Miss USA 2016

Miss USA 2016
Date	June 5, 2016
Presenters	Terrence J, Julianne Hough, Ashley Graham[1][2]
Entertainment	Nervo, Chris Young, Backstreet Boys[1][3]
Venue	T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada
Broadcaster	Fox
Entrants	52
Placements	15
Debuts	Miss 52 USA
Winner	Deshauna Barber District of Columbia
Congeniality	Peyton Brown Alabama[4]
Photogenic	Kate Redeker Wisconsin[5]

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.^[6][7][8] 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.^[9] This was the first Miss USA pageant to be broadcast on Fox. Barber will represent the USA at the Miss Universe 2016 pageant.

For the first time, a 52nd entrant for the pageant was decided via a nationwide search through social media.^[10]

Results

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

Awards

History

Miss 52 USA

This year a 52nd contestant will take part of the competition. 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.^[11] 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.^[12] The winner, which was announced on May 18, 2016, was Alexandra Miller from Oklahoma City.

The 10 selected finalists were:

N°	Name	Age	Hometown	State
1	Catherine Williams	24	San Antonio	Texas
2	Yvonne Vega	25	New Braunfels	Texas
3	Jessica Bean	24	Casper	Wyoming
4	Alexandra Miller	26	Oklahoma City	Oklahoma
5	Ivana Thomas	22	Durham	North Carolina
6	Amanda Bell	24	Nashville	Tennessee
7	Kaitlyn Smith	26	Jacksonville Beach	Florida
8	Molly Vierhile	23	San Francisco	California
9	Niki Kafashzadeh	24	Rockville	Maryland
10	Bridgette Garb	21	Oak Park	California

The panel of judges that selected the 10 finalists were:^[13]

• Alessandra Garcia, American plus-size model.
• Ashley Wagner, American figure skater.
• Andrew Serrano, American IMG Fashion Director of Global Public Relations.
• Lauren Giraldo, American social media star.
• Pia Wurtzbach, Miss Universe 2015 from the Philippines.
• Sherri Hill, American fashion designer and businesswoman.

Contestants

52 delegates competed for Miss USA 2016:^[14][15]

