Miss America 2007, the 80th

Miss America Miss America is an annual competition that is open to women from the United States between the ages of 17 and 25. Originating in 1921 as a "bathing beauty revue", the contest is now judged on competitors' talent performances and interviews. As ...

pageant, was held on the

Las Vegas Strip The Las Vegas Strip is a stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard, Las Vegas Boulevard South in Clark County, Nevada, that is known for its concentration of resort hotels and casinos. The Strip, as it is known, is about long, and is immediately south of ...

Paradise, Nevada Paradise is an unincorporated town and census-designated place (CDP) in Clark County, Nevada, United States, adjacent to the city of Las Vegas. It was formed on December 8, 1950. Its population was 191,238 at the 2020 census, making it the fif ...

on Monday, January 29, 2007, making it the first time that the pageant was held on a weekday, rather than the traditional Saturday since 1927's contest. The pageant was broadcast live on CMT from the

Theatre for the Performing Arts The Zappos Theater, originally known as Aladdin Theatre for the Performing Arts, is a mid-sized auditorium located at Planet Hollywood Las Vegas on the Las Vegas Strip. The venue hosts a variety of events, including charity benefits, concerts and ...

at the Aladdin Resort and Casino, only the second time that the pageant has been held outside

Atlantic City Atlantic City, often known by its initials A.C., is a coastal resort city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States. The city is known for its casinos, Boardwalk (entertainment district), boardwalk, and beaches. In 2020 United States censu ...

. At the conclusion of the final night of competition, outgoing titleholder

Jennifer Berry Jennifer Berry-Gooden (born July 18, 1983) is an American beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned Miss America on January 21, 2006. A resident of Tulsa, Oklahoma, at the time of her investment to sovereignty of beauty, she became the fifth Mi ...

crowned

Lauren Nelson Lauren Paige Nelson (born November 26, 1986) is a beauty queen from Lawton, Oklahoma who holds the Miss America 2007 title. Nelson is the second consecutive Miss America and sixth in the history of Miss America to hail from this state. Early l ...

as her successor. Both titleholders are from

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

, only the second occurrence of two consecutive winners from one state. The last time that two titleholders from the same state won in consecutive years was 1959 and 1960, when

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

did the honor.

Selection of contestants

One delegate from each state was chosen in state pageants held in mid-2006. Prior to competing in state pageants, the majority of delegates first were required to win a local title. Each delegates title is pre-dated to 2006, for example Melinda Toole is "Miss Alabama 2006" rather than "Miss Alabama 2007". Many contestants competed in state pageants in both the Miss America and

Miss USA Miss USA is an American beauty pageant that has been held annually since 1952 to select the entrant from United States in the Miss Universe pageant. The Miss Universe Organization operated both pageants, as well as Miss Teen USA, until 2020, ...

systems numerous times before winning titles, and some had previously in other states to those which they won their state title. All contestants were required to be between the ages of 17–24, unmarried and a citizen of the United States. They were also required to meet residency and education requirements.

Competition

All delegates compete in an interview competition with the judges, based on their platform issue, and also in the swimsuit, evening gown and talent competitions. Prior to the nationally televised competition, the delegates participate in three nights of preliminary competition, where preliminary award winners are chosen in each category. During the final telecast, following the announcement of the semi-finalists, the top ten compete in swimsuit and evening gown. The top five go on to compete in the talent competition, and the top three face a final interview round.

Results

Placements

Awards

Preliminary awards

Quality of Life awards

Other awards

Judges

The six judges for the competition were: * Entertainer,

Debbie Allen Deborah Kaye Allen (born January 16, 1950) is an American actress, dancer, choreographer, singer-songwriter, director, producer, and a former member of the President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities. She has been nominated 20 times for an ...

* Photographer and television personality, Nigel Barker * Actress and

Miss Florida The Miss Florida competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of Florida in the Miss America pageant. Florida has twice won the Miss America crown. In the fall of 2018, the Miss America Organization terminated Miss F ...

1974,

Delta Burke Delta Ramona Leah Burke (born July 30, 1956) is an American actress, producer, and author. From 1986 to 1991, she starred as Suzanne Sugarbaker in the CBS sitcom ''Designing Women'', for which she was nominated for two Emmy Awards for Outsta ...

* Musician,

Michael Feinstein Michael Jay Feinstein (born September 7, 1956) is an American singer, pianist, and music revivalist. He is an archivist and interpreter for the repertoire known as the Great American Songbook. In 1988 he won a Drama Desk Special Award for cele ...

* Television personality,

Chris Matthews Christopher John Matthews (born December 17, 1945) is an American political commentator, retired talk show host, and author. Matthews hosted his weeknight hour-long talk show, ''Hardball with Chris Matthews'', on America's Talking and later on M ...

* Television personality and Miss America 1981, Susan Powell

Contestants

*¹ Age as of January 2007

Crossovers

Unusually, no former

delegates competed in this pageant, although

Sarah French Sarah French (born September 17, 1985) is an American journalist. She is currently an anchor/reporter for WCNC 36 in Charlotte, North Carolina. After the murder of her friend and colleague Alice Morrin, French became an advocate for domestic vi ...

, formerly

Miss Arkansas Teen USA The Miss Arkansas Teen USA competition is the beauty pageant, pageant that selects the representative for the state of Arkansas in the Miss Teen USA pageant. The state pageant was directed by Premier Pageants from 2002 to 2007 before becoming ...

2004 (and Miss Photogenic at Miss Teen USA) competed as

Miss Missouri Miss (pronounced ) is an English language honorific typically used for a girl, for an unmarried woman (when not using another title such as " Doctor" or "Dame"), or for a married woman retaining her maiden name. Originating in the 17th century, i ...

. Later on

Amanda Kozak Amanda Kozak-Miliner (born July 28, 1984) is a pageant titleholder and educator from Warner Robins, Georgia who competed in the Miss America and Miss USA pageants. She is also the 2015 Georgia Teacher of the Year. Pageants Miss America Kozak fir ...

, Miss Georgia won the

Miss Georgia USA The Miss Georgia USA competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of Georgia in the Miss USA pageant. This pageant is directed Greenwood Productions under the ownership of Miss Tennessee USA 1989 Kim Greenwood and ...

2008 title and competed at

Miss USA 2008 Miss USA 2008 was the 57th Miss USA pageant, held in Las Vegas, Nevada on April 11, 2008. At the conclusion of the final night of competition, Crystle Stewart of Texas was crowned the winner by outgoing titleholder Rachel Smith of Tennessee. ...

References

External links

Miss America official website
{{Miss America

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

2007 in the United States 2007 beauty pageants 2007 in Nevada Zappos Theater January 2007 events in the United States