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 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.
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.
Vida Samadzai is an Afghan-American actress, model and beauty pageant titleholder who was Miss Afghanistan 2003. As the first Afghan woman to participate in an international beauty pageant since 1974, her appearance in a red bikini in the 2003 edition of Miss Earth pageant created controversy in her native country. She was a contestant on the popular reality show Bigg Boss in 2011.
Miss California USA is the beauty pageant that selects the representative for the state of California in the Miss USA pageant, and the name of the title held by that winner. The pageant is directed by Crown Diva Productions.
The Miss California competition selects the representative for the state of California in the Miss America competition.
The Miss California Teen USA competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of California in the Miss Teen USA pageant. It was formed in 1983. This pageant is part of the Miss USA Organization.
The Miss Arizona competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of Arizona in the Miss America pageant. Arizona has twice won the Miss America title. The first Miss Arizona, Anna Marie Barnett, was crowned in 1938.
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.
The Miss California's Teen competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the U.S. state of California in the Miss America's Teen pageant.
Noelle Hope Freeman is an American entrepreneur and founder of The DMS Agency.
Susan Jeske is the current CEO of Ms. America Pageant. In 1997 she was the first winner of Ms. America, a lesser known beauty peagant, which she purchased afterwards, holding a remodeled version of it since 2002. She has been involved in pageantry since 1983 as a competitor, judge, and pageant director at over 200 local, state, national and international pageant competitions. In 2007, Jeske was honored with the Lifetime Presidential Award from the President of the United States, George W. Bush for her lifetime contributions to charity and volunteerism. Other titles of her Ms. America Pageant company include Ms. International, Teen Ms. America, Ms. America Beauty Teen and Ms. America Fitness Pageants.
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.
Deana Lawson is an American artist, educator, and photographer based in Brooklyn, New York. Her work is primarily concerned with intimacy, family, spirituality, sexuality, and Black aesthetics.
Alika Hope is the founder and primary vocalist for the Ray of Hope Project. She was born in Oregon and received a Bachelor of Arts in sociology from the University of Notre Dame. Hope also minored in dance at St. Mary's College. She went on to receive a Master of Arts in early childhood special education from Teachers College at Columbia University.
Miss America's Outstanding Teen 2018 was the 12th Miss America's Outstanding Teen pageant held at the Linda Chapin Theatre in the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida on July 29, 2017, the same date as Miss Teen USA 2017. Nicole Jia of Oklahoma crowned her successor Jessica Baeder of Alabama at the end of the event. This was the first time that Miss Alabama's Outstanding Teen captured the title of Miss America's Outstanding Teen.
Miss World America 2017, also referred to as America's Miss World 2017, was the 9th edition of the Miss World America pageant and it was held in the Linda Chapin Theater in the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida and was won by Clarissa Bowers of Florida. She was crowned by outgoing titleholder, Audra Mari of North Dakota. Bowers went on to represent the United States at the Miss World 2017 Pageant in Sanya, China later that year. She finished in the Top 40 at Miss World.
Nova Stevens is a Canadian model, activist, and beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned Miss Universe Canada 2020. As Miss Universe Canada, she represented Canada at Miss Universe 2020, making her the first woman of South Sudanese origin to compete at the pageant. Stevens is also a professional model and an activist for Black Lives Matter.
