Abbie Stockard is in Florida this week for the Miss America competition. As Miss Alabama 2024, Stockard is one of 52 women vying to become Miss America 2025. The title comes with $50,000 in scholarship money and a yearlong reign. Miss America 2024, Madison Marsh, will crown her successor at the finals.
(See photos of the Miss America contestants in the gallery at the top of this post. This year’s list includes Miss Puerto Rico and Miss D.C., as well as competitors from all 50 states.)
Preliminary events for Miss America are planned through Saturday, Jan. 4, along with receptions, interviews, rehearsals, a breakfast, a talent showcase, a fashion show and more. The Miss America finals are set for Sunday, Jan. 5, at 6 p.m. CT at the Walt Disney Theater in Orlando. The theater, 445 South Magnolia Ave., is part of the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts.
Also, online voting is underway for an America’s Choice spot at the Miss America competition on Sunday. Votes can be cast for donations of $1 or more. The contestant with the most votes gets a place in the top 11 at the finals event, according to the Miss America website.
Tickets for the Miss America finals are sold out, according to the Miss America website. The pageant will not be broadcast on television this year. However, the Miss America finals show will stream online, and you can watch it for free at PageantVision.com.
There’s also a $99.99 streaming bundle at PageantVision.com that allows viewers to see other events this week, including preliminaries and talent for Miss America.
Judges for the Miss America finals include Heather Whitestone McCallum, a Dothan native who was named Miss America 1995. She moved on to the national pageant in September 1994, after winning the title of Miss Alabama earlier that year. Whitestone McCallum lost her hearing in early childhood due to a severe ear infection, and was the first deaf woman to win Miss America. She became a strong advocate for people with disabilities, regained her hearing in 2002 through a cochlear implant, and lives in Georgia with her husband and four sons.
Alabama has produced three Miss America winners over the pageant’s history, in 1950, 1994 and 2004. All of them have been significant figures for the competition, resulting in milestones during or after their victories.
READ: Has Miss Alabama ever won the Miss America pageant?
Other judges for the Miss America finals are Olympic medalist Carl Lewis, retired U.S. Air Force Lieutenant General Stayce D. Harris, Miss America 1985 Sharlene Wells Hawkes and “Cheer” star Gabi Butler.
Miss Hoover Abbie Stockard wins Miss Alabama 2024 at Samford University’s Wright Center, Saturday, June 29, 2024. (Vasha Hunt | preps.al.com)Vasha Hunt | vhunt@al.com
Miss Alabama 2024 won her title in June, competing as Miss Hoover at Samford University’s Wright Center in Birmingham. Stockard, from Birmingham, is a student at Auburn University, where she majors in nursing. According to her Miss Alabama bio, she plans to gain critical care experience and apply to nurse anesthesia school after graduation. Her goal is to earn an advanced degree, a Doctor of Nurse Anesthesia Practice, and specialize in pediatrics.
READ: Miss Alabama 2024: Abbie Stockard, Miss Hoover, takes the crown
Over the past six months, Stockard has been making public appearances, doing charity work, speaking to community groups, motivating students and more. Her community service initiative as Miss Alabama is Be the Change: Find a Cure — Cystic Fibrosis Awareness.
During a July interview with Stockard, AL.com asked how she felt about moving on to national stage.
“I want to do everything I can to make sure that I am going to represent Alabama in the most positive light, and the best way possible,” Stockard said. “I want to go into Miss America knowing that I couldn’t have done any more work, and that I’m going to make the state proud.”
READ: Miss Alabama 2024 Abbie Stockard: ‘I’m going to make the state proud’
Miss America’s Teen will be chosen in Orlando this week, as well, with finals set for Saturday, Jan. 4, at 6 p.m. CT. Ali Mims of Harpersville, Miss Alabama’s Teen 2024, is representing the state in that competition, which is linked to Miss America.
