Miss Virginia Caressa Cameron Winner of Miss America 2010

After competing against 52 other young women all week, Miss Virginia Caressa Cameron received the roses and had the tiara placed upon her head as she was named the winner of the 88th Miss America Pageant winner in Las Vegas, Nevada Saturday evening. Hosted by Extra's Mario Lopez and broadcast live from the Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino, the 53 Miss America hopefuls competed Saturday in swimsuit, evening gown, talent and interview competitions. But in the end, only one could be crowned Miss America 2010 and Miss Virginia Caressa Cameron outlasted the group of American beauties representing every state, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.

Caressa Cameron credited her family for her win. "You can be and become anything that you want to be, even Miss America," she said.

Cameron is a student at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond studying broadcast journalism. She hopes to become a news anchor.

But before she can realize that, she'll have to fulfill her duties as Miss America 2010, which will be to represent the Miss America organization and to travel the world promoting her platform. Along with the roses and tiara and title, Caressa Cameron won a $50,000 scholarship.

The 22-year-old Cameron's platform issue for the Pageant was "Real Talk: AIDS in America." For her talent portion, she sang Beyonce's "Listen" from "Dreamgirls." It was a bit pitchy in places but it was good enough not to hurt her chances of winning.

For her interview question, Miss Virginia was asked what her thoughts were on curbing childhood obesity. "Take away the TV, take away the video games, set some standards for our children! We need to get our kids back outside, playing with sticks in the street like I did when I was little," she told the panel of judges, which included talk show host Rush Limbaugh, actress Vivica Fox, Olympian Shawn Johnson, American Idol finalist Brooke White, saxophonist Dave Koz, and Miss America 2002 Katie Harman.

Miss Virginia received the crown from Miss America 2009 Katie Stam, who, according to People magazine, was engaged to Brian Irk at a fundraiser just 24 hours before.

Miss California Kristy Cavinder, mimicking her counterpart in the Miss USA Pageant last year, came in second -- first runner-up. She took home a $25,000 scholarship.

Miss Tennessee Stefanie Wittler won second runner-up. Miss Louisiana Katherine Putnam and Miss Kentucky Mallory Ervin were fourth and fifth runners-up, respectively.

Caressa Cameron became the third Miss Virginia to win the Miss America title. Nicole Johnson won in 1999 and Kylene Barker was awarded the crown in 1979.

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Sources:

WashingtonPost.com
"2010 Miss America Pageant," TLC Network