State[16]	Name[16]	Age[16]	Height[16]	Hometown[16]	Placement	Notes
Alabama	Peyton Brown[17]	22	5 ft 9 in (175 cm)	Eufaula	Top 5, Congeniality	Previously Miss Alabama Teen USA 2012
Alaska	Ariane Audett[18]	21	5 ft 8 in (173 cm)	Anchorage
Arizona	Chelsea Myers[19]	20	5 ft 9 in (175 cm)	Tempe	Top 15
Arkansas	Abby Floyd[20]	19	5 ft 9 in (175 cm)	Searcy	Top 10	Previously Miss Arkansas Teen USA 2013
California	Nadia Mejía[21]	20	5 ft 11 in (180 cm)	Diamond Bar	Top 5
Colorado	Caley-Rae Pavillard[22]	22	5 ft 8 in (173 cm)	Castle Pines		Previously Miss Colorado Teen USA 2011
Connecticut	Tiffany Teixeira[23]	25	5 ft 7 in (170 cm)	Bridgeport	Top 10	Previously Miss Connecticut Teen USA 2009
Delaware	Alexandra Vorontsova[24]	21	5 ft 7 in (170 cm)	Newark
District of Columbia	Deshauna Barber[25]	26	5 ft 10 in (178 cm)	Washington, D.C.	Miss USA 2016
Florida	Brie Gabrielle[26]	25	5 ft 9 in (175 cm)	West Palm Beach
Georgia	Emanii Davis[27]	22	5 ft 9 in (175 cm)	Spalding County	2nd runner-up
Hawaii	Chelsea Hardin[28]	24	5 ft 11 in (180 cm)	Honolulu	1st runner-up
Idaho	Sydney Halper[29]	21	5 ft 9 in (175 cm)	Moscow
Illinois	Zena Malak[30]	24	5 ft 8 in (173 cm)	Carol Stream
Indiana	Morgan Abel[31]	26	5 ft 7 in (170 cm)	North Vernon		Previously Miss Indiana Teen USA 2008
Iowa	Alissa Morrison[32]	24	5 ft 9 in (175 cm)	Davenport
Kansas	Victoria Wiggins[33]	26	5 ft 9 in (175 cm)	Junction City
Kentucky	Kyle Hornback[34]	20	5 ft 8 in (173 cm)	Louisville
Louisiana	Maaliyah Papillion[35]	21	5 ft 9 in (175 cm)	Lake Charles
Maine	Marisa Butler[36]	22	5 ft 8 in (173 cm)	Standish
Maryland	Christina Denny[37]	25	5 ft 8 in (173 cm)	Baltimore		Previously Miss Maryland 2013
Massachusetts	Whitney Sharpe[38]	21	5 ft 5 in (165 cm)	Burlington
Michigan	Susie Leica[39]	26	5 ft 10 in (178 cm)	Livonia
Minnesota	Bridget Jacobs[40]	20	5 ft 11 in (180 cm)	Maple Grove
Mississippi	Haley Sowers[41]	22	5 ft 5 in (165 cm)	Meridian		Previously Miss Mississippi Teen USA 2010
Missouri	Sydnee Stottlemyre[42]	22	5 ft 8 in (173 cm)	Chesterfield	Top 10	Previously Miss Missouri Teen USA 2011
Montana	Sibahn Doxey[43]	22	5 ft 9 in (175 cm)	Frenchtown		Previously Miss Montana Teen USA 2011
Nebraska	Sarah Hollins[44]	25	5 ft 8 in (173 cm)	Omaha		Previously Miss Nebraska Teen USA 2009 [45]
Nevada	Emelina Adams[46]	24	5 ft 8 in (173 cm)	Henderson
New Hampshire	Jessica Strohm[47]	25	5 ft 6 in (168 cm)	Manchester
New Jersey	Jessielyn Palumbo[48]	24	5 ft 9 in (175 cm)	Wayne
New Mexico	Naomie Germain[49]	22	5 ft 8 in (173 cm)	Albuquerque
New York	Serena Bucaj[50]	22	5 ft 9 in (175 cm)	Suffern
North Carolina	Devin Gant[51]	23	5 ft 6 in (168 cm)	Charlotte		Took over title when Allie Dunn dropped out due to illness
North Dakota	Halley Maas[52]	22	5 ft 8 in (173 cm)	Grand Forks
Ohio	Megan Wise[53]	26	5 ft 10 in (178 cm)	Gallipolis	Top 15
Oklahoma	Taylor Gorton[54]	24	5 ft 7 in (170 cm)	Glenpool	Top 15	Previously Miss Oklahoma Teen USA 2008
Oregon	Natriana Shorter[55]	25	5 ft 9 in (175 cm)	Eugene
Pennsylvania	Elena LaQuatra[56]	24	5 ft 8 in (173 cm)	Pittsburgh		Previously Miss Pennsylvania Teen USA 2010 and Miss Pennsylvania's Outstanding Teen 2007
Rhode Island	Theresa Agonia[57]	24	5 ft 7 in (170 cm)	Cumberland
South Carolina	Leah Lawson[58]	22	5 ft 6 in (168 cm)	Anderson	Top 15
South Dakota	Madison McKeown[59]	21	5 ft 8 in (173 cm)	Sioux Falls	Top 10	Previously Miss South Dakota Teen USA 2014
Tennessee	Hope Stephens[60]	20	5 ft 10 in (178 cm)	Livingston
Texas	Daniella Rodriguez[61]	19	5 ft 9 in (175 cm)	Laredo		Previously Miss Texas Teen USA 2013
Utah	Teale Murdock[62]	26	5 ft 5 in (165 cm)	Salt Lake City
Vermont	Neely Fortune[63]	24	5 ft 7 in (170 cm)	Burlington
Virginia	Desi Williams[64]	26	5 ft 8 in (173 cm)	Newport News	Top 10	Previously Miss Virginia 2013
Washington	Kelsey Schmidt[65]	26	5 ft 3 in (160 cm)	Bellevue		Assumed the title after previous Miss Washington USA 2016 Stormy Keffeler resigned
West Virginia	Nichole Greene[66]	24	5 ft 7 in (170 cm)	Charleston	Top 15
Wisconsin	Kate Redeker[67]	19	5 ft 10 in (178 cm)	Sheboygan	Photogenic	Previously Miss Wisconsin Teen USA 2013
Wyoming	Autumn Olson[68]	22	5 ft 8 in (173 cm)	Saratoga		Previously Miss Wyoming Teen USA 2013
Miss 52 USA	Alexandra Miller[69]	26	5 ft 8 in (173 cm)	Oklahoma City		Previously Miss Oklahoma USA 2015 after Olivia Jordan was crowned Miss USA 2015

Crossovers

Two contestants had competed at Miss America:

• Miss Maryland USA Christina Denny was Miss Maryland 2013 and top 10 at Miss America 2014
• Miss Virginia USA Desi Williams was Miss Virginia 2013.

