Miss USA 2010

Miss USA 2010
Date	May 16, 2010[1]
Presenters	Natalie Morales, Curtis Stone, Joan Rivers, Melissa Rivers
Entertainment	Boys Like Girls, Trace Adkins
Venue	The AXIS, Las Vegas, Nevada
Broadcaster	NBC, Telemundo
Entrants	51
Placements	15
Winner	Rima Fakih Michigan
Congeniality	Belinda Wright  Nebraska
Photogenic	Audrey Moore  Alabama

Miss USA 2010 Rima Fakih

Miss USA 2010, the 59th Miss USA pageant, was held at the Theatre for the Performing Arts in Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada on May 16, 2010. Kristen Dalton of North Carolina, crowned her successor, Rima Fakih of Michigan as Miss USA 2010 at the end of this event.

Fakih represented the United States at the Miss Universe 2010 pageant in Las Vegas on August 23, 2010 where she did not advance to the semifinals; becoming the fourth Miss USA to do so in Miss Universe history (the last time was Shauntay Hinton in 2002).

Representatives of the 50 states and the District of Columbia competed for the title in the pageant, which was broadcast live on NBC. Fakih's victory, however, was controversial with charges of bias facing the Miss USA pageant after Morgan Elizabeth Woolard, who was runner-up, defended Arizona's anti-illegal immigration bill.^[2][3][4]

The pageant was co-hosted by Australian celebrity chef Curtis Stone and Today show correspondent Natalie Morales.^[5] Color commentary was provided by Joan and Melissa Rivers.^[5] Pop rock band Boys Like Girls performed during the swimsuit competition and country music star Trace Adkins performed during the evening gown competition.^[5] Stone, Adkins, and both Rivers have all appeared on Donald Trump's television show Celebrity Apprentice.

Kristen Dalton and Chet Buchanan hosted the presentation show.^[6] For the first time, the preliminary competition was webcast live via Ustream on May 12, 2010, following a precedent set at the 2009 Miss Universe pageant. The 2010 pageant drew the notice of conservative commentators for releasing a set of "exotic and revealing" promotional photos.^[7]

Pageants were held to select the representative for each state between June 2009 and January 2010. During the final show on May 16, the fifteen delegates with the highest average score from the preliminary competition were announced. The top fifteen competed in the swimsuit competition. The top ten delegates from swimsuit competed in evening gown. The top five delegates from the evening gown competition (not averaged composite scores from both competitions) competed in the final question round to determine the winner. The judges' composite score was shown after each round of competition for the fourth time since 2002.

Results

Placements

Map showing placings by state.

