Miss Massachusetts 2014 Pageant

Local titleholders vied for the title of Miss Massachusetts 2014 this past weekend!

Kelly Zucco

The 75th Annual Miss Massachusetts Scholarship Pageant was hosted at the Hanover Theater in Worcester this Friday and Sunday. The regional titleholders came from all over the state and competed to win to scholarship money and a coveted spot at the Miss American competition held in Atlantic City this September.

Friday were the preliminaries where all 21 contestants competed and Sunday saw the Top 11 in the final round. All of the girls competed in 5 phases of competition: a 10 minute interview with the judges, swimsuit, talent, onstage question and evening gown.

What was even more exciting was seeing some local titleholders compete! This year's Miss New Bedford, Jillian Zucco, made the Southcoast proud by finishing in the Top 11 and winning the Miracle Maker Award and the Community Service Award.

Her on-stage question was answered with thoughtfulness and poise and her talent blew everyone away. Jillian's rendition of "In His Eyes" from the musical Jekyll and Hyde was certainly one of the strongest in the competition.

When asked what it was like to compete for such an important title, Jillian said, "It's great to be able to compete with such amazing, and intelligent young women. You really get close to these girls and it's so exciting to see them all succeed. Competing in this scholarship pageant has taught us so many things from public speaking to networking to living healthy lifestyles! I'm grateful to have had this opportunity."

Jillian was not alone from the Southcoast! In fact, there were several local titleholders at the competition this year:

Miss New Bedford, Jillian Zucco
Miss Fall River, Devon Williams
Miss Somerset, Courtney Stern
Miss Bristol County, Joclyne Nunes
Miss Taunton, Brianna Bostick

The results were announced Sunday and I'm pleased to say that Miss New Bedford, Miss Fall River, Miss Somerset and Miss Taunton were among the Top 11 and Miss Taunton was 1st Runner Up.

This year's Miss Massachusetts is Lauren Kuhn, previously Miss Collegiate Area. She will be representing Massachusetts and competing in the Miss American pageant in Atlantic City, New Jersey this September!

Congratulations to all of the Southcoast girls for competing and for making all of us proud!