WASHINGTON: Betty Cantrell, representing the southern US state of Georgia, was crowned Miss America 2016 late Sunday.
Cantrell, overcome by emotion, received the crown from last year's winner, Kira Kazantsev of New York, then waved to the tune of the pageant's theme song "There she is, Miss America."
The classic tune had been on hiatus for the past five years due to legal wrangling with song author's estate.
"I'm so excited about this opportunity!" Cantrell gushed in a video posted on her Twitter account after event.
She was especially excited about being the first Miss Georgia to win the nationally televised pageant since 1958.
In the final round of questions, however, Cantrell fumbled an answer about the "deflategate" scandal surrounding Patriots football star Tom Brady.
"I thought I blew my state question, I didn't know what he asked me," Cantrell said in the video.
Meg McGuffin, Miss Alabama, had a clear response when asked to explain the popularity of brash Republican businessman and presidential hopeful Donald Trump.
Trump "is an entertainer, and... the Republican Party should be absolutely terrified" of the attention that he's getting, McGuffin said.
Trump's organization runs a separate beauty pageant, Miss USA, that is linked to Miss Universe, an event the billionaire businessman fully owns.
The Miss America Organization is a non-profit corporation not affiliated with the Trump pageants.
McGuffin was fourth runner-up in the contest.
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