Miss America Crowned in Las Vegas

LAS VEGAS, Jan. 31 /PRNewswire/ -- Miss Virginia Caressa Cameron from Fredericksburg, VA was crowned Miss America 2010 Saturday night at the Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino in Las Vegas. The final night of the Miss America Pageant was broadcast live from Las Vegas on TLC and hosted by Mario Lopez and TLC's Clinton Kelly.

Caressa's triumphant walk across the stage was just the beginning of a journey that will take her to every corner of the country during her year of service as Miss America 2010. She will travel approximately 20,000 miles each month speaking to audiences about her personal platform of "Real Talk: Aids in America," and acting as the official National Goodwill Ambassador for Children's Miracle Network. Children's Miracle Network, a non-profit organization dedicated to saving and improving the lives of children by raising funds for children's hospitals, is the national platform partner of the Miss America Organization.

As Miss America 2010, Caressa will have her entire wardrobe provided by Joseph Ribkoff International Clothing and shoe wardrobe provided by DSW Warehouse. She will also be provided with skincare and cosmetics by Artistry Cosmetics exclusively from Amway Global.  In addition, Caressa will help support the Miss America Organization's efforts to go green by being the official spokesperson for Nature's Bottles.

Caressa is a student at Virginia Commonwealth University with a major in Broadcast Communications. Her scholastic ambition is to obtain a master's degree in Mass Communications and she ultimately hopes to become an anchor for a television news station. Along with the title of Miss America 2010, Caressa won a $50,000 scholarship, sponsored by Amway Global, to continue her education. For the talent portion of the competition, Caressa sang "Listen," from the movie, Dreamgirls.

The first runner-up was Miss California Kristy Cavinder who earned a $25,000 scholarship. Her talent performance was ballet en pointe and her personal platform is the Make-a-Wish Foundation.

Second runner-up honors and a $20,000 scholarship were awarded to Miss Tennessee Stefanie Wittler. Her talent was vocal, and her personal platform is Ronald McDonald House Charities.

As the world's largest provider of scholarship assistance for young women and one of the nation's leading achievement programs, the Miss America Organization last year made available more than $45 million in cash and scholarship assistance. The Miss America Organization provides young women with a vehicle to further their personal and professional goals and instills a spirit of community service through a variety of nationwide community-based programs.

Additional information about the Miss America Organization can be found at www.MissAmerica.org.

For up-to-the-minute competition news and information, as well as downloadable high-resolution images of Miss America 2010 Caressa Cameron and the 2009 contestants, visit the 24-hour online pressroom at www.MissAmericaPressRoom.com.

To download photos of tonight's crowning moment, go to www.missamerica.org.

About the Miss America Organization

The Miss America Organization is one of the nation's leading achievement programs and the world's largest provider of scholarship assistance for young women.  Last year, the Miss America Organization and its state and local affiliates made available more than $45 million in scholarship assistance.  For more information, visit www.missamerica.org.

About TLC

TLC's innovative docu-series and reality-based programming include favorites Jon & Kate Plus 8, Little People, Big World, What Not to Wear, 18 Kids and Counting, Say Yes to the Dress, and LA Ink. TLC added to its menu of programming with Cake Boss and Ultimate Cake Off, and continues to expand into the food genre. TLC's daytime lineup includes the Emmy Award-winning A Baby Story. The channel is available in more than 98 million homes in the US, nearly 8 million homes in Canada and through the website at www.tlc.com. TLC is part of Discovery Communications (Nasdaq: DISCA, DISCB, DISCK), the world's number one nonfiction media company reaching more than 1.5 billion cumulative subscribers in over 170 countries.

SOURCE Miss America Organization