Teresa Scanlan, 17, of Nebraska crowned Miss America 2011

Teresa Scanlan of Nebraska will spend the next year as Miss America, besting 52 other pageant hopefuls at Saturday's event in Las Vegas. The 17-year-old Gerig resident and Scottsbluff High School student played the piano during the competition, and her platform issue was tackling eating disorders. She hopes to attend law school, become a judge and eventually a politician, according to the Miss America website.
Scanlan succeeds last year's honoree, Caressa Cameron from Virginia. The 22-year-old Virginia Commonwealth University student is the National Goodwill Ambassador for the Children's Miracle Network.
The other four finalists were Emoly West of Oklahoma, Jacquie Brown of Washington, Jalee Fuselier of Hawaii and Alyse Eady of Arkansas.
This year's contest, held at the Theater for the Performing Arts at Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas, was hosted by Chris Harrison, of "The Bachelor" fame, as well as model and "Dancing With the Stars" alum Brooke Burke.
The 2011 edition was celebrated as the 90th anniversary of the Miss America pageant.
Margaret Gorman became known as the first Miss America after winning a pair of contests in 1921 -- one consisting of women deemed most popular based on photos shown in various East Coast newspapers and the other for the so-called Golden Mermaid trophy.
Today, the competition is open to women between ages 17 and 24, with judges' rating contestants on talent, appearance and demeanor based on performances, interviews and evening wear and swimsuit competitions.
The pageant, which is distinct from the Miss USA crown, aims "to provide personal and professional opportunities for young women to promote their voices in culture, politics and the community," according to the Miss America website.

Teresa Scanlan, (born February 6, 1993) is an American beauty pageanttitleholder from Gering, Nebraska who was named Miss Nebraska 2010, subsequently winning Miss America 2011.
She won the Miss America title on January 15th 2011. She won the title of Miss Nebraska on June 5, 2010, when she received her crown from outgoing titleholder Brittany Jeffers. Scanlan’s platform is “Eating disorders: A generation at risk” and her competition talent is piano. At 17 years of age, she is the youngest Miss Nebraska ever crowned. Scanlan was home-schooled until her junior year of high school, before attendingGering High School for half of her junior year. She graduated early from Scottsbluff High School in the spring of 2010 after taking a double load of classes throughout high school. After winning the title of Miss Nebraska, Scanlan announced that she was taking a year off from school to fulfill her duties as Miss Nebraska, and that she had deferred enrollment to Patrick Henry College until the fall of 2011.In 2011, The pageant was held in Las Vegas, NV.

Here are some interesting facts about Miss Nebraska
Age: 17

Education:
Scottsbluff High School

Platform Issue: Eating Disorders: A Generation at Risk

Talent: Piano

Scholastic Honors: To attend law school

Career Ambition: To become a judge and eventually a politician

Local Competition Sponsor: Miss Southeast Nebraska Scholarship Program

State Competition Sponsor: Miss Nebraska Scholarship Program

Teresa Scanlan competed against several beautiful women in the coveted Miss America competition – not to be confused with the Miss USA pageant – but was ultimately decided as the winner by the panel of judges.

What’s the Difference Between the Miss America Pageant and the Miss USA Pageant?

This is a famous question that has been asked by pageant fans all over the world every year. The difference between the Miss America pageant and the Miss USA pageant isn’t as easy to explain as you might think – but I’ll give it a try: Basically, they are two very similar competitions, just owned by different organizations. It would be like comparing Ellen Degeneres and Oprah Winfrey – they’re both popular talk show hosts, just owned by different television networks.

The other notable differences between Miss USA and Miss America are that the Miss America pageant has a talent portion of the competition and the winner of Miss USA goes on to compete in the Miss Universe pageant, the winner of Miss America does not.

Miss Nebraska’s Teresa Scanlan will be responsible for holding the title and representing the Miss America organization over the next year.

Miss America 2011, will be the 86th Miss America pageant. Since the first Miss America pageant was held 90 years ago, in 1921, the Miss America Organization is celebrating its 90th anniversary in 2011. It will be held at the Theatre for the Performing Arts in Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino inLas Vegas on January 15, 2011.Miss America 2010, Caressa Cameron from Virginia, will crown her successor at the end of this event. Delegates from the 50 states and the District of Columbia, Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico will compete for the title of Miss America 2011. The pageant will broadcast live on ABC. This will be the first pageant telecast on ABC since Miss America 2005.
The judges will be Joy Behar from ABC's The View, Miss America 1990Debbye Turner Bell, television executive producer Mark Cherry, dancer Tony Dovolani from Dancing with the Stars, actress Marilu Henner, orthopedic surgeon-and shoe designer Taryn Rose, and country singer Mark Wills.