Miss America 2011 Teresa Scanlan
Miss America 2011 started with a stage full of 53 contestants at Las Vegas’ Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino. After the swimsuit (evening gown) talent and interview competitions, there was one woman left standing to inherit the crown from Miss America 2010 Caressa Cameron.
Teresa Scanlan (Miss Nebraska) was one of the youngest competitors on the show. After being crowned the winner of the 2011 Miss America Pageant, she burst into tears and raised her arms up as Cameron pinned the crown to her head.
- Teresa Scanlan.
Newly crowned Miss America 2011, 17-year-old Teresa Scanlan from Gerig, Nebraska, has made history by becoming the youngest winner of the coveted pageant since it began in 1921.
The winner was announced on Saturday evening at the Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino in Las Vegas.
Scanlan beat 52 other young women from across the United States.
The young Nebraskan played ‘White Water Chopped Sticks’ on the piano in the talent portion of the competition. She talked about the WikiLeaks website, saying that security comes before public access to government information.
Along with the title of Miss America 2011, Scanlan won a 50.000 dollars scholarship.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fddWb7MkkQY
Miss Arkansas Alyse Eady won 25.000 dollars as first runner-up, while Miss Hawaii Jalee Fuselier won 20.000 dollars for third place.
Scanlan, a recent high school graduate, planned to study American politics at Patrick Henry College in Virginia after her reign as Miss America.
She also hoped to attend law school, become a judge and eventually a politician, according to her pageant biography.
Scanlan won after strutting in a black bikini and a white evening gown, playing ‘White Water Chopped Sticks’ on piano and telling the audience that when it comes to the website Wikileaks, security should come before public access to government information.
“You know when it came to that situation, it was actually based on espionage, and when it comes to the security of our nation, we have to focus on security first and then people’s right to know, because it’s so important that everybody who’s in our borders is safe and so we can’t let things like that happen, and they must be handled properly” – she said.
The contestants (from every state plus the District of Columbia, the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico) started the show by dancing up the aisles while wearing silver cocktail dresses.
A panel of seven judges eyed them for looks and fitness. The competition included evening gown, talent and interview portions, with eliminations for 15 finalists, then 12, then 10, five and finally the winner along the way.