Miss USA 2024

Miss USA 2024
Alma Cooper
Date	August 4, 2024
Presenters	Garcelle Beauvais Keltie Knight Morgan Romano Patrick Starrr [1]
Venue	Peacock Theater, Los Angeles, California
Broadcaster	The CW [2]
Entrants	51
Placements	20
Winner	Alma Cooper Michigan
Congeniality	Madeline Bohlman Arkansas
Photogenic	Melissa Sapini Massachusetts
←  2023

Miss USA 2024 was the 73rd Miss USA pageant, held at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles, California, United States, on August 4, 2024. ^{[3] [4]}

Savannah Gankiewicz of Hawaii crowned Alma Cooper of Michigan as her successor at the end of the event. She represented the United States at Miss Universe 2024 in Mexico. ^[2]

Background

Location

Peacock Theater in Los Angeles, California, the host venue of the Miss USA 2024 competition

On July 14, 2022, it was reported that the competition would be held in Reno, Nevada, with the city securing a three-year deal to host the pageant from 2022 to 2024 under the ownership of then-national director and Miss USA 2008 Crystle Stewart. ^[5] The event was originally to take place at Grand Sierra Resort in Reno; this would be the fourth time that the pageant is held in Reno and the third consecutive year holding the pageant in the city following Miss USA 2019, 2022 and 2023.

On June 29, 2024, it was announced that Miss USA 2024 would take place at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles, California, scheduled to be held on August 4, 2024. This will be the first time since 2007 returning to its original home in California. ^[6]

Selection of contestants

Starting with this edition of the pageant, the Miss Universe Organization announced that it would allow women who are 28 years old and over to participate. Previous editions had only above 18 and below 28 years of age. ^[7]

Selection of delegates at state pageants was supposed to begin in August 2023; however, after the appointment of president and CEO Laylah Rose, the state pageants were postponed indefinitely. The state pageants were then rescheduled in March 2024. The first state pageant was Tennessee, held on March 9, 2024, and the last state pageant was Florida, held on July 7, 2024. ^[8] The state pageant season in previous years was much longer, around five to seven months.

Results

Placements

Placement	Contestant
Miss USA 2024	Michigan – Alma Cooper [9]
1st runner-up	Kentucky – Connor Perry [9]
2nd runner-up	Oklahoma – Danika Christopherson [9]
3rd runner-up	Tennessee – Christell Foote [9]
4th runner-up	Ohio – Macy Hudson [9]
Top 10	Colorado – Jessi Kalambayi  Hawaii – Breea Yamat  Massachusetts – Melissa Sapini  Texas – Aarieanna Ware  Virginia – Himanvi Panidepu
Top 20	California – Samantha Ramos [10]  District of Columbia – Kleo Torres [10]  Illinois – Grace Rodi [10]  Iowa – McKenzie Ariana Kerry [10] §  Kansas – Bella Whitlock [10]  Mississippi – Kaylee Brooke McCollum [10]  Nevada – Najah Ali [10]  New York – Marizza Delgado [10]  North Carolina – Kenzie Hansley [10]  South Carolina – Gracen Grainger [10]

§ – Voted into Top 20 by viewers.

Special Awards

Award [11]	Contestant
Best in Swimsuit	Kentucky - Connor Perry
Best in Evening Gown	Tennessee - Christell Foote
Best in Interview	Michigan - Alma Cooper
Best Impact (Social Media)	Virginia - Himanvi Panidepu
Miss Photogenic	Massachusetts - Melissa Sapini
Miss Congeniality	Arkansas - Madeline Bohlman
People's Choice	Iowa - McKenzie Ariana Kerry

Pageant

Format

Same with the previous edition, the results of the preliminary competition — which consisted of the swimsuit competition, the evening gown competition, and the closed-door interview determined the first nineteen semi-finalists who advanced at the first cut. The internet voting was also used, with fans being able to vote for another delegate to advance into the semifinals. ^[10] The twenty semi-finalists competed in the swimsuit competition and were narrowed down to ten afterwards. The ten semi-finalists competed in the evening gown competition and were narrowed down to five afterwards. The five finalists competed in the final question round, after which Miss USA 2024 and her runners-up were announced. ^[4]

Selection committee

• Scheana Shay – Television personality ^[12] (only as final telecast judge)
• Anastasia Soare – CEO of Anastasia Beverly Hills ^[12]
• Gavin DeGraw – Singer ^[12] (only as final telecast judge)
• Carole Gist – Miss USA 1990 from Michigan ^[12]
• Natasha Graziano – Motivational speaker ^[12]
• NJ Falk – Managing partner of Athletic Propulsion Labs ^[12]
• Lu Parker – Miss USA 1994 from South Carolina ^[12]
• Jojo Bragais – Shoe designer ^[12]

