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, was first runner-up, and Miss Georgia, Amanda Kozak, was second 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 the talent competition and 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 in a new time slot on the Las Vegas Strip.

After a long reign as a cultural icon, Miss America's ratings have 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 of gimmicks - 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 and text-message voting after 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.