A beauty pageant is a competition that has traditionally focused on judging and ranking the physical attributes of the contestants. Pageants have now moved towards including inner beauty, with criteria covering judging of personality, intelligence, talent, character, and charitable involvement, through private interviews with judges and answers to public on-stage questions. Pageant titles are subdivided into Miss, Mrs. or Ms., and Teen – to clearly identify the difference between pageant divisions.
Miss Universe is an annual international major beauty pageant that is run by a United States and Thailand-based Miss Universe Organization. Along with Miss World, Miss International, and Miss Earth, it is one of the Big Four beauty pageants.
Miss Earth is an annual international major beauty pageant based in the Philippines that advocates for environmental awareness, conservation and social responsibility. Along with Miss World, Miss Universe, and Miss International, it is one of the Big Four beauty pageants.
Shandi Ren Finnessey is an American actress, model, tv host and beauty pageant titleholder. She is best known for winning the Miss USA title, as Miss Missouri USA. She previously held the title of Miss Missouri 2002 and competed in Miss America, where she won a preliminary award. She placed as first runner-up at the Miss Universe 2004 competition.
The Miss North Carolina competition selects the representative for the state of North Carolina to compete in the annual Miss America competition. The competition has been held in High Point, North Carolina since 2021 and was previously held in Raleigh every year since 1978. Prior to that, it was held in various locales including Charlotte, Greensboro, Winston-Salem, Durham, Burlington, Wilmington, and Morehead City. Taylor Loyd of Mooresville, North Carolina was crowned Miss North Carolina 2023 on June 24, 2023, at High Point Theatre in High Point, North Carolina. On January 14, 2024, she competed for the title of Miss America 2024 and placed in the Top 11 semi-finalists.
The Miss Ohio Scholarship Program selects the representative for the U.S. state of Ohio to compete for the title of Miss America. The pageant is held annually, during the "Miss Ohio Festival" week, at the historic 1,600 seat Renaissance Theatre in Mansfield.
The Miss West Virginia competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the U.S. state of West Virginia in the Miss America Pageant.
Miss United States is a pageant held in the United States for unmarried women between the ages of 20 and 29. The pageant includes women selected to represent all 50 states, District of Columbia, American Samoa, Guam, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
The Miss Massachusetts competition is a scholarship pageant put on annually by the Miss Massachusetts Scholarship Foundation, Inc. The winner of the pageant receives the title of Miss Massachusetts and represents the state of Massachusetts at the Miss America pageant in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
The Miss New Jersey competition is an annual pageant held to select the representative for the state of New Jersey in the Miss America pageant.
The United States has continuously sent a representative to Miss World since its inception in 1951. The United States has won the Miss World crown three times in 1973, 1990 and 2010. Currently, Miss World America is the official national pageant that selects the contestant from the United States to Miss World.
Sonia Ahmed as Sonia Iqbal Ahmed, is a Kuwait-born Canadian Pakistani and founder of Miss Canada Pakistan Inc., now known as Miss Pakistan World, Mr. Pakistan World and Mrs. Pakistan World that were first held in 2002 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
This is a list of the Philippines' representatives and their placements at the Big Four beauty pageants. The Philippines, widely considered a beauty pageant powerhouse, has won in all four pageants, with a total of 103 placements and 15 victories:
Miss International Queen is the world's biggest beauty pageant for transgender women. The pageant was conceived in 2004 and named the largest and most prestigious by CNN original American documentary television series This Is Life with Lisa Ling aired on 26 November 2017.
Miss World 2014, the 64th edition of the Miss World pageant, was held on 14 December 2014 at the ExCeL London in London, United Kingdom. 121 contestants competed for the crown. Megan Young of the Philippines crowned her successor Rolene Strauss of South Africa at the end of the event. This is the second time that South Africa has won the title outright and the third time they have held the title.
Miss United States 2014 is the 14th edition of the Miss United States beauty pageant. It took place in Washington, D.C., on July 4. It was won by a contestant from North Carolina, Elizabeth Safrit, who also became Miss World America 2014, after Miss United States acquired the license for Miss World in the US, and was the 2nd runner-up of Miss World 2014 held during December 2014 in London. Safrit crowned her successors for both Miss United States 2015 and Miss World America 2015 the following year.
Miss World America 2015 was the 7th edition of the Miss World America pageant held on July 3, 2015 at the Auditorium of the University of the District of Columbia, Washington, D.C. Elizabeth Safrit of North Carolina, who was also Miss United States 2014 and the 2nd runner-up in Miss World 2014, crowned her successor at the end of the event. All fifty states except Wyoming, the District of Columbia, and American Samoa competed for the crown. The winner was Victoria Mendoza from Arizona, and she represented the United States in Miss World 2015 pageant on December 19 in Sanya, China.
Deshauna Barber is an American beauty pageant titleholder, motivational speaker, and captain in the United States Army Reserve. On June 5, 2016, she was crowned Miss USA 2016 by the outgoing titleholder Olivia Jordan of Oklahoma. She represented the United States at the Miss Universe 2016 pageant and finished as a Top 9 finalist.
The Miss Virginia World competition is a beauty pageant that selects the representative for Virginia in the Miss World America pageant.
Miss Supranational is an annual international beauty pageant, started in 2009, and with most contests held in Poland. A parallel male contest, Mister Supranational, was launched in 2016, also in Poland.
