• Miss Wisconsin crowned Miss America in Las Vegas

    Eric Jamison / AP

    Miss Wisconsin Laura Kaeppeler smiles after being crowned Miss America, Jan. 14, at The Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, Nev.

    Slideshow: Miss America 2012

    In dazzling gowns and sexy bikinis, 53 contestants competed for the pageant's coveted crown.

    Launch slideshow

    AP reports:

    Laura Kaeppeler won the pageant Saturday night after strutting in a white bikini and black beaded evening gown, singing opera and answering a question about whether beauty queens should declare their politics by saying Miss America represents everyone.

    "Miss America represents everyone, so I think the message to political candidates is that they represent everyone as well," Kaeppeler said. "And so in these economic times, we need to be looking forward to what America needs, and I think Miss America needs to represent all."

    Full story: Wisconsinite wins 2012 Miss America crown

  • Julie Jacobson / AP

    Teresa Scanlan, Miss Nebraska, is crowned Miss America 2011 during the Miss America pageant, Saturday, Jan. 15, in Las Vegas.

    She's just 17! Nebraskan wins Miss America pageant

    By Katie Cannon, Senior Multimedia Editor

    Teresa Scanlan is the youngest contestant to win the Miss America pageant in 90 years. Read more here.

  • Homecoming for a Colombian beauty queen

    By Carissa Ray

    What struck me about this collection of photos is the juxtaposition between the 3 images from the night of this beauty pageant and the 3 images of Ms. Palencia's homecoming the next day. 

    Joaquin Sarmiento / AFP - Getty Images

    Contestants run away from the stage during a heavy downpour during the Independence Beauty Pageant final crowning event at the Argemiro Bermudez Softball stadium in Cartagena, Colombia, on Nov. 13. The Independence Beauty Pageant is a competition among women from different neighbourhoods of this coastal city that takes place every year at the same time as the Miss Colombian national beauty pageant, but besides judging beauty, it also takes into account the social projects that the candidates for the

    Joaquin Sarmiento / AFP - Getty Images

    The ten finalists of the Independence Beauty Pageant stand on the stage during the final crowning event at the Argemiro Bermudez Softball stadium in Cartagena, Colombia, on Nov. 13.

    Joaquin Sarmiento / AFP - Getty Images

    Beauty queen Ivonne Palencia (C), walks around her neighbourhood, Boston, after winning the Independence Beauty Pageant in Cartagena, Colombia, on Nov. 13.

    Joaquin Sarmiento / AFP - Getty Images

    Beauty queen Ivonne Palencia, puts on her crown at her house in Boston neighborhood.

    Joaquin Sarmiento / AFP - Getty Images

    Beauty queen Ivonne Palencia, wears her crown at her house in the Boston neighbourhood, a day after winning the Independence Beauty Pageant in Cartagena, Colombia, on Nov.14.

    Joaquin Sarmiento / AFP - Getty Images

    Beauty queen Ivonne Palencia, is carried around Boston neighbourhood by her brother Nelson, a day after winning the Independence Beauty Pageant in Cartagena, Colombia, on Nov. 14.

    Other than the downpour, the event looks like a pretty glitzy, typical pageant. So much so, that I was a little surprised to see the comparably very modest home that the reigning "Queen of the people" was returning to. The images are all by the same photographer, but the lighting and the color palette of the photos seems so very different the next day - I like the sobering, and story-telling effect that has.