Miss USA 2020

Miss USA 2020
Date	November 9, 2020
Presenters	Akbar Gbaja-Biamila Allie LaForce Cheslie Kryst Christian Murphy
Entertainment	Haley Reinhart
Venue	Exhibition Center and the Soundstage, Graceland, Memphis, Tennessee
Broadcaster	FYI YouTube
Entrants	51
Placements	16
Winner	Asya Branch Mississippi
Congeniality	Imani Blackmon[1]  Washington
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Miss USA 2020 was the 69th Miss USA pageant. Originally scheduled to be held in spring 2020, the competition was postponed indefinitely due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was later rescheduled for November 9, 2020 at the Exhibition Centre and the Soundstage at Graceland in Memphis, Tennessee.^[2] Akbar Gbaja-Biamila and Allie LaForce served as hosts, while Cheslie Kryst and Christian Murphy served as backstage commentators, and Haley Reinhart performed. Cheslie Kryst of North Carolina crowned Asya Branch of Mississippi as her successor at the end of the event. This is Mississippi's first win at the Miss USA pageant. Branch represented the United States at the Miss Universe 2020 pageant and placed in the Top 21.

FYI served as the new broadcaster of the pageant, replacing Fox, which had broadcast the pageant since 2016.^[2][3] The show was also rebroadcast on November 18, 2020 on YouTube.^[4] The competition marked the first year that a new crown made by jeweler Mouawad is used at Miss USA, effectively retiring the Mikimoto Crown.^[5]

For a third consecutive year, the competition was held concurrently alongside the Miss Teen USA competition. This was the last Miss USA to be organized by Miss Universe Organization before being split into its separate organization beginning in Miss USA 2021.

Background

Location

Graceland in Memphis, Tennessee, the host venue of the Miss USA 2020 competition.

On August 30, 2020, Graceland announced on their schedule that the competition would be held on November 9 on their premises in Memphis, Tennessee.^[6] The MUO later confirmed that the competition would be hosted at Graceland the following day. This was the first time since Miss USA 1983 that the state of Tennessee would be hosting the pageant.^[2]

Hosts and performer

On October 22, it was announced that the competition would be hosted by Akbar Gbaja-Biamila and Allie LaForce, while Cheslie Kryst and Christian Murphy would serve as backstage correspondents. Gbaja-Biamila is a commentator on American Ninja Warrior and former professional football player, while LaForce formerly was crowned Miss Teen USA 2005, and has worked as a sports reporter for Fox and Turner Sports.^[7]

On the same day, American Idol alum Haley Reinhart was announced as the musical guest.^[a][8]

Selection of contestants

Delegates from 50 states and the District of Columbia were selected in state pageants which began in September 2019 and concluded in February 2020. The first state pageant was Texas, held on September 1, 2019, while the final pageant was Kentucky, held on February 1, 2020. Nine of these delegates were former Miss Teen USA state winners, six of them were former Miss America state winners, one delegate was a former Miss America's Outstanding Teen state winner, and one was former Miss Earth United States winner who competed at Miss Earth 2017.

Rachel Slawson, Miss Utah USA 2020, became the first openly LGBT woman to compete in Miss USA; Slawson identifies herself as queer.^[9][10] One state titleholder was appointed as a replacement after the original titleholder was unable to compete. Katie Bozner, the original Miss Wyoming USA 2020, resigned three weeks before Miss USA 2020 due to her academic obligations in optometry school. She was replaced by Lexi Revelli, who was the first runner-up of the Miss Wyoming USA 2020 pageant.^[11]

COVID-19 restrictions

The pageant was heavily impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Restrictions implemented included an audience of only 300 spectators for both the preliminary and final competitions, and daily temperature checks, COVID-19 testing and social distancing measures for contestants and staff members. Other in-person events such as pre-pageant activities had been cancelled, including press briefings from pageant commentators.^[12]

Results

The state map results of Miss USA 2020, colors shaded in each state

§ Voted into Top 16 by viewers.

Special award

Pageant

Preliminary round

Prior to the final competition, the delegates competed the preliminary competition, which the judges and a presentation show where they competed in swim wear and evening gown. It was held on November 6 at Graceland Exhibition Center and the Soundstage in Memphis hosted by Christian Murphy and Cheslie Kryst.^[13][14]

Finals

For the first time since Miss USA 2012, the number of finalists increased to 16, up from 15 in previous years. The sixteenth finalist was determined through an online vote from the viewing public. During the final competition, the top sixteen competed in swimsuit, and the top ten in evening gown. The top five format returned for the first time since Miss USA 2015, where the five finalists competed in two question rounds. The winner and her runners-up were determined by a panel of judges.