Contestants

Fifty-one contestants competed for the title. ^[9]

State/District	Contestant	Age [a]	Hometown	Notes
Alabama	Diane Westhoven [13]	21	Vestavia
Alaska	Brenna Schaake [9]	29	Fairbanks
Arizona	Kristina Johnson [14]	41	Phoenix
Arkansas	Madeline Bohlman [15]	22	Fayetteville	Previously Miss Arkansas Teen USA 2021 First cousin of Miss America 2024 Madison Marsh
California	Samantha Ramos [16]	24	Santa Monica
Colorado	Jessi Kalambayi [17]	26	Denver
Connecticut	Shavana Clarke [18]	29	Bridgeport
Delaware	Alysa Bainbridge [19] [20] [21]	25	Newark	Previously Miss Pennsylvania 2022 Previously Miss Pennsylvania's Outstanding Teen 2016
District of Columbia	Kleo Torres [22]	26	Washington, D.C.
Florida	Peyton Lewis [23]	26	Orlando
Georgia	Emmaline Farmer [24]	24	Winder
Hawaii	Breea Yamat [25]	27	Lahaina	Sister of Miss Hawaii USA 2022 Kiana Yamat
Idaho	Kaitlyn Widmyer [26]	28	Coeur d'Alene
Illinois	Grace Rodi [27]	23	Hinsdale
Indiana	Stephanie Sullivan [28]	33	Elkhart
Iowa	McKenzie Ariana Kerry [29]	26	Des Moines
Kansas	Bella Whitlock [30]	19	Leavenworth
Kentucky	Connor Perry [31]	23	Lexington
Louisiana	Sydney Taylor [32] [33]	23	Livingston	Previously Miss Louisiana Teen USA 2020 (4th runner-up at Miss Teen USA 2020)
Maine	Anne Baldridge [34]	25	Portland
Maryland	Bailey Anne Kennedy [35]	31	Williamsport	First transgender woman to win Miss Maryland USA [35]
Massachusetts	Melissa Sapini [36]	21	North Attleboro
Michigan	Alma Cooper [37]	22	Okemos
Minnesota	Muna Ali [38]	27	Saint Paul
Mississippi	Kaylee Brooke McCollum [39]	23	Amory	Previously Miss Mississippi Teen USA 2019 (3rd runner-up at Miss Teen USA 2019)
Missouri	Ashleigh Bedwell [40]	25	Campbell
Montana	Shelby Dangerfield [41]	30	Billings
Nebraska	Kamryn Buchanan [42]	24	Lincoln
Nevada	Najah Ali [43]	23	Las Vegas
New Hampshire	Ariel Sullivan [9]	28	Portsmouth
New Jersey	Jabili Kandula [44]	24	Hoboken
New Mexico	Mackenzie Sydow [45]	22	Albuquerque
New York	Marizza Delgado [46]	25	Brooklyn	Previously Miss Earth New York 2022 (Top 20 at Miss Earth USA 2022)
North Carolina	McKenzie Hansley [47]	24	Charlotte	Previously Miss North Carolina Teen USA 2017
North Dakota	Codi Miller [48]	31	Amidon	Previously Miss North Dakota Teen USA 2009
Ohio	Macy Hudson [49]	24	Dayton
Oklahoma	Danika Christopherson [50]	22	Lawton	Previously Miss Oklahoma Teen USA 2020 (Top 16 at Miss Teen USA 2020)
Oregon	Shayla Montgomery [51]	21	Happy Valley	Previously Miss Oregon Teen USA 2020 (1st runner-up at Miss Teen USA 2020)
Pennsylvania	Noni Diarra [52]	23	Philadelphia
Rhode Island	Kaitlynne Santana [53]	22	Woonsocket
South Carolina	Gracen Grainger [54]	22	Hamer	Previously Miss South Carolina Teen USA 2020 (Top 16 at Miss Teen USA 2020)
South Dakota	Ahmitara Alwal [55]	25	Sioux Falls
Tennessee	Christell Foote [56]	24	Rocky Top
Texas	Aarieanna Ware [57]	26	Dallas
Utah	Alyssa Chandler [9]	21	American Fork
Vermont	Samantha Vocatura [9]	27	Stowe	Previously Miss World America Vermont 2023 (Top 10 at Miss World America 2023 [ citation needed ]
Virginia	Himanvi Panidepu [58]	23	Centreville	Previously Miss Virginia Teen USA 2018 [59]
Washington	Tiffany Rea [60]	27	Clarkston	Previously Miss United States 2020
West Virginia	Caylie Simmons [61]	24	Franklin
Wisconsin	Tori Trittin [62]	22	Madison	Previously Miss Minnesota Teen USA 2017
Wyoming	Mackenzie Rush [63]	19	Sheridan

References

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Notes

1. Ages at the time of the pageant

External links

• Official website