Miss Colorado Nurse Kelley Johnson Wins Miss America By Way She Lost

Kelley Johnson, this year's Miss Colorado, didn't win the 2015 Miss America pageant.

Instead, she finished as second runner-up behind eventual champ Betty Cantrell, Miss Georgia.

But in all likelihood, Johnson will be remembered longer and more fondly than any of the other contestants — and may have found a clever way to extend her fame beyond the requisite fifteen minutes.

First, she won widespread acclaim by her surprising performance during the pageant's talent portion, eschewing singing, acting or twirling flaming batons to deliver a monologue about the nursing profession (she's a registered nurse) while clad in hospital scrubs, not a ballroom gown. See the video below.

Then, during a question-and-answer period, she declared that Ellen DeGeneres should be the first woman to appear on a $10 bill — a response that stands a mighty good chance of landing her a guest appearance on DeGeneres's popular daytime talk show.

During her talk about nursing, Johnson used an Alzheimer's patient named Joe as an example of why she's a nurse.

"Although you say it all the time, you are not just a nurse," she quoted him as saying. "You are my nurse and you have changed my life because you have cared about me." 

Afterward, AL.com concluded that Johnson had "won the hearts of many across America, including nurses from every corner of the globe."

The acclaim was less universal for her response to a question about the first woman who should be featured on a $10 bill. Twitchy collected a slew of snarky tweets, including this one....

In all of history, Miss Colorado says Ellen DeGeneres is the 1 woman that should be on US currency. It's legal to smoke in CO...coincidence?

— Coach Vo (@walls_stephen) September 14, 2015

...and this one:

How did Miss Colorado get this far? Ellen Degeneres? Really? And she didn't have a talent. #MissAmerica

— Richard Wallace (@richardjwallace) September 14, 2015

Still, this tweet may be the most on-target.

Either way Miss Colorado wins because she will get to be on #EllenDeGeneres #MissAmerica

— Buffy Hudson (@buffy_hudson) September 14, 2015

So far, there's no confirmation that Ellen has invited Johnson to stop by for a visit.

But in her Facebook post about her finish, Johnson makes sure to include a prominent Ellen reference with her celebratory response.

The item reads:

OH MY GOSH!!! 2ND RUNNER-UP AT MISS AMERICA!!! This is amazing!!! I WAS COMPLETELY MYSELF — NURSES ALL OVER THE NATION, WE HAVE WON!!! And yes, I would love an intelligent, kind, philanthropic, and FUNNY woman on the $10 bill someday!! We need more people like Ellen in this constantly negative world. CHEERS TO BEING YOURSELF, LOVE YOU GUYS- — THIS IS INCREDIBLE!! TIME TO CELEBRATE!!! @theellenshow

There's a good chance Ellen would have booked Johnson based only on her monologue — but the $10 bill answer certainly shouldn't hurt her cause.

Here's the video of Johnson displaying her talents.