUSIC CITY
Brittany Joy McCalla
Age: 24
School: Webster University
Talent: Vocal, “A Song for You”
Hometown: Valdosta
Platform: Identity Theft Awareness & Prevention
MISS WAYNE COUNTY
Ashley Taylor Voyles
Age: 18
School: Waycross College/Wayne Co. High ACCEL Program Joint Enrollment
Talent: Pop vocal, “Warwick Avenue”
Hometown: Jessup
Platform: Join My Click
MISS AUGUSTA
Brittany Hill
Age: 21
School: The Medical College of Georgia
Talent: Vocal, “Home Sweet Home”
Hometown: Summerville
Platform: Make a Wish Foundation: Sharing the power of a wish
MISS CHEROKEE ROSE
Michaela Grace Lackey
Age: 20
School: University of North Carolina School of the Arts (UNCSA)
Talent: Classical Ballet En Pointe, Louis Moreau Gottschalk’s “Tournament Galop”
Hometown: Marietta
Platform: P.A.S.S.I.O.N.: Performing Artists Serving Society In Our Neighborhoods
MISS ATLANTA
Laura Margaret Stone
Age: 23
School: University of Georgia – Graduate
Talent: Piano, Khachaturian’s “Toccata”
Waynesboro
Platform: First Vote: Empowering the Youth Voice
MISS SPIRIT OF GEORGIA
Brittney Griffith
Age: 23
School: Armstrong Atlantic State University
Talent: Vocal, “O Mio Babbino Caro”
Hometown: Savannah
Platform: Big Brothers Big Sisters Organization: Building Self-Esteem in Today’s Youth
MISS ALBANY
Alexa Turpin
Age: 21
School: Georgia Southern University
Talent: Tap Dance, “Footloose”
Hometown: Albany
Platform: Increasing Volunteerism in America “Making a Difference One Person at a Time
MISS GWINNETT COUNTY
Kristen Springer
Age: 21
School: Houston Community College
Talent: Ballet en Pointe, Carmina Burana-O Fortuna
Hometown: Snellville
Platform: Discover Dance: The Creative Arts in Education
MISS FULTON COUNTY
Kierra Anderson
Age: 22
School: Georgia State University
Talent: Jazz Dance Selection
Hometown: Douglasville
Platform: Step Out, Join the Fight Against Diabetes: The American Diabetes Association
MISS EAST GEORGIA COLLEGE
Tiffini Brooke Rowland
Age: 19
School: East Georgia College
Talent: Tap dance, “Bleeding Love”
Hometown: Midville
Platform: Make Good Choices: National Highway Safety Traffic Administration
MISS TROUP COUNTY
Jessica Lauren Scott
Age: 23
School: Columbus State University
Talent: Vocal, “Bridge Over Troubled Water”
Hometown: LaGrange
Platform: NARHA – Appreciation the Power of the Horse to Change Lives
MISS GEORGIA COTTON
Lauren Arnold
Age: 23
School: UGA
Talent: Harp, “Somewhere Over the Rainbow”
Hometown: Blakely
Platform: Youth Volunteerism
MISS GOLDEN ISLES
Carly Floyd
Age: 21
School: Valdosta State University
Talent: Clogging, “Bad”
Hometown: Vidalia
Platform: Advocacy Centers Across America
MISS GREATER COLUMBUS FAIR
Colleen Stafford
Age: 18
School: Glynn Academy High School
Talent: Tap dance, “Superstition”
Hometown: St. Simons Island
Platform: “Get out. Get fit. Get healthy” A plan to keep kids active with the Boys and Girls Clubs of America
MISS UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA
Laura Lyn McLeod
Age: 21
School: UGA
Talent: Vocal, “Your Song”
Hometown: Pineview
Platform: Bakpak Buddeez “Because Hunger Doesn’t Take the Weekend Off”
MISS SOUTHWEST GEORGIA
Candace Howard
Age: 20
School: Valdosta State University
Talent: Lyrical ballet, “Gravity”
Hometown: Bainbridge
Platform: Kaleidoscope: The Colors of Dance
MISS CENTRAL GEORGIA FAIR
Morgan Lothridge
Age: 19
School: Gainesville State College
Talent: Tap dance, “Single Ladies”
Hometown: Vidalia
Platform: Fighting Childhood Obesity
MISS LAKE LANIER
Raven Raneae Hall
Age: 21
School: East Georgia College
Talent: Jazz En Pointe, I Wanna Dance with Somebody
Hometown: Swainsboro
Platform: Breast Cancer Awareness and Prevention
MISS SOUTHEAST GEORGIA
Melissa Eldridge
Age: 23
School: Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science-Chicago Medical School
Talent: Gymnastics dance, “Let’s Get Loud”
Hometown: Columbus
Platform: Breast Cancer Awareness
MISS EMANUEL COUNTY
Madison Brett
Age: 18
School: UGA
Talent: Tap dance, Smokey Joe’s “Café Medley”
Hometown: Kite
Platform: Organ Donation – The Gift of Life