Fifteen contestants had competed at Miss Teen USA, breaking the record for the most Miss Teen USA crossovers. The previous record was at Miss USA 2015 with 12 crossovers.

• Miss Alabama USA Peyton Brown was Miss Alabama Teen USA 2012 and placed Top 16 at Miss Teen USA 2012
• Miss Arkansas USA Abby Floyd was Miss Arkansas Teen USA 2013 and placed Top 16 at Miss Teen USA 2013
• Miss Colorado USA Caley-Rae Pavillard was Miss Colorado Teen USA 2011 and placed Top 15 at Miss Teen USA 2011
• Miss Connecticut USA Tiffany Teixeira was Miss Connecticut Teen USA 2009
• Miss Indiana USA Morgan Abel was Miss Indiana Teen USA 2008
• Miss Mississippi USA Haley Sowers was Miss Mississippi Teen USA 2010 and placed 4th runner up at Miss Teen USA 2010
• Miss Missouri USA Sydnee Stottlemyre was Miss Missouri Teen USA 2011 and placed 4th runner up at Miss Teen USA 2011
• Miss Montana USA Sibahn Doxey was Miss Montana Teen USA 2011
• Miss Nebraska USA Sarah Hollins was Miss Nebraska Teen USA 2009
• Miss Oklahoma USA Taylor Gorton was Miss Oklahoma Teen USA 2008 and Top 15 at Miss Teen USA 2008
• Miss Pennsylvania USA Elena LaQuatra was Miss Pennsylvania Teen USA 2010
• Miss South Dakota USA Madison McKeown was Miss South Dakota Teen USA 2014
• Miss Texas USA Daniella Rodriguez was Miss Texas Teen USA 2013
• Miss Wisconsin USA Kate Redeker was Miss Wisconsin Teen USA 2013 and Top 16 at Miss Teen USA 2013
• Miss Wyoming USA Autumn Olson was Miss Wyoming Teen USA 2013

Judges

Miss USA 2016 contestants were evaluated by panels of judges.^[70]

Preliminary judges

• Fred Nelson ^[71] – President/Executive Producer of the People's Choice Awards
• Jimmy Nguyen – Entertainment and digital media lawyer, diversity advocate, blogger, and technology advisor
• Joey Boukadakis ^[71] – Writer, director, producer, and media executive
• Keltie Knight ^[71] – Correspondent and weekend host of CBS's The Insider
• Kristin Conte ^[71] – Marketing and communications executive and event creator
• Nick Phelps ^[71] – Global Alliance Director at Droga5
• Rebecca Bienstock ^[71] – West Coast Bureau Chief at Us Weekly magazine

Telecast judges

• Ali Landry ^[72] – Miss USA 1996 from Louisiana
• Crystle Stewart ^[72] – Miss USA 2008 from Texas
• Joe Zee ^[72] – Editor in Chief and Executive Creative Officer of Yahoo Fashion
• Laura Brown ^[72][73] – Features/Special Projects and Executive Director of Harper's Bazaar magazine
• Nigel Barker ^[72] – Fashion photographer and the host of The Face

Historical significance

• District of Columbia won the competition for the third time.
• States that have placed in the previous year are Alabama, Arizona, Hawaii, Oklahoma, and Virginia.
• States that failed to place this year, ending streaks are Louisiana (4 years), Maryland (5 years), and Nevada (4 years).
• Alabama placed for the seventh consecutive year.
• Arizona, Oklahoma, and Virginia placed for the third consecutive year.
• California, Georgia, and South Carolina last placed in 2014.
• Connecticut, Ohio, and West Virginia last placed in 2013.
• Arkansas last placed in 2012.
• Missouri last placed in 2011.
• District of Columbia last placed in 2006.
• South Dakota placed for the first time since 1974 when Debra Ann Brickley placed in the top 12. Also, this is South Dakota's highest placement on record.
• Alabama won Miss Congeniality for the first time, and Wisconsin won Miss Photogenic for the second time. However, unlike previous years, these results were not announced on the live telecast.
• A total of 15 former Miss Teen USA delegates competed, making it the highest number ever.
• 2016 broke the streak where a state won for the first time.

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Miss USA.

• Miss USA official website