Haglund, of Farmington Hills, Mich., sang Over the Rainbow to clinch the title. She beat Miss Indiana Nicole Elizabeth Rash, the first runner up, and Miss Washington Elyse Umemoto, the second runner up for the $50,000 scholarship and year of travel that comes with the crown.
Haglund, who studies music at the University of Cincinnati, grew up in a pageant family. Her mother is an active volunteer, and her grandmother, Iora Hunt, competed for the crown as Miss Michigan 1944. Hunt was in the audience Saturday.
Haglund, a cheery, classic blond, wore a revealing silver sequined dress and black bikini during the evening gown and swimsuit portions of the pageant. As her platform issue, she promised to advocate for awareness of eating disorders, an illness from which she has recovered.
The crowning at the Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino on the Las Vegas Strip was aired for the first time on cable TV channel TLC. It capped a four-week reality series that followed the contestants as they were pushed to shed the dated look of Miss Americas past and adopt a more updated style.
The pageant show was the latest in a series of attempts to find an audience with a younger demographic after more than a decade of declining ratings.
The 52 newly made-over aspiring beauty queens who sought the top tiara sported updated hairdos, sassy attitudes and red carpet-worthy fashion throughout the competition.
Usually tame by modern TV standards, the swimwear competition kicked it up a notch. Most contestants wore black bikinis, and some struck provocative poses and twirled as the audience howled.
Contestants wore blue jeans and added a bit of humor to the traditional opening number, the parade of states.
"Where we consider ice fishing to be a major league sport, I'm Miss Minnesota!" Jennifer Ann Hudspeth said by way of introduction.
Producers had hoped a new confident attitude would show through on the catwalks, and Miss Utah, Jill Stevens, an Army medic who served in Afghanistan, didn't disappoint.
"Home of the country's highest birth rate — as long as the Osmonds don't move," she announced.
Stevens made it to the final 16, selected as "America's Choice," based on voting via text messages from viewers of the reality show, Miss America: Reality Check. Judges chose the other finalists.
Miss Utah didn't make it to the final 10, but she took the disappointment with pluck. She dropped and gave the audience push ups before joining the other losers.
Producers added a twist to the interview portion, as well. They asked people on the street to pose questions, and the results were edgier than usual. Contestants were asked about binge drinking, HIV and Britney Spears' pregnant younger sister, Jamie Lynn.
"No I don't think she should be fired," Miss Indiana said. "They're still people, they're still human beings. We all deserve second chances."
The long-struggling pageant had promised a new look for this year's beauty battle. Entertainment Tonight reporter Mark Steines was the master of ceremonies of the show. Clinton Kelly of TLC's hit What Not to Wear also helped with the hosting duties. Kelly had instructed the girls on how to update their looks during the reality show.
The pageant sounded different, too. A deejay spun dance music from turntables set up on stage. Contestant danced and waved to the audience during commercials breaks.
Those who didn't make the cut as finalists were awarded a girl's favorite consolation prize.
"Carbohydrates!" Kelly yelled, as pastries were handed out on stage.
The losers were seated on risers on one side of the stage, while the parents of the finalists, in black tie, were seated on the other.
The show was the latest in a series of attempts to find a new audience. The fading institution was dropped from network television in 2004. It spent a two-year stint on Country Music Television before being picked up last summer by TLC, which reaches 93 million homes in the U.S.
TLC added the pageant to its reality-TV stable, and announced plans to reinvent the look of the show and find an "It girl" ready for modern celebrity.
The crowning of a Miss America began when Warren Harding was president as a publicity stunt to persuade tourists on Atlantic City's Boardwalk to stick around after Labor Day. The quaint bathing revue blossomed in the age of television into an American pop culture staple.
But it has not fared well in the age of reality television, despite a series of recent experiments that have added quiz shows, viewer voting and "new" style.
It moved to the Las Vegas Strip in 2006 and promised a back-to-basics formula that would revel in its old-school charm. The show continued to lose viewers. It fell to an all-time low of 2.4 million viewers in 2007 and was dropped by CMT.
This year's reality TV infusion, Miss America: Reality Check, was notable for taking a decidedly irreverent tone with the long-revered pageant. Style experts took shots at the earnest contestants' hair, makeup, talent and stiff parade wave, and Saturday's crowning was billed as the big reveal.
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