Special awards

Final scores

Delegates

State	Name	Hometown	Age	Height	Placement	Award	Notes
Alabama	Audrey Moore	Birmingham	20	5'8"	Top 10	Miss Photogenic
Alaska	Sarah Temple	Eagle River	21	6'0"			Sister of Veronica Temple Miss Alaska's Outstanding Teen 2009
Arizona	Brittany Bell	Chandler	22	5'8"			Phoenix Suns dancer,Later Miss Guam Universe 2014
Arkansas	Adrielle Churchill	Dover	24	5'8"	Top 15		Previously Miss National Sweetheart 2005
California	Nicole Johnson	Westlake Village	24	5'7"	Top 10
Colorado	Jessica Hartman	Pueblo	19	5'10"	3rd Runner Up		Won Miss Intercontinental in October 2011
Connecticut	Ashley Bickford	Torrington	25	5'8"			Previously Miss Connecticut Teen USA 2002 and Top 10 at Miss Teen USA 2002. Previously Miss Rhode Island 2007 and Preliminary Swimsuit Winner and Miss Photogenic at Miss America 2008.
Delaware	Julie Citro	Wilmington	26	5'8"
District of Columbia	MacKenzie Green	Washington, D.C.	21	5'11"
Florida	Megan Clementi	Orlando	26	5'6"			Orlando Magic Dancer
Georgia	Cassady Lance	Savannah	25	5'8"			Previously Miss Georgia Teen USA 2003
Hawaii	Renee Nobriga	Haleiwa	26	5'10"
Idaho	Jessca Hellwinkel	Boise	19	5'7"
Illinois	Ashley Bradarich	Homer Glen	24	5'8"			Sister of Carlyn Bradarich, Miss Iowa USA 2014
Indiana	Allison Biehle	North Vernon	21	5'6"
Iowa	Katherine Connors	Bettendorf	20	5'8"			Atlanta Hawks Cheerleader
Kansas	Bethany Gerber	Winfield	21	5'9"	Top 15		Featured in January 2011 issue of Industrial Engineer about her titleholding role.
Kentucky	Kindra Clark	Mount Washington	20	5'6"
Louisiana	Sara Brooks	Lafayette	22	5'8"
Maine	Katie Whittier	New Gloucester	26	6'1"	4th Runner Up
Maryland	Simone Feldman	North Potomac	23	5'9"
Massachusetts	Lacey Wilson	Boston	26	5'10"			Previously Miss Illinois Teen USA 2002
Michigan	Rima Fakih	Dearborn	24	5'9"	MISS USA 2010		Born in Lebanon
Minnesota	Courtney Basara	Duluth	20	5'9"
Mississippi	Breanne Ponder	Mount Olive	20	5'7"	Top 10
Missouri	Ashley Strohmier	Jefferson City	21	5'8"	Top 10
Montana	Annie Anseth	Billings	20	5'5"
Nebraska	Belinda Wright	Scotia	21	5'6"	Top 15	Miss Congeniality
Nevada	Julianna Erdesz	Reno	25	5'8"			Previously Miss Nevada 2008
New Hampshire	Nicole Houde	Manchester	24	5'7"
New Jersey	Chenoa Greene	Atco	24	5'11"
New Mexico	Rosanne Aguilar	Sunland Park	24	5'8"			Sister of Raelene Aguilar, Miss New Mexico USA 2008 & Miss New Mexico Teen USA 2000.
New York	Davina Reeves	Harlem	26	5'9"
North Carolina	Nadia Moffett	High Point	22	5'7"
North Dakota	Taylor Kearns	Fargo	20	5'7"			Previously Miss North Dakota Teen USA 2007
Ohio	Amanda Tempel	St. Bernard	20	5'10"
Oklahoma	Morgan Woolard	Moore	21	5'9"	1st Runner Up		Previously Miss Oklahoma Teen USA 2006 and Top 15 at Miss Teen USA 2006.
Oregon	Kate Paul	Mitchell	24	5'5"
Pennsylvania	Gina Cerilli	Greensburg	24	5'8"	Top 15
Rhode Island	Kristina Primavera	Narragansett	23	5'9"			Previously Miss Rhode Island Teen USA 2003
South Carolina	Rachel Law	Greenville	21	5'8"
South Dakota	Emily Miller	Irene	22	5'8"
Tennessee	Tucker Perry	Franklin	21	5'10"	Top 10
Texas	Kelsey Moore	El Paso	19	6'1"
Utah	Katya Feinstein	Centerville	20	5'8"			Previously Miss Utah Teen USA 2008
Vermont	Nydelis Ortiz	Essex	20	5'6"
Virginia	Samantha Casey	Jeffersonton	21	5'9"	2nd Runner Up		Previously Miss Virginia Teen USA 2006 and 3rd Runner-up at Miss Teen USA 2006
Washington	Tracy Turnure	Seattle	24	6'2"			Twin sister of Tara Turnure, Miss Washington USA 2009.
West Virginia	Erica Goldsmith	Mineral Wells	23	5'4"
Wisconsin	Courtney Lynn Lopez	Franksville	20	5'7"			Previously Miss Wisconsin Teen USA 2008
Wyoming	Claire Schreiner	Gillette	23	5'8"	Top 15

Historical significance

• Michigan won Miss USA for the third time. The others two were in 1990 and 1993.
• Oklahoma made the top five for third time in seven years. It was the first time this state made the final two since 1989.
• Samantha Casey became the twelfth contestant to place in the top five at both Miss Teen USA and Miss USA. This is the first time in 17 years that Virginia has made the top five, and was their 4th best placement ever.
• Colorado placed in the top five for the first time since 1963, recorded their first placement in ten years and only their third since 1969.
• Maine made the top five for the first time, and recorded only their sixth placement in the 59-year history of the pageant.
• Alabama, Missouri and Tennessee have made the top ten each of the past three times they've made the cut.
• California has now placed six consecutive years, and Tennessee has placed five consecutive years.
• After failing to place between 1990 and 2005 Mississippi has placed three times in the past six years, placing top ten or higher each year.
• Arkansas did not place from 1982 to 2005 and has now also placed three times in the past six years, and has recorded back-to-back placings for the first time since the 1950s.
• Nebraska placed for the first time in thirty years, which was only their third placement since 1961. This was their first Miss Congeniality award.
• Alabama won their third Miss Photogenic award and their second in four years.
• This was the first year since 1995 that the Miss Congeniality winner also placed in the pageant, and also the first time since 1995 that both award winners placed.
• Wyoming placed for the first time since 1986, recording only their second placement ever.
• Pennsylvania placed for only the third time since 1993.
• Morgan Woolard (Oklahoma) and Samantha Casey (Virginia) became the 23rd and 24th former teens to place at both Miss USA and Miss Teen USA.
• Kelsey Moore (Texas) failed to make the finals, breaking Texas's nine year streak of placements from 2001 to 2009^[8]
• Three of the states in the top five are directed by former Miss USA state titleholders: Michigan (Melissa Proctor, competed as Miss Ohio USA at Miss USA 1990), Virginia (Kimberly Johnson, competed as Miss Virginia USA at Miss USA 1989) & Maine (Mackenzie Davis, competed as Miss Maine USA at Miss USA 2004). Other girls in the top fifteen directed by former titleholders are Alabama & Mississippi (Rhonda Garrett Gilliam, competed as Miss Alabama USA at Miss USA 1987), Tennessee (Kim Greenwood, competed as Miss Tennessee USA at Miss USA 1989) and California (Shanna Moakler, Miss Rhode Island Teen USA 1992, Miss New York USA 1995 and Miss USA 1995).