Judges

• Carolyn Aronson – businesswoman and hairstylist^[15]
• Lynnette Cole – Miss USA 2000 from Tennessee^[15]
• Abby Hornacek – Fox Nation journalist and media personality^[15]
• Gloria Mayfield Banks – motivational speaker, author, and entrepreneur^[15]
• Kimberly Pressler – Miss USA 1999 from New York^[15]
• Susan Yara – businesswoman and social media personality^[15]

Contestants

All 51 state titleholders have been crowned.^[16]

State	Contestant	Age[b]	Hometown	Placement	Notes
Alabama	Kelly Hutchinson[17]	23	Auburn	4th Runner-Up	Previously Miss Georgia's Outstanding Teen 2013[18]
Alaska	Hannah Carlile[19]	25	Fairbanks
Arizona	Yesenia Vidales[20]	24	Phoenix
Arkansas	Haley Pontius[21]	24	Houston
California	Allyshia Gupta[22]	26	Los Angeles	Top 10
Colorado	Emily DeMure[23]	22	Boulder
Connecticut	Chelsea Demby[24]	24	Farmington
Delaware	Katie Guevarra[25]	27	Middletown
District of Columbia	Cierra Jackson[26]	28	Washington, D.C.	Top 16	Previously Miss District of Columbia 2016
Florida	Monique Evans[27]	28	Naples		Previously Miss Texas 2014
Georgia	Alyssa Beasley[28]	22	Brunswick	Top 16	Previously Miss Georgia 2017[29]
Hawaii	Samantha Neyland[30]	24	Honolulu	Top 10	First African-American Miss Hawaii USA Previously Miss Hawaii Teen USA 2013
Idaho	Kim Layne[31]	26	Nampa	1st Runner-Up	Previously Miss Idaho Teen USA 2012
Illinois	Olivia Pura[32]	22	Chicago	Top 10	Previously Miss Illinois Teen USA 2016
Indiana	Alexis Lete[33]	24	New Albany	3rd Runner-Up
Iowa	Morgan Kofoid[34]	23	Leon		Previously Miss Iowa Teen USA 2013
Kansas	Hayden Brax[35]	21	Leawood
Kentucky	Lexie Iles[36]	24	Louisville
Louisiana	Mariah Clayton[37]	24	Zachary	Top 16
Maine	Julia Van Steenberghe[38]	22	Old Town
Maryland	Taelyr Robinson[39]	28	Annapolis		Starred in The Vineyard
Massachusetts	Sabrina Victor[40]	23	Brockton
Michigan	Chanel Johnson[41]	27	Detroit
Minnesota	Taylor Fondie[42]	22	Blaine		Former Minnesota Vikings Cheerleader
Mississippi	Asya Branch[43]	22	Booneville	Miss USA 2020	First African-American Miss Mississippi USA Previously Miss Mississippi 2018[44]
Missouri	Megan Renee Kelly[45]	24	Kansas City	Top 16
Montana	Merissa Underwood[46]	28	Missoula
Nebraska	Megan Swanson[47]	27	Omaha		Previously Miss Nebraska 2014
Nevada	Victoria Olona	27	Las Vegas	Top 16	Fan vote winner
New Hampshire	Alyssa Fernandes[48]	26	Merrimack
New Jersey	Gina Mellish[49]	21	Oceanport	Top 10	Previously Miss New Jersey Teen USA 2016
New Mexico	Cecilia Rodriguez[50]	28	Las Cruces
New York	Andreia Gibau[51]	25	Brooklyn	Top 10	Previously Miss Earth United States 2017
North Carolina	Jane Axhoj[52]	22	Charlotte		Previously Miss North Carolina Teen USA 2015
North Dakota	Macy Christianson[53]	24	Minot		Previously Miss North Dakota 2016[54]
Ohio	Sthephanie Miranda[55]	26	Campbell	Top 16	Later Top 6 at Miss Universe Puerto Rico 2021
Oklahoma	Mariah Jane Davis[56]	24	Norman	2nd Runner-Up
Oregon	Katerina Villegas[57]	27	Hillsboro
Pennsylvania	Victoria Piekut[58]	24	Pittsburgh
Rhode Island	Jonét Nichelle[59]	25	North Providence		Former New England Patriots Cheerleader
South Carolina	Hannah Jane Curry[60]	21	Greenville
South Dakota	Kalani Jorgensen[61]	26	Sioux Falls		Previously Miss South Dakota Teen USA 2012
Tennessee	Justice Enlow[62]	26	Nashville
Texas	Taylor Kessler[63]	24	Houston
Utah	Rachel Slawson[10]	25	Provo		First openly LGBT person to compete at Miss USA[9][10][64]
Vermont	Shannah Weller[65]	24	Middlebury
Virginia	Susie Evans	27	Poquoson		Previously Miss Virginia Teen USA 2011 Later contestant on season 26 of The Bachelor
Washington	Imani Blackmon[66]	25	Tacoma		Previously Miss Washington Teen USA 2013.
West Virginia	Charlotte Bellotte[67]	26	Charles Town
Wisconsin	Gabriella Deyi[68]	28	Madison
Wyoming	Lexi Revelli[11]	26	Lyman		Originally first runner-up, but assumed the title after winner Katie Bozner resigned the title three weeks before Miss USA due to her academic obligations.

Notes

References