The theme for this year’s Miss Mississippi Competition is “Oh, What a Night,” and oh, what a night it was with Miss Vicksburg Morgan Nelson winning in the evening gown phase of the competition and Miss Mississippi State University Sarah Randolph taking top honors in talent. Both contestants are from Vicksburg.

“I’m pretty sure you could see the shock on my face,” Nelson said of winning the evening gown phase in the week’s first preliminary round. “I was so surprised and just proud of myself, honestly. I truly felt like me; I felt like Morgan on the stage.”

Nelson, who has competed in the competition for three years said finding the perfect dress is a must.

“This is a custom from Lasting Impressions,” she said. “I knew what I wanted, I just needed someone to put the magic together.”

As the winner of the evening gown phase of the competition, Nelson is the recipient of a $400 scholarship provided by Ameristar Casino and Hotel.

When Miss Mississippi State University Sarah Randolph heard her name called as the preliminary talent winner, she said she was beyond excited.

“I am feeling ecstatic,” she said. “This is actually a song that I’ve been wanting to sing for a long time. I can literally recite to you the whole script of ‘The Phantom of the Opera.'”

Randolph, who has also competed in the competition for three years, said she practiced her performance from “The Phantom of the Opera” tirelessly.

“I don’t think a lot of people understand how much prep goes into the pageants,” she said. “There’s this huge misconception that it’s a beauty pageant, but there are so many categories of competition and you have to be strong in each one.”

As the preliminary talent winner, Randolph is the recipient of a $500 scholarship provided by Ameristar Casino and Hotel.

Miss Mississippi preliminary competitions will resume at 7 p.m. Thursday at the Vicksburg Convention Center, 1600 Dr. Briggs Hopson Blvd.

Returning as executive producers of the Miss Mississippi Competition are Amy Campbell and Ashley Thompson.

Assisting in the production are Kandace Williams Peppers, who is serving as artistic director; Ali Kellogg, choreographer and director; Allen Ditto as technical director; Andre’ Huff for visual and lighting; Kimble Slaton for audio and technical; Sam Lovorn Belles as choreographer; and Ryan Raines as assistant choreographer.

Emceeing this year’s show are Lisa Stewart and Desmond Purnell.

Stewart is a Broadcast Music Inc. award-winning songwriter and is best know for her composition “Sky Full of Angels” performed by Reba McEntire. Purnell is an accomplished sportscaster with multiple Emmy awards.

The 2025 Miss Mississippi entertainers are 2016 Miss Mississippi Laura Lee Lewis Allen, Joseph Morales, Dr. Jan Reid-Bunch, Malik Ealey and Erika Wheeler.

Miss Mississippi dancers are Helena Wallace, Ryan Raines, Thomas Richardson, Cameron Davis, Carsyn Caillet and Omari Daniels.

The remaining preliminary competition will be held at 7 p.m. Friday.

Scoring for the preliminary nights of competition are as follows: 30% for private interview; 20% for talent/HER Story; 20% for health and fitness; 20% for evening gown; and 10% for on-stage question.

The final round of competition and crowning will begin at 8 p.m. Saturday

For the final night of the competition, the top ten contestants with the highest scores will re-compete for the crown. Scores for the final round are 30% for the composite score; 20% for talent/HER Story; 20% for health and fitness; 20% for evening gown; and 10% for the on-stage question.

Tickets are $40 for Thursday’s preliminary; $50 for Friday’s preliminaries and Saturday’s final round of competition. For more information or to purchase tickets, call 601-638-6746.