Celebrity Judges Crown A New Miss America

By Michael Lopez

Are you as confused by beauty pageants as we are? There's Miss Universe, Miss USA, Miss World, and good old fashioned Miss America. This weekend, the latter got her crown in a televised event that was anti-climactic and sorely missing some memorable Latinas.

Miss Wisconsin, Laura Kaeppeler, is America's newest title-holder. The 23-year-old seemed truly touched by the honor and was even brought to tears when the judges revealed her name.

"Miss America represents everyone, so I think the message to political candidates is that they represent everyone as well," Kaeppeler told the crowd. "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."

Raven-haired and truly ravishing in a swimsuit, Laura earned a cool $50,000 for her victory Saturday night. And she also won plenty of hearts with her emotional speeches. Kaeppeler spoke about her father who had been imprisoned for mail fraud and the importance of mentoring children whose parents are behind bars.

Miss New York, Miss Arizona, and Miss California were the night's Runner Ups and interestingly, none of them were Latina. In years' past, southwest states had a strong Hispanic presence at the pageant and previous New York contenders have been of Puerto Rican heritage.

Not this year. In fact, the only Latina in the competition appeared to be Miss Puerto Rico herself, Laura Ramirez. Unfortunately Ramirez failed to place into the night's Top 15.

Despite all that, the evening did feature a strong Latino presence. In fact, two of the pageant's most influential people were Tr3s faves. Raul "El Gordo" De Molina and Dancing With The Stars’ Mark Ballas helped call the shots as celebrity judges. And seeing the beauty and compassion of Laura Kaeppeler, it's clear they made the right choice.

Who were you rooting for at this year's Miss America pageant? Sound off in the comments or @MTV3.

Tags Beauty Pageants, Blogger: Michael Lopez, Hot Stuff, Laura Kaeppeler, Mark Ballas, Miss America, Raul De Molina, Style