The Miss USA beauty contest has been held annually since 1952 to select the United States entrant in the Miss Universe pageant. The Miss Universe Organization operates both pageants, as well as Miss Teen USA. The pageant is broadcast on NBC and (starting 2013) on Xbox Live. Contents 1 History 2 Competition 3 State competitions 4 Winners 4.1 Recent titleholders 4.2 Winners gallery 4.3 By number of wins 5 Awards 6 Locations 7 Special Feature Episodes 8 Reality television 9 See also 10 References 11 External links [edit] History The Miss USA pageant was conceived in 1950 when Yolande Betbeze, winner of the rival Miss America pageant, refused to pose for publicity pictures while wearing a swimsuit. Pageant sponsor Catalina decided to pull their sponsorship off the pageant, and create their own competition.[1] Other owners have included a subsidiary of Gulf+Western Industries, ITT Corporation, and billionaire Donald Trump, the current owner who b! ought the pageant in 1996.[2][3] The first Miss USA and Miss Universe pageants were held concurrently in Long Beach, California in 1952; the first Miss USA winner was Miss New York USA Jackie Loughery.[4] There were thirty delegates in the first year of competition, and many states did not compete every year during the first two decades of the pageant's history . From the 1970s, each state and the District of Columbia have sent a delegate each year. Alaska first competed in 1959 and Hawaii in 1960. Both had competed at Miss Universe until this time. The pageant aired on CBS from 1963 until 2002, and for many years was known for having a CBS game show host as pageant host. John Charles Daly hosted the show from 1963–1966, Bob Barker from 1967 until 1987 (at which point he quit in a dispute over fur coats), Alan Thicke in 1988, Dick Clark from 1989–1993, and Bob Goen from 1994–1996. The show's highest ratings were in the early 1980s, when it regularly topped! the Neilsen ratings.[5][6][7] Viewership dropped sharply from! the 1990s to the 2000s, from an estimated viewership of 20 million to an average of 7 million from 2000–2001.[8] In 2002, owner Donald Trump brokered a new deal with NBC, giving them half-ownership of the Miss USA, Miss Universe and Miss Teen USA and moving them to NBC on an initial five year contract.[9] The pageants were first shown on NBC in 2003. Historically, the winner of the Miss USA title represented the U.S. in its sister pageant Miss Universe. Since its inception, seven Miss USA titleholders have gone on to win Miss Universe. In the mid-1960s, the organization established a rule that when a Miss USA wins the Miss Universe title, the first runner-up assumes the Miss USA title for the remainder of the year. This occurred in 1980, 1995 and 1997.[10][11] In 1967, the first runner-up declined the title and the crown went to the second runner-up Cheryl Patton. The only instance where a first runner-up assumed the title of Miss USA prior to this period was in 1957 whe! n Mary Leona Gage resigned when it was discovered she was married.[12] [edit] Competition The modern pageant consists of a preliminary competition held a week before the pageant when all contestants are judged in swimsuit, gown and interview.[13] From this, semifinalists are chosen, and they are announced during the live broadcast of the final competition. These semifinalists then compete in swimsuit and evening gown, and the finalists are chosen. This is when the interview competition is held. The runners-up and winner are announced at the end of the telecast. Since 1997, the judges for the finals have been different from those who judged the Preliminary competition. From 1975–2000, all delegates who made the initial cut competed in an interview competition in some format, often involving all semi-finalists. As of 2001, this interview portion was taken away, leaving only the final question for the top five delegates to answer. From 1979–2002, the average