Twenty-three-year-old Jennifer Leigh Davis has managed to dance her way into the hearts of the people the world over.
The Miss America 2018 beauty pageant runner-up moved flawlessly to ‘Naacho Re’ from the 2014 Salman Khan film Jai Ho. She represented Missouri.
Davis, a communication’s student, says she is a staunch supporter of inclusion and acceptance of diverse cultures and that was why she chose the Bollywood song as her platform to bring to the attention of civic leaders “United We Stand, Divided We Fall - Diversity Matters.”
In a video posted to her Facebook page, Davis says, “This platform means so much to me because I know what it’s like to be the only one who looks like me in a crowd, and to feel different because of how I was born.”
Because she is unrelated to the Indian culture, she faced questions about her choice.
The St Louis University graduate’s high-energy performance was choreographed by Nakul Dev Mahajan of “So You Think You Can Dance” fame.
She took home a $13,000 scholarship and will continue performing public work and community services in her home state before returning to school to study being a physician’s assistant, specialising in pediatric oncology.
Miss North Dakota Cara Mund was crowned Miss America 2018 on Sunday night at Atlantic City’s Boardwalk Hall in New Jersey.
Nina Davuluri, the first Indian-American woman to win Miss America in 2013, also won after performing a Bollywood dance as her talent portion.