Meet Miss America 2017

There she is … the new Miss America. Savvy Shields, 22, from Fayetteville, Arkansas, was crowned Sunday night in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

A fine arts major at the University of Arkansas, Shields had to answer a question about Hillary Clinton and do a jazz dance for her talent part of the show before winning the tiara. Her platform, which is based on personal struggles with bulemia, is “Eat Better, Live Better.”

In addition to the crown, Shields will get a six-figure salary, a $50,000 scholarship and an appearance contract.

“It’s just so special,” Shields said (not surprisingly) of the Miss America pageant moments before the big announcement. “I know we keep talking about sisterhood, but every single girl here would do an amazing job as Miss America.”

Now it’s up to Shields to do an “amazing job.”

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Chris Harrison put his “Bachelor” hosting skills to work to preside over the jiggling, strutting, twirling and interviewing for the eighth year. Joining him for her first stint as co-host was ESPN personality Sage Steele.

The judges who chose Miss America 2017: Olympian Gabby Douglas, singer/actress Ciara, Disney star Laura Marano, country singer Cole Swindell, Miss America 1985 Sharlene Wells Hawkes, actress Sara Foster and “Shark Tank” star/entrepreneur Mark Cuban.

“These girls are so beautiful and they’re bringing it,” said judge Ciara before the evening gown portion.

“These girls are all amazing. I knew it was going to be tough, but wow,” said Swindell. (People on Twitter were yelling at him to take off his baseball cap.)

Here’s how the rest of the pageant unfolded:

• Fourth runner-up: Miss Mississippi Laura Lee Lewis
• Third runner-up: Miss Washington Alicia Cooper
• Second runner-up: Miss New York Camille Sims
• Runner-up: Miss South Carolina Rachel Wyatt

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Miss Missouri Erin O’Flaherty, who made a lot of pre-show splash because she was the first openly gay contestant, didn’t make it into the Top 15.

About halfway through the show, Mark Cuban’s facial expression became a noted “thing” on social media.

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Here’s how the Top 7 answered questions (provided by the Miss America Organization to the judges):

Miss South Carolina Rachel Wyatt asked about whether our country has an immigration problem. “We certainly do… America is a nation built on immigration. We have to be welcoming to others to come into this nation of freedom.”

Miss Mississippi Laura Lee Lewis was asked about Gretchen Carlson accepting a $20 million settlement in her Fox lawsuit. Was message does this send? “This sends a message that we have so much further to go with equality in the work force. … It’s 2016 guys, we’ve got to focus on this and have equality in the workforce. When we start focusing on that, it’s going to be great.”

Miss Washington Alicia Cooper was asked about Colin Kaepernick’s national anthem protest. “The first thing I want to say is we need to focus on how important the Black Lives Matter movement is. I don’t support that he sat out but I do respect that he took a knee. … We need to come together to have everyone feel equal in our society.”

“If you’re trying to be leader of the free world, everything you say and do matters and all of your actions are held to a higher standard.”

Miss Maryland Hannah Brewer was asked to grade the media on election bias. “I think it’s been very equal to both parties. I think both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton have received a lot of criticism for the way they’re going about this campaign and I think it’s absolutely ridiculous. We need to support both these people. They’re trying to make our country a better place and I support them both.”

Miss New York Camille Sims was asked about Donald J. Trump, saying simply that she had 20 seconds to comment on him. “I think he’s a bright reminder of how our country needs to come together. If you don’t agree with his message, then it’s time to decide where you stand in this debate. As Americans, we need to come together, represent all people from all backgrounds, celebrating all people from all backgrounds whether you’re an immigrant or a Native-American, Asian-American or African-American.”

Miss Arkansas Savvy Shields got the same question, but on Hillary Rodham Clinton. “If you’re trying to be leader of the free world, everything you say and do matters and all of your actions are held to a higher standard … Both of these candidates have done a great job, but they need to watch what they’re doing …” She was cut off after 20 seconds and didn’t get to finish.

Miss Texas Caroline Carothers was asked what one thing the new president should do to protect us against terrorism. “One thing that our new president needs to realize is that being strong with this country is about learning where and when to be cautious. And I believe if our new president learns that, we’ll be in a better place and be much safe situation.”

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Top 10 performing in the talent portion:

Miss California Jessa Carmack danced and tumbled to an Elvis Presley song. She admitted that performing a combo gymnastics/dance/cheer act was a little daunting to do in front of Olympian Gabby Douglas.

Miss New York Camille Sims belted out the jazz standard “Sway.”

Miss Texas Caroline Carothers twirled three batons to “Hot Honey Rag” from the musical “Chicago.” Yes, she dropped one at one point. She also apparently can juggle three baseball bats, according to a pop-up fun fact on the screen.

Miss Maryland Hannah Brewer sang a song “for the people who have served our country.” That song: “God Bless America.”

Miss Washington Alicia Cooper tap-danced to Jennifer Lopez’s “Let’s Get Loud.” She hammed it up for crowd, urging them to get into the number.

Miss Mississippi Laura Lee Lewis said her mother taught her to sing. As she sang a song from “Yentl,” we learned she’s a huge “Star Wars” fan and was born with mid-face hypoplasia (is underdevelopment or incomplete development of a tissue or organ.)

Miss Iowa Kelly Koch, a ballet dancer from age 4, performed a routine to the theme from “Pirates of the Caribbean.” We learned she is descended from German royalty.

Miss Tennessee Grace Burgess sang a dramatic version of “Desperado” by the Eagles, bringing a more contemporary touch to the talent portion that had been lacking until she stepped up to the microphone.

Miss South Carolina Rachel Wyatt said dance is the way she tells her “story” and she told it to a Carrie Underwood song.

Miss Arkansas Savvy Shields performed a jazz dance and looked really happy doing it. We learned she once kicked herself so high that she gave herself a black eye.

During a special 9/11 segment before the talent portion of the show, it was noted that the Miss America pageant in 2001 was the first major public event to take place — just four days after the tragedy hit our country. “We were in shock,” recalled Miss America 2002 Katie Harman Ebner. “We didn’t know if we could or should go on with the competition. … We decided even in the shadow of this tragedy we would be an example of America’s resilience. And so, we went on.”

In case you were wondering, the Top 15 were the following:

• Miss Kentucky Laura Jones
• Miss Washington Alicia Cooper
• Miss Massachusetts Alissa Musto
• Miss Arkansas Savvy Shields
• Miss South Carolina Rachel Wyatt
• Miss Idaho Kylee Solberg
• Miss Iowa Kelly Koch
• Miss Texas Caroline Carothers
• Miss California Jessa Carmack
• Miss Oklahoma Sarah Klein
• Miss Maryland Hannah Brewer
• Miss New York Camille Sims
• Miss Tennessee Grace Burgess
• Miss Louisiana Justine Ker
• Miss Mississippi Laura Lee Lewis