scores of each! delegate were shown on the television broadcast and thus the semi-fina! lists could be ranked. This was changed in 2003 to a "circle" system where judges choose a certain number of delegates to "circle", and those with the most "circles" made the cut. This was the same system that was used prior to the computer scoring system implemented in 1979. In 2007, this system came back and contestants' composite scores are shown live. [edit] State competitions Every year, each state holds a preliminary competition to choose their delegate for the Miss USA pageant. In some states (such as Texas and Florida), local pageants are also held to determine delegates for the state competition. The state winners hold the title "Miss State USA" for the year of their reign. The most successful state is Texas, which has had the most semi-finalists and winners, including five consecutive Miss USA titleholders during the 1980s.[14] Other successful states include California, New York, Alabama, Tennessee and Georgia. The least successful states are Delaware, the only s! tate that has never placed; Montana, which has not placed since the 1950s; South Dakota, which has only placed twice (the last time in 1974), and Wyoming, which gained only its second placement in 2010. The only state which has produced more than one Miss Universe is South Carolina. The Miss Universe Organization licenses out the state pageants to pageant directors, who in some cases are responsible for more than one state. The most well established directorial groups are RPM Productions, created in 1980 (Alabama, Louisiana, North Carolina, South Carolina), and Vanbros, created in the early 1990s (Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska and Oklahoma). Future Productions direct the most states, six, across the Midwest and Rockies. [edit] Winners The first Asian American woman to win Miss USA was Macel Wilson in 1962; the first Hispanic was Laura Martinez-Herring in 1985; the first African-American, Carole Gist in 1990;[15] and the first Miss USA of Middle-Eastern descent was Ri! ma Fakih in 2010.[16] Brandi Sherwood is the only woman to have held bo! th the Miss Teen USA and Miss USA titles. She was Miss Idaho Teen USA, Miss Teen USA 1989, Miss Idaho USA 1997, first runner-up at Miss USA 1997 and in May 1997 assumed the Miss USA title after Brook Lee won the Miss Universe pageant.[11] Nine other Miss USA titleholders have also previously competed at Miss Teen USA. These include: Shanna Moakler (1995), (Miss Rhode Island Teen USA 1992), Ali Landry (1996), (Miss Louisiana Teen USA 1990), Kimberly Pressler (1999) (Miss New York Teen USA 1994), Lynnette Cole (2000) (Miss Tennessee Teen USA 1995), Susie Castillo (2003) (Miss Massachusetts Teen USA 1998), Chelsea Cooley (2005) (Miss North Carolina Teen USA 2000), Tara Conner (2006) (Miss Kentucky Teen USA 2002), Rachel Smith (2007) (Miss Tennessee Teen USA 2002) and Alyssa Campanella (2011) (Miss New Jersey Teen USA 2007). Five Miss USA titleholders have also competed at Miss America. These included: (Miriam Stevenson, Carlene King Johnson and Carol Morris) (1954–1956), Mai! Shanley (1984) and Shandi Finnessey (2004). Shandi Finnessey, Miss USA 2004 and Miss Missouri 2002 won a preliminary evening gown award at Miss America 2003. Also, Miriam Stevenson placed in the top 10 at Miss America 1954 as Miss South Carolina 1953. Many Miss USA winners have gone to pursue careers in the entertainment industry. Those who have been successful in the industry include Summer Bartholomew, Deborah Shelton, Laura Martinez-Herring, Shanna Moakler, Ali Landry, Kenya Moore, Brandi Sherwood, Susie Castillo and Shandi Finnessey. [edit] Recent titleholders Alyssa Campanella, Miss USA 2011 who competed as Miss California USA Main article: List of Miss USA titleholders Year Miss USA State Represented Host City Placement at Miss Universe 2012 TBA TBA Las Vegas, Nevada TBA 2011 Alyssa Campanella California Las Vegas, Nevada Top 16 Semi-finalist 2010 Rima Fakih Michigan Las Vegas, Nevada Non-Finalist 2009 Kristen Dalton North Carolina Las Vegas, Nevada Top 10 Finalist 2! 