美国当地时间1月29日晚，“美国小姐”决赛在拉斯韦加斯的阿拉丁赌场如期举行。来自俄克拉荷马州的女大学生劳伦·尼尔森夺得桂冠，这已经是连续第二年由来自俄克拉荷马州的女孩子夺得冠军。芳龄20岁的劳伦·尼尔森目前是俄克拉荷马大学的一名学生，也是百老汇一颗正在崛起的新星。据悉，“美国小姐”的头衔为尼尔森带来了实实在在的5万美元的奖金。同时，在接下来的一年中，尼尔森将以“美国小姐”的身份出席一系列的活动，而这将为她带来更多收入。尼尔森表示，她希望借助今年的这些活动推动社会各界对上网儿童加强保护。

Miss Oklahoma Lauren Nelson models her swimsuit during the Miss America pageant at the Aladdin Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, January 29, 2007. Nelson was named Miss America 2007. [Reuters]

Lauren Nelson, an aspiring Broadway star, was crowned Miss America on Monday night, the second year in a row that a Miss Oklahoma has won the crown.

Nelson, 20, of Lawton, Okla., is a student at the University of Central Oklahoma and wants to get her master's degree in musical theater.

Shilah Phillips, the first black Miss Texas, wasfirst runner-up, and Miss Georgia, Amanda Kozak, wassecond runner-up. Viewers voted Miss Alabama, Melinda Toole, as Miss Congeniality.

Nelson was crowned by last year's winner, Jennifer Berry. Nelson, a blonde who told judges she wishes she was taller, sang "You'll Be In My Heart" in thetalent competitionand plans to promote protecting children online during her yearlong reign as Miss America.

She gets a $50,000 scholarship with the crown and stands to make thousands more in appearance fees.

The pageant tossed in a few reality-TV twists on the way toward selecting its ideal woman ina new time sloton the Las Vegas Strip.

After a long reign as a cultural icon, Miss America'sratingshave plummeted, and sexier reality shows have eclipsed her girl-next-door appeal. The addition of pop quizzes and casual-wear contests couldn't save the pageant from losing its network TV contract in 2004.

MTV-Networks' CMT picked it up in 2005 and has been attempting to restore the old girl to her former glory. It stripped the pageant of the failed gimmicks, and for the first time in decades brought back Miss Congeniality.

The 2006 live crowning of Berry attracted less than a third of the viewers it had the year before, but was replayed 20 times on CMT and its sister-network VH1 for a total of 36 million viewers.

With a year to market its new product, CMT came back with its own set ofgimmicks- a Bert Parks ringtone, a $1 million giveaway for picking the winner and a reality-TV special intended to help viewers connect with the contestants in the days before the crowning.

Producers took cues from "American Idol" and incorporated interviews with judges andtext-message votingafter the swimsuit, talent and evening-gown competitions.

They also moved the show off a date night. CMT, which reaches 83 million households, hoped the Monday-night airing would attract a broader, younger audience - the sort of viewers whose devotion first catapulted the beauty queen to prominence.

（Agencies）

Vocabulary:

first runner-up：亚军

second runner-up：季军

talent competition：选秀

a new time slot：（电视节目）的新时段

rating：收视率

gimmicks：创意、新发明

text-message voting：短信投票

（英语点津陈蓓编辑）