There was no shortage of sequins in Atlantic City last month. The storied city, infamous for casinos, Monopoly, Boardwalk Empire, and the Miss America pageant hosted their 26th installment of the Miss’d America Pageant at the Event Center at Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa. 2017 Miss’d America Mimi Imfurst (also of RuPaul’s Drag Race and RuPaul’s Drag Race All-Stars) descended to the stage in an aerial number dressed as Lady Liberty and audibly whispered “this one’s for Melania Trump”. After a quick costume and tune change she went full throttle into an interpretation of Green Day’s “American Idiot” while hurling paper towels into the audience. Imfurst won last year’s pageant with flying colors after her show stopping rendition of “Sweet Transvestite” from The Rocky Horror Picture Show. After Imfurst’s energetic performance fashion guru and breakout star of the Emmy-Award winning series Queer Eye For The Straight Guy Carson Kressley came out clapping and said “that opening was gayer than the DNC!”
Kressley’s friends Gary L. Hill and John J. Schultz, who run the Schultz Hill Foundation started started Miss’d America to raise funds for GLBT causes with a focus on AIDS and HIV awareness, treatment and progressive efforts to save people’s lives. Miss’d America has raised and contributed over $350,000 for regional GLBT charities since its inception. Seven finalists rocked the stage at the colossal Event Center at the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa.
The talent featured seven finalists in the pageant: Pattaya Hart (New York), Tina Burner (New York), Savannah Savonier (New Jersey), Jenna Tall (New Jersey), Adriana Trenta (New York), Sapphira Cristal (Texas), and Morgan Morgan Morgan (Pennsylvania). Standout performances of the evening were definitely Tina Burner’s politically charged Anything Goes “power tap” number, Savannah Savonier’s spot on Whitney Houston medley and shimmy with the audience during “How Will I Know”, Sapphira Cristal’s dynamic illustration of her five octave range and Pattaya Hart’s winning lip synch to “All That Jazz” from the Broadway Musical Chicago.
At a press conference following the show Tina Burner, who placed as the second runner up, stated “I’m a man who dresses up as a woman, I’m a drag queen who has a microphone and a platform. It’s a shame for those who don’t use it as a platform. I do what I do what I do to make everybody laugh and have a good time but I also do what I do to spread a message...tonight I came to Atlantic City thinking there could be a lot of Republicans here, there could be a lot of Trump supporters here, but I thought to myself I want to do what I believe in and spread a message and sit there and you’re sitting there watching a show. Like you want to get up and leave and you can - but you’re not gonna - cause I’m in a sparkly gown. You know? I just wanna to make a difference as a drag queen. I don’t want to just do splits and death drops, I want to way what I feel and be able to change people’s life with a wig and a dress on and just be somebody who tries to change this world for the better.”