A beauty pageant or beauty contest is a competition that has traditionally focused on judging and ranking the physical attributes of the contestants, although most contests have evolved to also incorporate personality traits, intelligence, talent, and a contestant's ability to answer judges' questions on various subjects as judged criteria. The term refers largely to contests for women such as the Big Four international beauty pageants. Hundreds of thousands of beauty contests are held annually, but the Big Four are considered the most prestigious, widely covered and broadcast by media. The Wall Street Journal, BBC News, CNN, Xinhua News Agency, and global news agencies such as Reuters, Associated Press and Agence France-Presse collectively refer to the four major pageants as "Big Four" namely: Miss Universe, Miss World, Miss International, and Miss Earth.
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 operates both pageants, as well as Miss Teen USA.
Barbara Elaine Peterson Burwell is a nationally recognized philanthropist and the President of the Burwell Family Foundation based in Bloomington, Minnesota. In 1976, Burwell became the first Miss Minnesota USA to be crowned Miss USA 1976.
Most Beautiful Girl in Nigeria – also abbreviated as MBGN – is a pageant organised by Silverbird Group with the main purpose of sending representatives to international competitions. Originally known as Miss Universe Nigeria, it was renamed Most Beautiful Girl in Nigeria after news publishers Daily Times lost their license to send delegates from rival contest Miss Nigeria to Miss World and Miss Universe.
The Miss Minnesota USA competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of Minnesota in the Miss USA pageant. It is directed by Future Productions based in Savage, Minnesota since its inception in 1995, which also directs the state pageants for Colorado, Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wisconsin and Wyoming.
The Miss Vermont USA competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of Vermont in the Miss USA pageant. It is formerly directed by Sanders & Associates, Inc., dba- Pageant Associates based in Buckhannon, West Virginia from 2004 to 2017 before GDB Theatre and Pageant Productions becoming the new directors of the stage pageant since 2018.
The Miss Minnesota competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of Minnesota in the Miss America pageant. Women from Minnesota have won the Miss America crown on three occasions. The most recent winner was Gretchen Carlson in 1989.
The Miss South Dakota competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the U.S. state of South Dakota in the Miss America pageant.
Mrs. America Pageant is a beauty competition that was established to honor married women throughout the United States of America. Each of the contestants representing the 50 states and the District of Columbia range in age from their 20s to 50s and earns the right to participate in the national event by winning her state competition. These state events are under the direction of Mrs. America state directors. The winner goes on to compete in the Mrs. World pageant.
Miss Earth USA is an annual beauty pageant which selects the United States representative to Miss Earth which is an annual international beauty pageant promoting environmental awareness.
Miss Earth Nigeria is an annual national beauty pageant in Nigeria to select its representative to the international Miss Earth pageant. The pageant, with the theme "Beauties for a Cause" is organized by AMC Productions, and began sending representatives to Miss Earth a year after the international pageant was established in 2001.
Miss America 2015, the 88th Miss America pageant, was held at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey on Sunday, September 14, 2014. Miss America 2014, Nina Davuluri crowned the winner, Miss New York, Kira Kazantsev, making it the third consecutive year that a Miss New York won the Miss America crown; New York thus became the first state to have a Miss America winner three years in a row. It was broadcast on ABC, UniMás, and streamed to mobile devices via the WatchABC app as well as Xbox One consoles via its live TV functionality. Tickets for the 2015 Miss America competition went on sale in spring 2014.
María Gabriela de Jesús Isler Morales is a Venezuelan TV host, fashion model and beauty queen who represented Venezuela and was crowned Miss Universe 2013, gaining placement as the seventh Miss Universe of her country.
Kalie Kathleen Wright is an American beauty pageant titleholder from Twin Falls, Idaho, who was crowned Miss National Sweetheart 2014 and Miss Idaho 2015. She competed for the Miss America 2016 title in September 2015. In 2017, she was crowned Miss Minnesota USA 2018 and represented Minnesota at Miss USA 2018.
The Miss South Dakota's Outstanding Teen competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the U.S. state of South Dakota in the Miss America's Outstanding Teen pageant. The pageant is held in Hot Springs, South Dakota.
Katerina Ana Katakalides is an American model and beauty pageant titleholder. She won the Teen Miss New York 2016 competition in the Miss Earth United States system. She represented New York at Teen Miss Earth United States 2016. In 2017, she signed with Bicoastal MGMT.
Miss Teen USA 2017 was the 35th Miss Teen USA pageant held at the Phoenix Symphony Hall in Phoenix, Arizona on July 29, 2017. Karlie Hay of Texas crowned her successor, Sophia Dominguez-Heithoff of Missouri at the end of the event. The pageant was hosted by celebrity personal trainer and author Heidi Powell and E! correspondent Erin Lim, while Mexican singer Jorge Blanco performed.
Kára Deidra McCullough is an American beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned Miss USA 2017. As Miss USA, McCullough represented the United States at Miss Universe 2017, where she placed in the top ten. Previously, McCullough had been crowned Miss District of Columbia 2017, becoming the fourth woman from the District of Columbia to be crowned Miss USA. Additionally, McCullough and her predecessor Deshauna Barber's wins marked the first time a state had won back-to-back titles since Courtney Gibbs and Gretchen Polhemus of Texas won Miss USA 1988 and 1989.
The Miss Minnesota's Outstanding Teen competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the U.S. state of Minnesota in the Miss America's Outstanding Teen pageant.
Miss America's Outstanding Teen 2013 was the 7th Miss America's Outstanding Teen pageant held at the Linda Chapin Theater in the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida on August 18, 2012. At the conclusion of the event, Elizabeth Fechtel of Florida crowned her successor Rachel Wyatt of South Carolina. Miss America 2012 Laura Kaeppeler was a host of the event.
