Miss America 2019: Indiana wins talent (with Frank Sinatra) after learning that his size would hold her

Miss Indiana, Lydia Tremaine, won a talent award on Friday during the final night of the Miss America preliminary competition in Atlantic City. But when she started competing for her state title, she was told that she could not even go that far.

Tremaine received the honor, which comes with $ 2,000, for singing "That's Life" by Frank Sinatra.

One of his favorite words: "Every time I find myself flat, I get up and I resume the race."

"It's a matter of trying again when you fail," she told Ol's song "Blue Eyes" after the show, which continues with the televised finale at Boardwalk Hall on Sunday night.

"It was said that I could never be Miss Indiana because of my size," she said.

Tremaine, 20, from Kendallville, Indiana, is an education student at Western Governors University in Salt Lake City, Utah. She is a candidate in the 2019 contest who rejoiced when Miss America dropped out of her swimsuit competition. Not a fan of riding the stage in a swimsuit – even though she's been doing it for several years – Tremaine said it was a relief that the pressure to change body and become thinner was no longer part from his competition experience.

"I had an excellent fitness track during my career," said Tremaine, who lost 40 pounds and preferred to wear a one-piece swimsuit in competition.

Gretchen Carlson, chair of Miss America's board of directors, came under fire after announcing the contest's decision to relegate swimsuits to the past after almost 100 years of competition. Representatives of 46 state reenactments (51 contestants) and 23 former Miss Americas called for the resignation of Carlson and its executive director, Regina Hopper, after claiming to have cheated the jury members.

The host of Friday's preliminary competition, Susan Powell, Miss America 1981, began with a nod to the excitement of the contest.

"I think it's time for me to address the elephant in the room," she said, as the audience of contest volunteers, parents, and homeowners titles were waiting impatiently.

"I do not look fabulous ??"

Miss Massachusetts, Gabriela Taveras, won the $ 1,000 prize for an issue on stage – an honor for this year's competition. She was asked to answer a question about how she would use international travel to her advantage as a Miss America. Taveras, 23, said he traveled to Swaziland, Cuba and Greece on missionary journeys.

"I have simply been able to share my heart with other people," she said after the show, adding that she hated to adapt her responses to what she thought the judges want to hear. This, she said, is a definition of the new image of Miss America 2.0, a person who is not afraid to express herself wholeheartedly.

But that seems to have been a warning since the current Miss America, Cara Mund, is engaged in a dispute with Carlson and the contest leaders, claiming that she had intimidated him and silenced him for months. One of her complaints is that she was not allowed to use her voice beyond the discussion points that the Miss America organization gave her, claiming that she had been dismissed during media appearances in favor of Carlson.

But for Taveras, a graduate of Emmanuel College in Boston – where she specialized in biology with a specialization in neuroscience – Miss America has already borne fruit in tangible ways. She has also been named one of Miss America's $ 5,000 STEM Scholarship winners (in recognition of achievements in science, technology, engineering and mathematics).

"I almost paid off my student debt with these two plates right here," she said, holding her awards and thanking Jesus.

The last night of the preliminaries saw a wide variety of talents, including waterlogging (Miss Kentucky), poetry (Miss Colorado), fast painting (Miss Delaware) and ventriloquism (Miss Texas).

Miss Wisconsin, Tianna Vanderhei and Miss Virginia, Emili McPhail, for the stage issue, and Miss Florida, Taylor Tyson, and Miss Louisiana, Holl 'Conway, for their talents were also the preliminary winners of Miss America.

The show of Miss America in 2019 is broadcast at 9 pm Sunday, September 9 on ABC.

Amy Kuperinsky can be contacted at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @AmyKup or on Facebook.