Miss USA 2019 was the 68th Miss USA pageant, held at the Grand Sierra Resort in Reno, Nevada on May 2, 2019. The 2019 competition served as the second consecutive time that the pageant has been held concurrently with the Miss Teen USA competition. This was also the final pageant where it was televised on Fox.
The contest was won by Cheslie Kryst of North Carolina, who was crowned by Sarah Rose Summers of Nebraska. This was North Carolina's third time winning the Miss USA title, and its first in ten years. Kryst was the first non-consecutive African American to win the title and the third one in four years. Kryst represented the United States at Miss Universe 2019, placing in the top ten.
Contestants from fifty states and the District of Columbia competed in this edition. Nick Lachey and Vanessa Lachey served as hosts, while Lu Sierra served as commentator. T-Pain and Nick Lachey performed in this edition.
Background Location and date
On March 28, 2019, the Miss Universe Organization (MUO) confirmed that the pageant would be held on May 2 at the Grand Sierra Resort in Reno, Nevada. Shortly afterwards, it was confirmed that Miss USA 2018 hosts Nick Lachey and Vanessa Lachey would be returning to host the 2019 competition.
Following the announcement of Reno being selected as the competition's host city, it emerged that the MUO were originally planning on holding the competition in Honolulu, Hawaii. The plan was rejected by Hawaiian officials and relocated to Reno by the MUO after the Hawaii Tourism Authority (HTA) reported that they would be unable to secure the funds to host the competition that the MUO had requested, adding that they would be interested in hosting in the future.
Selection of participants Delegates from 50 states and the District of Columbia were selected in state pageants that began in August 2018 and ended in January 2019. The first state pageant was Alaska, held on August 4, 2018, and the final pageants were California, Kentucky and New Mexico, both held on January 27, 2019. Seven of them were former Miss Teen USA state winners, three of them were former Miss America state winners and two of them were former Miss America's Outstanding Teen state winners.
Results
Placements PlacementContestant Miss USA 2019 North Carolina – Cheslie Kryst1st runner-up New Mexico – Alejandra Gonzalez2nd runner-up Oklahoma – Triana Browne Top 5 Arkansas – Savannah Skidmore Nevada – Tianna Tuamoheloa Top 10 District of Columbia – Cordelia Cranshaw Florida – Nicolette Jennings Kansas – Alyssa Klinzing Maryland – Mariela Pepin Ohio – Alice Magoto Top 15 Hawaii – Lacie Choy Iowa – Baylee Drezek Louisiana – Victoria Paul Minnesota – Catherine Stanley Pennsylvania – Kailyn Marie Perez
Special awards Award Contestant Miss Congeniality Indiana – Tate Fritchley
Pageant Format Same as the previous year, during the final competition, the results of the preliminary competition — which consisted of the swimsuit competition, the evening gown competition, and the closed-door interview determined the fifteen semi-finalists who advanced at the first cut. The fifteen semi-finalists competed in the swimsuit competition, while 10 competed in the evening gown competition. Five finalists were chosen to competed in a question round regarding current affairs, while three finalists competed in the final question round and final walk.
Judges Nicole Feld – businesswoman, producer, and vice president for Feld Entertainment, Inc. Kim Kaupe – businesswoman and co-founder of The Superfan Company Demi-Leigh Nel-Peters – Miss Universe 2017 from South Africa Ukonwa Ojo – marketing executive for CoverGirl, Rimmel, and Vera Wang Amy Palmer – journalist and media entrepreneur Denise Quiñones – Miss Universe 2001 from Puerto Rico Hillary Schieve – politician and Mayor of Reno, Nevada Patricia Southall – philanthropist and Miss Virginia USA 1994
Contestants Fifty-one contestants competed for the title. State/district Contestant Age Hometown NotesAlabamaHannah McMurphy21TuscaloosaAlaskaJoEllen Walters25Eagle RiverArizonaSavannah Wix23Paradise ValleyPreviously Miss Arizona Teen USA 2014ArkansasSavannah Skidmore24Calico RockPreviously Miss Arkansas 2016CaliforniaErica Dann27San FranciscoColoradoMadison Dorenkamp26LamarConnecticutAcacia Courtney26Hamden Previously Miss Connecticut's Outstanding Teen 2009Previously Miss Connecticut 2014DelawareJolisa Copeman24MiddletownDistrict of ColumbiaCordelia Cranshaw26Washington, D.C.FloridaNicolette Jennings22ClearwaterGeorgiaKaterina Rozmajzl21AtlantaHawaiiLacie Choy20Honolulu IdahoShelby Brown25BoiseIllinoisAlexandra Plotz24GenevaPreviously Miss Illinois Teen USA 2012Later Miss Illinois World 2019IndianaTate Fritchley21EvansvilleIowaBaylee Drezek21DavenportKansasAlyssa Klinzing21OlathePreviously Miss Kansas Teen USA 2013Later Miss California Earth USA 2021KentuckyJordan Weiter22LouisvilleLouisianaVictoria Paul26AlexandriaContestant on season 24 of The Bachelor and season 7 of Bachelor in ParadiseMaineLexie Elston23WindhamMarylandMariela Pepin23SevernPreviously Miss Maryland Teen USA 2014Top 10 finalist at Miss World America 2017Contestant on season 25 of The Bachelor and season 7 of Bachelor in ParadiseMassachusettsKelly O'Grady28BostonMichiganAlyse Madej26Garden CityMinnesotaCat Stanley23BloomingtonPreviously Miss Minnesota Teen USA 2014MississippiMadeleine Overby21ColumbusFormer New Orleans Saintsation cheerleaderMissouriMiriah Jo Ludtke25St. LouisMontanaGrace Zitzer27DillonNebraskaLex Najarian25LincolnNevadaTianna Tuamoheloa26Las VegasNew HampshireAlexis Chinn22ManchesterPreviously Miss Northwest Earth United States 2016New JerseyManya Saaraswat21MarlboroLater Miss Pennsylvania World 2020New MexicoAlejandra Gonzalez26Las CrucesNew YorkFlorinda Kajtazi27YonkersNorth CarolinaCheslie Corrinne Kryst28CharlotteNorth DakotaSamantha Redding22BurlingtonOhioAlice Magoto21CincinnatiPreviously Miss Ohio 2016OklahomaTriana Browne26TulsaPreviously Miss Oklahoma 2017OregonNatalie Tonneson28PortlandPennsylvaniaKailyn Marie Perez27Camp HillPreviously Miss Florida World 2015Rhode IslandNicole Pallozzi23ProvidenceSouth CarolinaMaKenzie Divina21ClemsonSouth DakotaAbigail Merschman22Sioux FallsTennesseeSavana Hodge25NashvilleTexasAlayah Benavidez23San Antonio Previously Miss United States 2016Contestant on season 24 of The BachelorUtahAmanda Renée Giroux23Salt Lake City VermontBethany Garrow20RutlandVirginiaCourtney Lynne Smits22WoodbridgePreviously Miss Georgia Teen USA 2012WashingtonEvelyn Clark27CathlametWest VirginiaHaley Holloway24MorgantownPreviously Miss West Virginia Teen USA 2013WisconsinDanika Tramburg22HubertusWyomingAddison Treesh19Gillette Previously Miss Wyoming's Outstanding Teen 2014
Notes
References
External links
Miss USA official website