Miss USA is an American beauty pageant that has been held annually since 1952 to select the entrant from United States in the Miss Universe pageant. The Miss Universe Organization operated both pageants, as well as Miss Teen USA, until 2020, when the organization announced it was licensing operation of the Miss USA and Miss Teen USA pageants to Crystle Stewart, Miss USA for 2008 prior to her suspension in October 2022, thus returning the said pageants to the Miss Universe Organization.
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 Florida USA competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of Florida in the Miss USA pageant.
Ericka Dunlap is an American beauty pageant titleholder from Orlando, Florida who was named Miss Florida 2003 and subsequently crowned Miss America 2004. Dunlap was the first African American woman to be crowned Miss Florida in the Miss America pageant's 81-year history. As of 2022, she is the only African American woman to have been crowned Miss Florida.
Danni Boatwright Wiegmann is an American actress, TV host, sports journalist, model and beauty queen who won $1,000,000 on Survivor: Guatemala, the eleventh season of the reality television show Survivor, and finished in 19th place in the show's 40th season Survivor: Winners at War.
Sylvia Louise Hitchcock-Carson was an American model and beauty queen who held the title of Miss Alabama United States and Miss United States, and was crowned Miss Universe 1967.
Tara Elizabeth Conner is an American model, television personality, and beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned Miss USA 2006 and has also competed in the Miss Teen USA and Miss Universe pageants. Apart from her role as Miss USA, Conner has been employed as a model. She was a featured model on the HDNet series Bikini Destinations in 2004, posing in Lake Tahoe. She has also held the titles Miss Kentucky Teen USA 2002, Miss Kentucky County Fair 2004, and Miss Kentucky USA 2006.
Shauna Gambill is an American model and beauty queen who won Miss Teen USA 1994 and also competed in the Miss USA 1998 and Miss World 1998 pageants.
The Miss Florida competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of Florida in the Miss America pageant. Florida has twice won the Miss America crown.
Miss USA 2007 was the 56th Miss USA pageant, held at Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, California on March 23, 2007, after two weeks of events and preliminary competition. The winner of the pageant was Rachel Smith of Tennessee.
Rachel Renee Smith is an American actress, TV host, model and beauty pageant titleholder who won the Miss USA 2007 pageant and who previously had competed in the Miss Teen USA 2002 pageant. She represented the United States at Miss Universe 2007 and placed 4th Runner-Up.
Miss America 2007, the 80th Miss America pageant, was held on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada on Monday, January 29, 2007, making it the first time that the pageant was held on a weekday, rather than the traditional Saturday since 1927's contest.
Lauren Paige Nelson is a beauty queen from Lawton, Oklahoma who holds the Miss America 2007 title. Nelson is the second consecutive Miss America and sixth in the history of Miss America to hail from this state.
Miss America 2005, the 78th Miss America pageant, was held in Atlantic City on Saturday, September 18, 2004, following a week of events including the preliminary competition.
Miss America 2008, the 81st Miss America pageant, was held on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada, on Saturday, January 26, 2008.
Miss USA 2008 was the 57th Miss USA pageant, held at the Planet Hollywood Theatre for the Performing Arts in Las Vegas, Nevada on April 11, 2008. At the conclusion of the final night of competition, Crystle Stewart of Texas was crowned the winner by outgoing titleholder Rachel Smith of Tennessee. Crystle represented the United States at the Miss Universe 2008 pageant, which was held in Vietnam, where she placed in the Top 10. This was also the first time in the pageant's 56-year history that two consecutive women of African Americans have been crowned.
The most frequently presented Miss America awards are for preliminary talent and swimsuit. The talent award was introduced in 1936, and the swimsuit award in 1940. In the 2000s, preliminary awards for evening gown and interview were briefly introduced but were discontinued after two years as it was felt that they made the semi-finalists too predictable.
Alexandra Hoffman is a beauty queen and athlete from Eureka, South Dakota, who competed in the Miss Teen USA pageant and placed in the Top 15 at Miss America 2009.
Miss USA 2010 was the 59th Miss USA pageant, held at the Planet Hollywood Theatre for the Performing Arts in Las Vegas, Nevada on May 16, 2010 which was broadcast live on NBC. Kristen Dalton of North Carolina, crowned her successor, Rima Fakih of Michigan as Miss USA 2010 at the end of this event. This was Michigan's third Miss USA title and the first title in 17 years. Fakih became the first Arab American to win the Miss USA title. This was also the first pageant since 1986 taking place in the month of May.
Lissette Garcia is an American television personality and beauty pageant titleholder from Miami, Florida. She was crowned Miss Florida USA 2011 and was named a finalist for the Miss USA 2011 title.
