CMT News

The 2006 Miss America Pageant will take place in Las Vegas, marking the first time the event has been staged outside Atlantic City, N.J. Set for Jan. 21 at the Aladdin Resort and Casino, the two-hour show will be televised live on CMT.

"Las Vegas is the perfect host city to bring new energy to the Miss America Pageant as we continue to grow our brand," said Art McMaster, president and CEO of the Miss America Organization. "It will truly be exciting to take our contestants there. It should make for a fantastic pageant and great television."

This also marks the first time the Miss America Pageant has been televised on CMT.

"By bringing Miss America to Las Vegas, we are coming to a top-rate production town with excellent promotional opportunities," said Paul Villadolid, CMT's vice president of programming and development. "The Aladdin Resort and Casino helps us create a glamorous new vision of the pageant and gives us an inspiring venue for the crowning of the next Miss America."

The first Miss America competition took place in 1921 and has been held in Atlantic City since 1940.