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Oklahoma's Jennifer Berry wins the crown


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There she was, Miss America, aka Miss Oklahoma, Jennifer Berry, 22, a ballerina who pirouetted her way to the crown Saturday night in Las Vegas on CMT. The 85-year-old pageant's move from Atlantic City and ABC spawned a host of other changes, too.

*The sounds: Instead of having the pageant's emcee, Desperate Housewives star James Denton, tackle There She Is, Miss America, producers brought back the late Bert Parks, using his recording of the song -- minus the now-moot verse about dreams coming true in Atlantic City.

*The venue: The Aladdin Resort & Casino was far more intimate than Atlantic City's cavernous Boardwalk Hall, a 7,000-seat theater vs. a 12,000-seat auditorium. But the Aladdin also didn't have a runway for Miss America to take her famous first walk. (Berry strode around the stage instead.) And the dressing room? A tent erected outside the theater.

*The prizes: The pageant's ratings problems drove it to cable, a far less affluent home than major network TV. It was no surprise, then, that Berry received a $30,000 scholarship, after predecessor Deidre Downs won a $50,000 scholarship with the title last year. Awards for first through fourth runners-up were similarly shrunken: $20,000-$8,000 this year vs. $40,000-$20,000 for winners in previous years.

*The day after: Without the Atlantic City beaches nearby, the classic Miss America next-day surf romp photo op was wiped out. On Sunday at 7 a.m. ET, Berry instead held her first nationally televised live interview as Miss America, with ABC's Good Morning America Weekend, before being whisked away by plane for a week of media appearances in New York.

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© Copyright 2006 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.

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