Miss USA 1981


Miss USA 1981, the 30th Miss USA pageant, was televised live on May 21, 1981 from the Gulf Coast Convention Center in Biloxi, Mississippi on CBS.
The pageant was won by Kim Seelbrede of Ohio, who was crowned by outgoing titleholder Jineane Ford of Arizona. Seelbrede was the second woman from Ohio to win the Miss USA title, and went on to place as a semi-finalist in Miss Universe 1981.
The 1981 pageant featured only 50 delegates after Deborah Fountain of New York was disqualified during the preliminary judging after being found to have padded her swimsuit. The final question that was asked by each of the Top Five delegates was "Your sister or best friend has been chosen for the Miss USA 1982 and she came to you for advice what would you tell her?"
This year marked the first year since 1957 a runner-up of Miss USA was sent to Miss World, this would continue until 1991 when the Miss World Organization stop accepting Runner-Ups from Miss USA, due to MUO refusing to make a public announcement during the pageant. Between 1958-1980, a separate pageant determined the US representatives at Miss World.

Results

Final Competition

Special awards

Historical significance of Miss USA 1981

  • Ohio wins competition for the second time.
  • Indiana earns the 1st runner-up position for the first time and surpasses its previous highest placement in 1966, becoming its highest position ever at the contest.
  • Louisiana earns the 2nd runner-up position for the first time.
  • California earns the 3rd runner-up position for the fifth time. The last time it placed this was in 1977.
  • Hawaii earns the 4th runner-up position for the first time.
  • States that placed in semifinals the previous year were Alabama, Arizona, Maryland and Texas.
  • Texas placed for the seventh consecutive year.
  • Arizona placed for the third consecutive year.
  • Alabama and Maryland made their second consecutive placement.
  • California, Hawaii and Virginia last placed in 1979.
  • Indiana last placed in 1978.
  • Georgia last placed in 1977.
  • Louisiana last placed in 1976.
  • Ohio last placed in 1972.
  • Tennessee last placed in 1970.
  • New York breaks an ongoing streak of placements since 1979.

    Delegates

The Miss USA 1981 delegates were:
  • Alabama - JoAnne Henderson
  • Alaska - Shelley Brunaugh
  • Arizona - Cassie Hill
  • Arkansas - Lynnanne Derryberry
  • California - Cynthia Kerby
  • Colorado - Shannon Davidson
  • Connecticut - Kelly Thompson
  • Delaware - Natalie Ramsey
  • District of Columbia - Belinda Johnson
  • Florida - Valerie Lundeen
  • Georgia - Lisa Condre
  • Hawaii - Teri Ann Linn
  • Idaho - Lori Ditch
  • Illinois - Leslie Renfrow
  • Indiana - Holli Dennis
  • Iowa - Jennifer Lynn Wimpey
  • Kansas - Missy Kaser
  • Kentucky - Denise Gibbs
  • Louisiana - Lisa Moss
  • Maine - Judy Lynn Footer
  • Maryland - Linda Lambert
  • Massachusetts - Joann Savery
  • Michigan - Karen Eidson
  • Minnesota - Polly Peterson
  • Mississippi - Angela Ashmore
  • Missouri - Karyn Smagacz
  • Montana - Cathi Jo Locati
  • Nebraska - Ladonna Hill
  • Nevada - Mary Lebsock
  • New Hampshire - Cynthia Lee Graves
  • New Jersey - Christy Garthwaite
  • New Mexico - Lise Gabrielle Dominique Thevenet
  • New York - Deborah Fountain '
  • North Carolina - Lisa Colleen Swift
  • North Dakota - Laurie Saarinen
  • Ohio - Kim Seelbrede
  • Oklahoma - Stacey Loach
  • Oregon - Dawn Lewis
  • Pennsylvania - Nena Stone
  • Rhode Island - Patti Reo
  • South Carolina - Zade Turner
  • South Dakota - Joan Abbott
  • Tennessee - Sharon Kay Steakly
  • Texas - Diana Durnford
  • Utah - Tonya Anderson
  • Vermont - Jeannette Wulff
  • Virginia - Pam Hutchens
  • Washington - Leila Wagner
  • West Virginia - Kelly Carr
  • Wisconsin - Dawn Marie Spreeman
  • Wyoming''' - Deborah Aspinwall

    Judges

  • Cindy Adams, American gossip columnist and writer
  • Joey Adams, American comedian
  • Dwight Clark
  • Jim Fowler, zoologist and host of television show Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom
  • Mary Therese Friel, Miss USA 1979
  • Gary Graffman, pianist
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