It is no surprise to me that former Miss Mississippi Holly Brand made it through the blind auditions on “The Voice.”

I say this not because I know how talented she is, but because I know the caliber of talent that shows up on the Miss Mississippi stage.

I remember the year Cheryl Prewitt was crowned Miss Mississippi.

At the time – 1979 – the pageant was held at the Vicksburg City Auditorium and, when Prewitt performed, the crowd went wild. Not only was the noise of the clapping deafening, the audience was stomping their feet so hard it felt like the building was shaking.

Prewitt went on to win the Miss America crown and afterwards she became a Christian evangelist, author and professional musician.

More recently there has been Jasmine Murray.

She, too, garnered emotion from the audience when she took to the stage. Like Brand, Murray also competed in a televised singing reality competition — the eighth season of “American Idol,” and made it to the top 13.

Murray has since signed to one of Christian music’s most established labels, Fair Trade Services, and among others has recorded a song she co-wrote with Jeff Pardo and Tony Wood, entitled “Fearless.”

Then of course there is our most famous Miss Mississippi — Mary Ann Mobley — the first Miss Mississippi crowned in Vicksburg. Mobley also went on to win the title of Miss America in 1959.

Obviously, I was not around to attend the Miss Mississippi Competition held in 1958, but later I did get to see Mobley perform in reruns of films she starred in with Elvis Presly.

Mobley also made numerous television appearances that included “Perry Mason,” “Love American Style” and “Designing Women” just to name a few.

Brand has worked hard to propel herself to the next level of her career, and no doubt there have been many in the community who have supported her in her journey.

Vicksburg is fortunate to be home to the Miss Mississippi Competition, where many young women — and there have been others — have gotten their start.

Brand might be a Mississippi girl, but she is also a product of the Miss Mississippi Competition — an organization that Vicksburg can be proud to say we support.