Miss USA 2016


Miss USA 2016 was the 65th Miss USA pageant. It was held at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada on June 5, 2016. Terrence J and Julianne Hough all hosted for the first time, while Ashley Graham served as the backstage host. All fifty states and the District of Columbia competed. Olivia Jordan of Oklahoma crowned her successor, Deshauna Barber of the District of Columbia, at the end of the event. Barber represented the United States at the Miss Universe 2016 pageant, where she placed in the Top 9.
This was the first edition of the Miss USA pageant to be held under the ownership of WME/IMG, which purchased the Miss Universe Organization from Donald Trump on September 14, 2015, three days after NBCUniversal sold him its 50% interest in the organization in exchange for Trump's dropping a breach of contract lawsuit he filed against the media company in August for terminating NBC's contract to televise the Miss Universe and Miss USA pageants. It was also the first Miss USA pageant to be broadcast on Fox after signed an agreement on October 2015.
For the first time, a 52nd entrant for the pageant was decided via a nationwide search through social media voting.

Background

Selection of participants

Delegates from 50 states and the District of Columbia were chosen in state pageants held from July 2015 to January 2016. The first state pageant was Florida, held on July 11, 2015, and the final pageant was Kentucky, held on January 31, 2016; fifteen of these delegates were former Miss Teen USA state winners and two of them were former Miss America state winners.
Two were appointed as replacements after the original titleholders of their states were unable to compete because of commitments: Devin Gant, who was the first runner-up in Miss North Carolina USA 2016 after Allie Dunn, the winner of that competition, as Dunn was fell ill leading to the days before the start of the pageant and prevented from entering registration form. Gant did make a last minute trip to Las Vegas as the pageant activities were already started. Kelsey Schmidt, who was the first runner-up in Miss Washington USA 2016 after Stormy Keffeler, the winner of that competition, had to resign after pleaded guilty from DUI disclosure in April 2015.

Results

§ Voted into the Top 15 by the public as the "People's Choice".

Awards

Historical significance

Miss 52 USA

A 52nd contestant took part in the competition via social media voting. The Miss Universe Organization along with the fashion agency Sherri Hill decided to make a competition online where different women from all the US competed. Finally, 10 women were selected by a panel of judges, and these 10 finalists were revealed on May 10, 2016. The winner between these 10 candidates competed as Miss 52 USA in the Miss USA 2016 pageant on June 5, 2016. The winner, which was announced on May 18, 2016, was Alexandra Miller from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
The 10 selected finalists were:
N°NameAgeHometownState
1Catherine Williams24San Antonio
2Yvonne Vega25New Braunfels
3Jessica Bean24Casper
4Alexandra Miller26Oklahoma City
5Ivana Thomas22Durham
6Amanda Bell24Nashville
7Kaitlyn Smith26Jacksonville Beach
8Molly Vierhile23San Francisco
9Niki Kafashzadeh24Rockville
10Bridgette Garb21Oak Park

The panel of judges that selected the 10 finalists were:

Pageant

Preliminary round

Prior to the final competition, the delegates competed in the preliminary competition, which involves private interviews with the judges and a presentation show where they compete in swim wear and evening gown. It was held on June 1, 2016 and was broadcast on the Miss Universe website and mobile app and was hosted by Nick Teplitz and Olivia Jordan.

Judges

During the final competition, the top fifteen competed in swim wear, while the top ten also competed in evening gown. The top five also competed in a submitted question round. Unlike in previous years, the third runner-up and the fourth runner-up were not awarded as the format was revived in Miss Universe 2015, and instead the judges would determine those three finalists to advance in the top three. The top three also competed in the same question round and a final runway, and the winner was decided by a panel of judges alongside the two runners-up.

