Miss USA 2017 was the 66th edition of the Miss USA pageant, held at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Paradise, Nevada, on May 14, 2017.
Deshauna Barber of the District of Columbia crowned her successor Kára McCullough, also of the District of Columbia, at the end of the event. This was District of Columbia's fourth Miss USA title, and also this was the first time since 2008 to have a second consecutive African Americans have been crowned. McCullough represented the United States at the Miss Universe 2017 competition, placed in the top 10. This is the first back to back win for a state at Miss USA since Texas won the crown in 1988 and 1989.
Background
Selection of participants Delegates from 50 states and the District of Columbia were selected in state pageants began in July 2016 and ended in February 2017. The first state pageant was Florida, held on July 16, 2016, and the final pageant was Alaska, held on February 4, 2017; eight of them were former Miss Teen USA state winners, three of them were former Miss America state titleholders and one of them was a former Miss America's Outstanding Teen state titleholder.
One state titleholder was appointed as replacement after the original titleholder was unable to compete. Génesis Dávila was the original winner of Miss Florida USA 2017, she was disqualified shortly after winning the title and was revealed she hired professional makeup artists instead by to do herself. She was replaced by Linette De Los Santos, the first runner-up of Miss Florida USA 2017 pageant. Dávila would later win the title the following year and competed in Miss USA 2018.
Results
PlacementContestantMiss USA 2017 District of Columbia – Kára McCullough1st Runner-Up New Jersey – Chhavi Verg2nd Runner-Up Minnesota – Meridith GouldTop 5 Illinois – Whitney Wandland South Carolina – Megan GordonTop 10 Alaska – Alyssa London California – India Williams Missouri – Bayleigh Dayton New York – Hannah Lopa Tennessee – Allee-Sutton Hethcoat
Awards Award Contestant Miss Congeniality Missouri – Bayleigh Dayton Wyoming – Mikaela Shaw
Pageant Preliminary competition Prior to the final competition, the delegates compete in the preliminary competition, which involves private interviews with the judges and a presentation show where they compete in swimsuit and evening gown. It was held on May 11, 2017 on the official Miss USA YouTube channel and was hosted by Entertainment reporter and Miss Wisconsin USA 2009 Alex Wehrley and Deshauna Barber.
Judges
Halima Aden – Somali-American model and first woman to compete in a Miss USA state pageant wearing a hijab and burkini Maura McGreevy – IMG corporate community Carole Gist – Miss USA 1990 Nancy Lublin – CEO of Crisis Text Line Brook Lee – Miss USA 1997 and Miss Universe 1997 Nick Light – Vice president of Sony Music and Warner Bros. Records Vanessa Gringer – Director of business development at IMG
Finals For the first time since 2003, the number of finalists decreased to 10 from 15 in the previous year. The top 10 finalists compete in both swimsuit and evening gown, while the top 5 are in a qualifying question, and the final 3 are subjected in the final question round and a final runway, the winner is decided by a panel of judges.
Judges
Halima Aden – Somali-American model and first woman to compete in a Miss USA state pageant wearing a hijab and burkini Carson Kressley – TV personality, style expert, fashion designer and author Brook Lee – Miss USA 1997 and Miss Universe 1997 Nancy Lublin – Founder of Dress for Success Jeannie Mai – Style expert, philanthropist, and co-host of The Real Janet Mock – Author, television host and advocate
Contestants Contestant stats provided via the Miss Universe Organization. State/districtNameAgeHometownPlacementNotes Alabama Baylee Smith 20 Tuscaloosa Alaska Alyssa London27 AnchorageTop 10First Tlingit Miss Alaska USA Arizona Tommy Lynn Calhoun 27Tucson Arkansas Arynn Johnson 20 Hot Springs Previously Miss Arkansas Teen USA 2015 California India Williams 20Lafayette Top 10 Colorado Sabrina Janssen 21 Denver Connecticut Olga Litvinenko 27 Greenwich Previously Miss Connecticut Teen USA 2007 Delaware Mia Jones21Bear Previously Miss Delaware Teen USA 2014 District of Columbia Kára McCullough 25Washington, D.C.Miss USA 2017 Florida Linette De Los Santos 25 Miami Georgia DeAnna Johnson21 Hazlehurst Top 10 finalist on season eight of The Voice Hawaii Julie Kuo 23Honolulu Idaho Cassie Lewis 26Moscow Illinois Whitney Wandland 25 ChicagoTop 5 Chicago Bulls Luvabull Indiana Brittany Winchester 27 Indianapolis Iowa Kelsey Weier 26 West Des Moines Contestant on season 24 of The Bachelor and season 7 of Bachelor in Paradise Kansas Catherine Carmichael 26Manhattan Previously Miss Kansas World America 2015 Kentucky Madelynne Myers 22Louisville Louisiana Bethany Trahan 21 Lake Charles Maine Brooke Harris 26Lee Maryland Adrianna David 22Rockville Later Miss Maryland 2018 Massachusetts Julia Scaparotti 24 Peabody New England Patriots CheerleaderLater a contestant on Game of Clones and Beat Shazam Michigan Krista Ferguson 24 Detroit Minnesota Meridith Gould 22Minneapolis2nd Runner-up Previously Miss South Dakota's Outstanding Teen 2012Previously Miss South Dakota 2014 Mississippi Ashley Hamby 24Madison Missouri Bayleigh Dayton 23 Lee's SummitTop 10 First African-American Miss Missouri USALater a HouseGuest on Big Brother 20 Montana Brooke Bezanson 20 Missoula Nebraska Jasmine Fuelberth 20Norfolk Previously Miss Nebraska Teen USA 2013 Nevada Lauren York 23 Primm New Hampshire Sarah Mousseau 26Portsmouth New Jersey Chhavi Verg 20Edison 1st Runner-up New Mexico Ashley Mora 25Albuquerque Previously Miss New Mexico World 2015 New York Hannah Lopa 25Spencerport Top 10 North Carolina Katie Coble 27 Charlotte Previously Miss North Carolina Teen USA 2007 North Dakota Raquel Wellentin 24 Fargo Ohio Dinaleigh Baxter 24Winchester Oklahoma Alex Smith 20Mooreland Oregon Elizabeth Denny 26Roseburg Pennsylvania Cassandra Angst 23Feasterville Rhode Island Kelsey Swanson 23 Cranston South Carolina Megan Gordon23 North AugustaTop 5 Later Miss South Carolina World 2019 South Dakota Tessa Dee 26 Mitchell Previously Miss South Dakota 2013 Tennessee Allee-Sutton Hethcoat 25 FranklinTop 10 Texas Nancy Gonzalez 27 Freeport Utah Baylee Jensen 23 South Jordan Daughter of Miss USA 1989 Gretchen Polhemus Vermont Madison Cota 21 Bellows Falls Previously Miss Vermont Teen USA 2014 Virginia Jacqueline Carroll 23 Stanardsville Previously Miss Virginia Teen USA 2010 Washington Alex Carlson-Helo 23Mill Creek Previously Miss Washington Teen USA 2012 West Virginia Lauren Roush 22Mason Later a contestant of Are You the One? season 7Later Miss Pennsylvania World 2019 Wisconsin Skylar Witte 19Schofield Wyoming Mikaela Shaw 23Casper Previously Miss Wyoming 2015
International broadcasters Television : Fox Africa: DSTV Mzansi Magic (delayed broadcast) Asia-Pacific: Star World : Venevisión
General references
References
External links
Miss USA official website