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Caressa Cameron, Miss Virginia, appears with host Mario Lopez at a news conference after Cameron was crowned Miss America at the 2010 Miss America Pageant at the Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino January 30, 2010 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Caressa is the third Miss Virginia to win the Miss America title. Kylene Barker won in 1978 and Nicole Johnson won in 1998.

Miss America 2010, Caressa Cameron of Virginia

02-feb-2010, Multichannel News: TLC's Jan. 30 Miss America 2010 telecast drew 4.5 million viewers, a record showing for the 89-year old beauty pageant on cable. The Miss America 2010 show, in which Miss Virginia Caressa Cameron won the coveted crown, improved on last year's 3.5 million performance, according to Nielsen. The show also set cable viewership records for the pageant in several key demos, including households, adults 18-49; women 25-54; men 25-55; and men 25-54, said network officials.

The show was also the top-ranked telecast of the night among all ad-supported cable telecasts -- excluding movies -- among several key demos including households, total viewers, adults 25-54, adults 18-49, adults 18-34, women 25-54, women 18-49, women 18-34 and women 25-54, said the network. Miss America 2010 marks the end of TLC's three-year distribution deal for the pageant, and it's unclear whether the network has plans to renew the agreement.

From Franklin News-Post: Chinah Helmandollar of Hardy has been named the new Miss Virginia 2009, following Saturday night's Miss America Pageant, where Caressa Cameron was crowned Miss America 2010.

Helmandollar, 23, who was a finalist in the Miss Virginia Pageant, will assume the title immediately, according to Toni McLawhorn, Miss Virginia Board pageant administrator.

As a result of Cameron's victory in the national pageant, someone had to be selected to take over the title of Miss Virginia, said J.T. Foley, director of the Greater Miss Franklin County Pageant Committee.

"In an unusual twist of fate, the four runners-up to Cameron at the 2009 Miss Virginia Pageant had already won local titles that will send them to the 2010 Miss Virginia Pageant this June," he explained. "Rather than dropping out of school and giving up the titles that will allow them to compete in the next Miss Virginia Pageant, each of the 2009 runners-up turned down the opportunity to finish out the remaining six-month reign of Miss Virginia."

Helmandollar placed sixth and was next in line for the title, which was offered to her on Monday afternoon, Foley said.

Miss Oklahoma 2011 finalists Emoly West, left and Betty Thompson react as Emoly West wins the Miss Oklahoma title in Tulsa, Okla. Saturday June 12, 2010. Emoly will now represent Oklahoma at Miss America 2011 in January.

This past weekend was a busy one for the Miss America Organization (MAO). Several states and the District of Columbia held contests to elect their representatives to Miss America 2011, to be televised in January on the US broadcast network ABC. Here are six winners: Miss Georgia is Christina McCauley; Miss Tennessee is Nicole Jordan; Miss Michigan is Katie LaRoche; Miss New Jersey is Ashleigh Udalovas; Miss District of Columbia is Stephanie Williams; and Miss Ohio is Becky Minger. Congratulations all! We will see you in Las Vegas on the night of the final (January 15) and look forward to celebrating MAO's 90th anniversary!

This weekend saw the election of several more state representatives to Miss America 2011. Among those crowned were Miss Louisiana Kelsi Crain, Miss North Carolina Adrienne Core, Miss Virginia Caitlin Uze, and Miss Maryland Lindsay Staniszewski.