008 Crystle Stewart Texas Las Vegas, Nevada Top 10 Finalist 2007 Rachel! Smith Tennessee Hollywood, California 4th runner-up 2006 Tara Conner Kentucky Baltimore, Maryland 4th runner-up 2005 Chelsea Cooley North Carolina Baltimore, Maryland Top 10 Finalist 2004 Shandi Finnessey Missouri Hollywood, California 1st runner-up 2003 Susie Castillo Massachusetts San Antonio, Texas Top 15 Semi-finalist 2002 Shauntay Hinton District of Columbia Gary, Indiana Non Finalist 2001 Kandace Krueger Texas Gary, Indiana 2nd runner-up [edit] Winners gallery Miss USA 2010 Rima Fakih, who competed as Miss Michigan USA Miss USA 2009 Kristen Dalton, who competed as Miss North Carolina USA Miss USA 2008 Crystle Stewart, who competed as Miss Texas USA Miss USA 2007 Rachel Smith, who competed as Miss Tennessee USA Miss USA 2006 Tara Conner, who competed as Miss Kentucky USA Miss USA 2005 Chelsea Cooley, who competed as Miss North Carolina USA Miss USA 2004 Shandi Finnessey, who competed as Miss Missouri USA Miss USA 2003 Susie Castillo, who competed as Miss Massachusetts! USA Miss USA 2002 Shauntay Hinton, who competed as Miss District of Columbia USA Miss USA 2001 Kandace Krueger, who competed as Miss Texas USA Miss Universe 1997 Brook Lee, who competed as Miss Hawaii USA Miss USA 1996 Ali Landry, who competed as Miss Louisiana USA Miss USA 1995 Shanna Moakler, who competed as Miss New York USA Miss USA 1993 Kenya Moore, who competed as Miss Michigan USA Miss USA 1987 Michelle Royer, who competed as Miss Texas USA Miss USA 1986 Christy Fichtner, who competed as Miss Texas USA Miss USA 1985 Laura Harring, who competed as Miss Texas USA Miss USA 1983 Julie Hayek, who competed as Miss California USA [edit] By numb
miss usa wikipedia the free encyclopedia
The Miss USA beauty contest has been held annually since 1952 to select the United States entrant in the Miss Universe pageant. The Miss Universe Organization Read the rest!
20yearold rhode island cellist nam! ed new miss usa cites audrey
LAS VEGAS — The nation's newest Miss USA winner is a Rhode Island cellist who describes herself as a nerd and aspires to be more like Hollywood icon Audrey Read the rest
20yearold rhode island cellist wins miss usa yahoo news
LAS VEGAS (AP) — A 20-year-old cellist from Rhode Island won the Miss USA crown and will represent the United States in this year's Miss Universe pageant after Read the rest
20yearold olivia culpo of rhode island wins miss usa fox news
June 3, 2012: Miss ! Rhode Island Olivia Culpo waves to the audience after being crowned Miss USA during the 2012 Miss USA pageant.AP LAS VEGAS – A 20-year Read the rest
meet the new miss usa 2012
The 61st Annual Miss USA Pageant had everything you could want from a beauty contest - from babes in bikinis to a panel of judges that included Rob Kardashian Read the rest
2012 miss usa pageant live blog alyssa campanella passes on her
The 2012 Miss USA pageant kicks off live from Las Vegas at 9 p.m. ET on NBC Sunday night (June 3), hosted by presenters Andy Cohen, Giuliana ! Rancic Read the rest
miss usa home
TUNE IN to NBC on June 3rd at 9PM ET to watch the 2012 MISS USA® Competition LIVE from Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino in Las Vegas! Read the rest
miss america welcome
Miss America 2012 Laura Kaeppeler Makes Her Debut at the Kentucky Derby! » Read the rest
51 pageant queens compete in vegas for miss usa cbs news
LAS VEGAS — A parade of beauty queens in swimsuits and evening gowns are competing to become the next Miss USA in Las Vegas. M! iss USA 2011 Alyssa Read the rest
miss usa nbc site
Miss USA 2012 comes to Las Vegas on Sunday, June 3rd, 9/8c for a night of stars and glamour in search of the most beautiful woman in America! Last year's winner, Miss Read the rest