In the third and final night of Miss America Pageant preliminaries, Miss Kentucky took top honors in swimsuit and Miss Kansas won for her vocal talent.
Tawnya Mullins, 25, of Kimper, Ky., wore a mandarin orange swimsuit Thursday night to beat 15 other competitors and capture a $500 scholarship.She is a graduate student at Radford University, majoring in sports medicine. The coal miner's daughter wants to become a spokeswoman for Kentucky's coal industry.
Pamela McKelvy, 24, of Kansas City, Kan., drew cheers from the audience for a powerful rendition of "I Am Changing" from the Broadway musical "Dreamgirls."
"I performed it with conviction and I felt like I sold it," she said later. She holds a degree in mass communication and French from Grambling State University.
The seven-judge panel will choose 10 finalists from the 50 contestants based on the preliminaries and personal interviews. The pageant is Saturday night.
The winner of the 1993 crown will replace reigning Miss America Carolyn Sapp from Hawaii.