Judges

52 delegates competed for Miss USA 2016:
StateNameAgeHeightHometownPlacementNotes
AlabamaPeyton Brown22EufaulaTop 5, CongenialityPreviously Miss Alabama Teen USA 2012
AlaskaAriane Audett21Anchorage
ArizonaChelsea Myers21TempeTop 15
ArkansasAbby Floyd20SearcyTop 10Previously Miss Arkansas Teen USA 2013
CaliforniaNadia Mejia20Diamond BarTop 5Daughter of Gerardo Mejia and Miss West Virginia USA 1989 Kathy Eicher
ColoradoCaley-Rae Pavillard22Castle PinesPreviously Miss Colorado's Outstanding Teen 2008 and Miss Colorado Teen USA 2011
ConnecticutTiffany Teixeira25BridgeportTop 10Previously Miss Connecticut Teen USA 2009
DelawareAlexandra Vorontsova21Newark
District of ColumbiaDeshauna Barber26Washington, D.C.Miss USA 2016
FloridaBrie Gabrielle25West Palm Beach
GeorgiaEmanii Davis22Griffin2nd runner-upLater placed 3rd runner-up at Miss World America 2017
Later Miss Earth USA 2019
HawaiiChelsea Hardin24Honolulu1st runner-up
IdahoSydney Halper21Moscow
IllinoisZena Malak24Carol Stream
IndianaMorgan Abel26North VernonPreviously Miss Indiana Teen USA 2008
IowaAlissa Morrison24Davenport
KansasVictoria Wiggins26Junction City
KentuckyKyle Hornback20Louisville
LouisianaMaaliyah Papillion21Lake Charles
MaineMarisa Butler22StandishLater Miss World America 2018
MarylandChristina Denny25BaltimorePreviously Miss Maryland 2013
MassachusettsWhitney Sharpe21Burlington
MichiganSusie Leica26Livonia
MinnesotaBridget Jacobs20Maple Grove
MississippiHaley Sowers22MeridianPreviously Miss Mississippi Teen USA 2010
MissouriSydnee Stottlemyre22ChesterfieldTop 10Previously Miss Missouri Teen USA 2011 and Miss Missouri's Outstanding Teen 2008
MontanaSibahn Doxey22FrenchtownPreviously Miss Montana Teen USA 2011
NebraskaSarah Hollins25Omaha
Previously Miss Nebraska Teen USA 2009
NevadaEmelina Adams24Anthem
New HampshireJessica Strohm25Manchester
New JerseyJessielyn Palumbo24Wayne
New MexicoNaomie Germain22Albuquerque
New YorkSerena Bucaj22Suffern
North CarolinaDevin Gant23Charlotte
North DakotaHalley Maas22Grand Forks
OhioMegan Wise26GallipolisTop 15
OklahomaTaylor Gorton24GlenpoolTop 15Previously Miss Oklahoma Teen USA 2008
OregonNatriana Shorter25Eugene
PennsylvaniaElena LaQuatra24PittsburghPreviously Miss Pennsylvania Teen USA 2010 and Miss Pennsylvania's Outstanding Teen 2007
Rhode IslandTheresa Agonia24Cumberland
South CarolinaLeah Lawson22AndersonTop 15
South DakotaMadison McKeown21Sioux FallsTop 10Previously Miss South Dakota Teen USA 2014
TennesseeHope Stephens20Livingston
TexasDaniella Rodriguez19LaredoPreviously Miss Texas Teen USA 2013
UtahTeale Murdock26Salt Lake City
VermontNeely Fortune24Burlington
VirginiaDesi Williams26Newport NewsTop 10Previously Miss Virginia 2013. Contestant on '
WashingtonKelsey Schmidt26Bellevue
West VirginiaNichole Greene24CharlestonTop 15
WisconsinKate Redeker19SheboyganPhotogenicPreviously Miss Wisconsin Teen USA 2013
WyomingAutumn Olson22SaratogaPreviously Miss Wyoming Teen USA 2013
Miss 52 USA'''Alexandra Miller26Oklahoma City, OKPreviously Miss Oklahoma USA 2015 after Olivia Jordan was crowned Miss USA 2015

International broadcasters

Television