Miss Oklahoma Jennifer Berry crowned Miss America 2006

14 February, 2006
MUMBAI, INDIA

Reigning Miss Oklahoma Jennifer Berry has been crowned the 85th Miss America at the 2006 Miss America pageant. The twenty-two-year-old beat a line-up of ten college graduates to bag the honour.

Jennifer Berry is keen to pursue a career in teaching, her dream profession. After the Miss America pageant she said she will return for her senior year at the University of Oklahoma (OU). And she plans to pursue her Masters Degree with the prize money – she received a $30,000 scholarship by beating 51 contestants, including runner up Monica Pang, Miss Georgia, and second runner up Alexa Jones, Miss Alabama.

At college, she shuffled her time between classes, pageant appearances and dance classes as well. The Miss Okalahama is also an activist – Jeniffer is on the advisory board of Think If You Drink.

And the story behind that is that, the Miss America was hit by the death of her friend due to drunken driving, while Jennifer was 15. The pretty lady has pledged her support the fight against drunken driving. 

Berry got the idea of beauty pageants from a friend at the young age of 17, finishing as fourth runner-up in her debut at Miss Tulsa.

Since them most of the prize money she earned has been funding her education.

Jennifer Berry would now travel 20,000 miles every month in her capacity as Miss America during her one-year reign, in order to “instill a spirit of community service through a variety of unique nationwide community-based programs”.

During her performance at The Aladdin Resort & Casino in Las Vegas as part of the finals of the Miss America pageant, Berry performed ballet en pointe as her talent selection.

The cable network successfully revived the institution that ABC had abandoned, an 85-year-old entity that had been telecast since 1954. ABC last aired it in 2004 and it drew fewer than 9 million viewers. In 2005 there was no television outlet for the event.

Miss Hawaii Malika Dudley won Miss Congeniality.

The show was held for the first time outside Atlantic City, New Jersey for the first time since its inception 85 years ago, due to plunging interest there.

Now the The Aladdin Resort & Casino wants to host the next pageant too, but a decision on this is yet to be taken.

The financial crisis of the pageant can be gauged from the fact that Jennifer Berry got $20,000 less than the 2005 winner Deidre Downs.

All others contestants got a cut of $1000.