Las Vegas ? In a bid to add more oomph to the Miss America pageant, organizers announced Wednesday that they’ve booked James Denton, the pheromone-rich Studmeister in Residence on ABC’s “Desperate Housewives,” to host the 85th edition of the cultural festival.

But over the years the Miss America pageant has lost much favor: ABC dropped it last year because of limp ratings. The Nashville-based basic cable channel Country Music Television will televise the Jan. 21 event live from the Aladdin Resort and Casino. CMT says it has also tapped Denton, a Nashville native, to develop other programming for the channel.