CROWN COUNTDOWN: Miss America Savvy Shields of Fayetteville will make her final sparkly strut tonight before her successor is crowned at the 2018 Miss America competition (8 p.m., ABC).
Shields was the third Miss Arkansas to be named Miss America, joining Donna Axum (1964) and Elizabeth Ward (1982).
Striving to follow in their stiletto steps is Miss Arkansas Maggie Benton of Jonesboro.
Benton, a 22-year-old University of Arkansas, Fayetteville alumna, said via text from Atlantic City, N.J., she's feeling "Honored, humbled and EXCITED to be here!"
Her platform: "Giving is a Gift."
Here's hoping Benton gives Arkansas the gift of a fourth title.
RAY'S DAY: Cheering on Miss Arkansas in Boardwalk Hall will be 8-year-old Diamond State Princess Asher Ray who accompanied Benton at the Miss Arkansas Scholarship Pageant.
Asher, a third-grader at the Anthony School in Little Rock who has been battling Ewing's sarcoma, is an inspiration for Benton (as well as this columnist; Asher and her parents are my pals, too). With her mother, Susan, she will attend in person, thanks to an anonymously donated private plane.
Benton wrote on Facebook that Asher "is tackling a lot of huge obstacles and reaching goals that motivate me to reach mine."
Susan said her daughter can't wait to see Benton, adding, in true child form, Asher "said she thought she was more excited about the plane ride than the pageant."
QUEEN KATHLEEN: The Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival has announced its 2017 Honorary Chair: actress Kathleen Turner.
Turner will help present Laddie: The Man Behind the Movies -- a documentary about studio head and producer Alan Ladd Jr., who gave Turner her break in Body Heat -- on opening night, Oct. 6, at the Arlington Resort Hotel & Spa.
Yes, the event is still taking place at the troubled Arlington, which could be forced to shut down by Nov. 8 if city safety concerns aren't addressed. Sky Capital Group LP, the hotel's owner as of July, has filed an appeal while handling repairs.
Drama in Hot Springs isn't limited to the screen.
NO SAVIN' RAVEN: Thursday was the last dance for Raven Walton -- a 23-year-old dance instructor from DeValls Bluff -- who was eliminated from the CBS Big Brother house.
If you still want to see a Raven from Arkansas on reality TV, you can watch 26-year-old Raven Gates from Hoxie on Bachelor in Paradise; the finale airs at 7 p.m. Monday on ABC.
Email: jchristman@arkansasonline.com
Metro on 09/10/2017