A beauty pageant is a competition in which the contestants are judged and ranked based on various physical and mental attributes. Per its name, beauty pageants traditionally focus on judging the contestants' physical attractiveness, sometimes solely so, but most modern beauty pageants have since expanded to also judge contestants based on "inner beauty"—their individual traits and characteristics, including personality, intelligence, aptitude, moral character, and charity. Though typically perceived as a female-oriented competition, male beauty pageants also exist, as do child beauty pageants for youth.
Miss America is an annual competition that is open to women from the United States between the ages of 18 and 28. Originating in 1921 as a "bathing beauty revue", the contest is judged on competition segments with scoring percentages: Private Interview (30%) – a 10-minute press conference-style interview with a panel of judges, On Stage Question (10%) – answering a judge's question onstage, Talent or HER Story (20%) – a performance talent or 90 second speech, Health and Fitness (20%) – demonstrated physical fitness onstage dressed in athletic wear, and Evening Gown (20%) – modeling evening-wear onstage.
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. The pageants are now operated by Laylah Rose.
Miss Teen USA is a beauty pageant that has been run since 1983 by the Miss Universe Organization for girls aged 14–19 years old as of January 1st of the competition year. They must be US citizens, and cannot have been married, pregnant, or have children. Unlike its sister pageants Miss Universe, which currently broadcasts on JKN18 and like its sister pageant Miss USA, it is televised on The CW television network starting in 2024, after being streamed online for several years. The Miss Universe Organization previously operated Miss Teen USA, as well as Miss USA, until 2020 when the rights to produce both pageants were licensed to Miss USA 2008 Crystle Stewart prior to her suspension in October 2022, thus returning the said pageants to the Miss Universe Organization. The parent company of all three pageants and the Miss Universe organization remains the same under the licensing agreement: JKN Metaverse Inc., a subsidiary of JKN Global Group.
A swimsuit competition, more commonly now called a bikini contest, is a beauty contest which is judged and ranked while contestants wear a swimsuit, typically a bikini. One of the judging criteria is the physical attractiveness of the contestants. The Big Four international beauty pageants have included examples of such a competition.
Miss Universe Canada or The Beauties of Canada is an annual national beauty pageant that selects Canada's official representative to Miss Universe—one of the Big Four beauty pageants
The Miss Alaska competition is a scholarship pageant that selects the representative for the state of Alaska in the Miss America pageant. Unlike most state-level pageants in the Miss America system, Alaska allows any eligible woman to enter the Miss Alaska pageant without first having to win a local qualifying pageant. Emma Broyles was crowned Miss America 2022 on December 16, 2021. She is the first woman from Alaska to win the title, and only the third woman from Alaska to place at Miss America.
The Miss Maine competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of Maine in the Miss America pageant. Maine has been represented in the pageant since 1937, although the state has never produced a winner.
The Miss South Carolina competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of South Carolina in the Miss America pageant. The pageant was first held in Myrtle Beach and moved to Greenville starting in 1958 and remained in that city until the 1990s. Spartanburg hosted the pageant in a few different venues until new leadership took over the organization and moved the pageant to Columbia, SC in 2011. The pageant was televised since the 1960s until the 1998 pageant. Televising was resumed with the 2000 pageant through 2006. The pageant returned to television in 2014.
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.
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 Virginia competition is a scholarship pageant for women, with the titleholder representing Virginia in the Miss America pageant. The competition was founded in 1953 as a scholarship contest for young women, although women had represented Virginia in the Miss America pageant since the 1930s. Four Miss Virginia winners have gone on to be crowned Miss America, including former national titleholder Caressa Cameron.
Miss England is a national beauty pageant in England.
The Miss Rhode Island competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of Rhode Island 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 ranges 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 America 2008, the 81st Miss America pageant, was held on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada, on Saturday, January 26, 2008.
Crystle Stewart Sebrechts is an American actress and beauty pageant titleholder. Stewart began her acting career in 2011, when she played real estate agent Leslie Morris on the OWN/TBS comedy-drama television series For Better or Worse until 2017. Shortly after, she appeared in the 2018 film Acrimony. She also won Miss Texas USA 2008 and Miss USA 2008, and represented the United States at Miss Universe 2008, where she reached in the placed Top 10.
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 transgender pageant by CNN original American documentary television series This Is Life with Lisa Ling aired on 26 November 2017.
Alexandra D. "Allie" Curtis is an American beauty pageant titleholder from Pensacola, Florida, who was crowned Miss Rhode Island 2015. She competed for the Miss America 2016 title in September 2015 and placed outside the Top 15. She currently serves as a Field Artillery Officer in the Rhode Island National Guard.
Meagan Elise Fuller is an American beauty pageant titleholder from Attleboro, Massachusetts, who was named Massachusetts' Junior Miss 2010 and crowned Miss Massachusetts 2015. She competed for the Miss America 2016 title in September 2015.
