On top, almost

‘‘I have been dancing since I was three,’’ she said on winning the talent segment. The contest was won by Miss Alabama, Deidre Downs.

The field was narrowed at the start of the evening to 10 finalists. After the casual wear and swimsuit competitions, five remained. A quiz on current affairs which added up to five per cent of a contestant’s score, was jointly won by Goel and the contestants from Alabama and Arkansas. Only three of the five knew that US presidential candidates need 270 electoral votes to win the general election.

The final talent competition, the first in the history of the event, matched a jazz dance routine by Dupont against a ballad sung by Downs. Goel, who had earlier won the Miss California pageant title, has a good academic record. Prior to graduating from UCLA with a major in Sociology, she won the California Scholastic Federation High Honors. A ‘‘golden girl’’ at UCLA, she was on the Pi Beta Phi Executive Council and was the UCLA Marching Band Recruitment Chair, and participated in the Inner City Youth Mentor Programme.

‘‘I have successfully battled anorexia nervosa. I am in a position to partner with corporate sponsors not only to achieve my goals of healthy mind, body and soul, but also to help educate public on the realities of Miss America,’’ she said. If Goel had won, she would have been the first American of Asian descent to be crowned Miss America.