Judges

Preliminary judges

• Billie Causieestko
• Chip Lightman
• Colleen Grillo
• Guy McCarter
• Leigh Rossini
• Rich Thurber
• Scott Lochmus

Final judges

• Carmelo Anthony - NBA’s Denver Nuggets who is a two-time Olympic medalist.
• Tara Conner - Miss USA 2006 from Kentucky
• Paula Deen - Best-selling author, chef and host of four shows on The Food Network.
• Oscar Nunez - Star of NBC’s hit comedy series, “The Office”.
• Phil Ruffin - American businessman and real estate mogul.
• Suze Yalof-Schwart - Executive Fashion Editor-at-Large of Glamour.
• Melania Trump - Model who has appeared on multiple magazine covers including Vogue and the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue.
• Johnny Weir - Three-time National Champion figure skater and Olympian.

Background music

Preliminary

• Special Performance: "Soundcheck" by Sean Van der Wilt

Telecast

• Contestants Introduction: "Telephone" by Lady Gaga featuring Beyoncé and "Tik Tok" by Ke$ha (background music)
• Swimsuit Competition: "Heart Heart Heartbreak" by Boys Like Girls (live performance)
• Evening Gown Competition: "This Ain't No Love Song" by Trace Adkins (live performance)

Crossovers

Ten delegates have previously competed in either the Miss Teen USA or Miss America pageant, including one who had competed in both..

Nine delegates who have previously held a Miss Teen USA state title are:

• Ashley Bickford (Connecticut) - Miss Connecticut Teen USA 2002 (Top 10 Semi-finalist at Miss Teen USA 2002), Miss Rhode Island 2007
• Lacey Wilson (Massachusetts) - Miss Illinois Teen USA 2002
• Cassady Lance (Georgia) - Miss Georgia Teen USA 2003
• Kristina Primavera (Rhode Island) - Miss Rhode Island Teen USA 2003
• Morgan Woolard (Oklahoma) - Miss Oklahoma Teen USA 2006 (Top 15 at Miss Teen USA 2006)
• Samantha Casey (Virginia) - Miss Virginia Teen USA 2006 (3rd runner-up at Miss Teen USA 2006)
• Taylor Kearns (North Dakota) - Miss North Dakota Teen USA 2007
• Katya Feinstin (Utah) - Miss Utah Teen USA 2008
• Courtney Lopez (Wisconsin) - Miss Wisconsin Teen USA 2008

Delegates who have previously held a Miss America state title were:

• Ashley Bickford (Connecticut) - Miss Connecticut Teen USA 2002 (Top 10 Semi-finalist at Miss Teen USA 2002), Miss Rhode Island 2007
• Julianna Erdesz (Nevada) - Miss Nevada 2008

Contestant notes

• Tracy Turnure, Miss Washington USA, was crowned by her twin sister Tara Turnure. This marks the first time that twins have won back-to-back at a Miss USA state pageant.^[9]
• Belinda Wright, Miss Nebraska USA, returned home on May 8 after her father was killed in a farming accident. She later returned to Las Vegas prior to the preliminary competition on May 11.^[10]

Prize package

Miss Congeniality: The award is for a contestant that exemplifies respect and admiration of the contestant's peers, who voted for her as the most congenial. She was awarded a $1,000 cash prize as well as a Flip MinoHD Video Camcorder and jewelry from Diamond Nexus Labs.

Miss Photogenic: The general public voted on www.nbc.com for the contestant who exemplifies beauty through the lens of a camera. She was awarded a $1,000 cash prize as well as a Flip MinoHD Video Camcorder and jewelry from Diamond Nexus Labs.

Miss USA 2010: A custom diamond tiara and jewelry by Diamond Nexus Labs; a shoe collection from Nina Footwear; a one-year scholarship from the New York Film Academy; hair care products and accessories from Farouk Systems; eveningwear wardrobe by Sherri Hill; a Flip MinoHD Video Camcorder; a collection of luggage by Heys USA Inc.; luxury accommodations in a New York City apartment for the duration of her reign, including living expenses; gym membership to Gravity Fitness; hair services from John Barrett Salon; modeling portfolio by photographer Fadil Berisha; dermatology services from Dr. Cheryl Thellman-Karcher; health and nutrition consultation by Tanya Zuckerbrot, MS, RD; dental services by Dr. Jan Linhart, D.D.S.; casting opportunities and professional representation by the Miss Universe Organization; a year-long salary as Miss USA; extensive travel opportunities representing sponsors and charitable partners; year-long consultation with a fashion stylist and access to a personal appearance wardrobe and the opportunity to represent the USA at Miss Universe 2010 this summer in Las Vegas.^[11]

References

External links

• Miss USA official website