MISS COBB COUNTY
Casy Walker
Age: 21
School: Georgia State University
Talent: Tap dance, “I Got Rhythm”
Hometown: Powder Springs
Platform: Autism Speaks – It’s Your Time to Listen
MISS COLUMBUS
Lauren Edmunds
Age: 21
School: UGA
Talent: Jazz dance, “Feelin’ Good”
Hometown: Americus
Platform: Breast Cancer: Fighting the Fear
MISS ROCKDALE COUNTY FAIR
Mia Jones
Age: 21
School: Atlanta Metropolitan College
Talent: Jazz dance, “Canned Hat”
Hometown: Atlanta
Platform: Seize Your Way Out
MISS GEORGIA STATE UNIVERSITY
Cierra Cherrelle Gilchrist
Age: 21
School: Georgia State University
Talent: Jazz dance, “I Gotta Feeling”
Hometown: Greenville, SC
Platform: Prescription Drug Abuse Awareness and Prevention
MISS ROME
Briana Jewett
Age: 21
School: University of Georgia
Talent: Contemporary dance en Pointe: “Fuego”
Hometown: Marietta
Platform: PEACE OUTside Campus
MISS CLERMONT DAYS
Courtney Piedrahita
Age: 22
School: North Georgia College and State University
Contemporary Violin: “The Devil Went Down to Georgia”
Hometown: Braselton
Platform: Building Families; Building Futures, Giving Children Opportunity Through Adoption
MISS NORTHEAST GEORGIA
Jessica Olivia Black
Age: 24
School: UGA
Talent: Vocal, “Breakaway”
Hometown: Garfield
Platform: Making Memories, Saving Memories – Fighting Alzheimer’s Disease
MISS CAPITAL CITY
Jamie Kelton
Age: 22
School: University of Alabama
Talent: Contemporary dance, “Cry Me a River”
Hometown: Marietta
Platform: Adding Tomorrows through the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation
MISS COLUMBUS STATE UNIVERSITY
April Nicole Hollingsworth
Age: 21
School: Columbus State University
Talent: Pop Vocal, “Don’t Stop Believing” by Journey
Hometown: Whigham
Platform: Stand By Me: Making a Difference through Mentoring
MISS NORTH GEORGIA LAKES
Rachel Noel Jones
Age: 22
School: Georgia Highlands College
Talent: Vocal, “Don’t Get Around Much Anymore”
Hometown: Summerville
Platform: Circle of Hope: Preventing Child Abuse through Awareness, Education and Leadership
MISS HISTORIC SOUTHERN PLAINS
Whitney Cothran
Age: 24
School: University of Alabama
Talent: Ballet en Pointe, “Don Quixote”
Hometown: Franklin
Platform: “See and Hear First” – Mandatory Hearing and Vision Screening
MISS SOUTHERN RIVERS
Leslie Farman
Age: 23
School: Georgia College & State University
Talent: Piano, “Piano Concerto in A Minor” by Edvard Grieg
Hometown: Fayetteville
Platform: The Ronald McDonald House Charities
MISS WARNER ROBINS
Tara Scroggins
Age: 24
School: Georgia Southern University
Talent: Tap Dance, “Heartburn”
Hometown: Warner Robins
Platform: Volunteerism Through United Way
MISS SHORTER UNIVERSITY
Hannah Freeman
Age: 21
School: Shorter University
Talent: Opera vocal, “Quando M’en Vo”
Hometown: Sandersville
Platform: Promoting Cancer Support through Community Relay for Life Events
MISS ELBERTON FAIR
Amanda Erwin
Age: 23
School: Medical College of Georgia Dental School
Talent: Piano, “Root Beer Rag”
Hometown: Dewy Rose
Platform: A Safe Way Out: Stopping the Cycle of Domestic Violence
MISS HEART OF LAKES
Whitley Cooper
Age: 22
School: Kennesaw State University
Talent: Piano, “Rhapsodie” by Maxwell Eckstein
Hometown: Columbus
Platform: The Junior Achievement Organization
MISS SOUTHERN HEARTLAND
Christina Marie McCauley
Age: 21
School: Birmingham Southern College
Talent: Operetta, “This is My Beloved” from Kismet
Hometown: Marietta
Platform: “Let’s Get It Straight” – Scoliosis Awareness
MISS CUMMING COUNTRY FAIR
Alexis Caldwell
Age: 22
School: Harrison High School
Talent: Pop vocal, “Good Morning Baltimore”
Hometown: Powder Springs
Platform: Breast Cancer Awareness: Helping Teens Cope with the Personal
MISS THOMASVILLE
Hannah Gabrielle Barfield
Age: 21
School: UGA
Talent: Pop vocal, “If It Wasn’t For Your Love”
Hometown: Thomasville
Platform: Rape Abuse and Incest National Network
MISS SAVANNAH RIVER
Abby Killough
Age: 20
School: UGA
Talent: Vocal, “This is the Moment”
Hometown: Bainbridge
Platform: National Association of the Deaf
