Miss America: December 2007 Archives

Miss America 2007 is a beauty queen from Lawton, Oklahoma. Born in 1986, Nelson is the sixth Miss Oklahoma to be crowned Miss America.  
Nelson was crowned Miss Teen Oklahoma in 2004, which allowed her to perform at the 2005 Miss America pageant. Along the way, she won the Miss Oklahoma State Fair pageant and then competed in the Miss Oklahoma pageant in 2006. She won the title and a $16,000 scholarship, making her the youngest contestant to become Miss Oklahoma.  
Jan. 29, 2007, Nelson represented Oklahoma in the Miss America 2007 pageant and was crowned the 82nd Miss America. She received a $50,000 with the title.  
Nelson is a student at the University of Central Oklahoma and her goal is to be a Broadway performer. She showed off her vocal skills during the talent performance of the competition. She has also expressed support for Democratic Presidential Candidate Barack Obama.  
Most recently, Nelson teamed up with Josh Walsh from FOX network's TV show America's Most Wanted to assist in the apprehension of potential child predators. As of May 1, 2007, Nelson stated that she did not plan to return to testify, but reports state that she changed her mind and she will testify against the perpetrators.

Miss America 2006 Jennifer Berry was born on July 18, 1983 in Houston, Texas. She graduated from an Oklahoma high school in 2001 and attended the University of Oklahoma, earning a degree in elementary education. Before being crowned Miss America, Berry competed in numerous competitions such as the Miss Grand Lake competition in Oklahoma. She won both the talent and swimsuit competition. She also competed in the 2001 competition and went unplaced, made the top 10 in 2002, placed third runner-up in 2003 and 2004 and then finally won the Miss Oklahoma title in 2005. In 2006, Berry won the Miss America crown after winning a preliminary talent award for her ballet performance. She was later crowned the first Miss America titleholder crowned outside of Atlantic City, New Jersey. During her reign as Miss America, Berry's platform issue was "Building Tolerance to Drunk Driving and Underage Drinking." She worked on behalf of MADD, Mothers Against Drunk Driving.