Miss USA 2021 was the 70th Miss USA pageant, held at the Paradise Cove Theater of River Spirit Casino Resort in Tulsa, Oklahoma on November 29, 2021. The edition marked the first year of the competition under Crystle Stewart's directorship.
At the end of the event, Asya Branch of Mississippi crowned Elle Smith of Kentucky as Miss USA 2021. This was Kentucky's first title in fifteen years. Smith is also the third consecutive African-American to win the title, and the fifth one in six years. Smith went on to represent the United States at the Miss Universe 2021 pageant, placing in the top ten. The scheduling for the succeeding year's pageant that Smith would serve the pageant for ten months and four days as one of the shortest reigning titleholders in the pageant.
The competition was hosted by Zuri Hall and Patrick Ta, while Nicole Adamo served as a lounge host. American rapper Ja Rule performed in this edition. This was the second consecutive year that the pageant was broadcast on FYI, and the first to be streamed live on Hulu.
Background On December 31, 2020, it was announced on Good Morning America that Miss USA and Miss Teen USA would be split from the Miss Universe Organization into a new organization under the helm of Crystle Stewart. Stewart had previously been crowned Miss USA 2008.
Location
On April 20, 2021, it was confirmed by the Muscogee (Creek) Nation that the 2021 edition of Miss USA and Miss Teen USA would be held at the Paradise Cove Theater of River Spirit Casino Resort in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The competition spanned four days, beginning on November 26 and concluding on November 29, 2021. The event reverted to its full spectator capacity after the previous event was downsized to 300 spectators as a precaution to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic in the United States.
Impact of the COVID-19 on state pageants
The COVID-19 pandemic affected the schedule of Miss USA 2020, postponing it from spring 2020 to November 2020. Each state organization had initially planned to schedule their 2021 pageants for the fall 2020 and winter 2020–21, the typical timeframe for state pageants dating back to the 1970s. However, most state pageants were later rescheduled to spring and summer 2021 to avoid scheduling conflicts with Miss America 2022 state pageants typically took place in most of June 2021, and were further extended to late summer and early fall due to the concerns over the possibility onto the threats of COVID-19 resurgence.
2021 state pageants altered due to COVID-19 State Original date New date taken Texas Texas September 6, 2020 September 4, 2021 Wisconsin Wisconsin September 13, 2020 May 23, 2021 Wyoming Wyoming September 19, 2020 June 19, 2021 Michigan Michigan September 26, 2020 August 7, 2021 North Dakota North Dakota September 26, 2020 April 25, 2021 South Dakota South Dakota September 27, 2020 April 25, 2021 Alabama Alabama October 10, 2020 January 10, 2021 Tennessee Tennessee October 10, 2020 March 13, 2021 Iowa Iowa October 11, 2020 May 8, 2021 Rhode Island Rhode Island October 11, 2020 August 8, 2021 Louisiana Louisiana October 17, 2020 January 16, 2021 West Virginia West Virginia October 18, 2020 July 11, 2021 Mississippi Mississippi October 24, 2020 March 13, 2021 Arkansas Arkansas October 25, 2020 May 23, 2021 Colorado Colorado October 25, 2020 August 15, 2021 Vermont Vermont November 1, 2020 June 6, 2021 North Carolina North Carolina November 7, 2020 March 6, 2021 Hawaii Hawaii November 8, 2020 December 10, 2020 Maine Maine November 8, 2020 June 20, 2021 Maryland Maryland November 8, 2020 July 25, 2021 Pennsylvania Pennsylvania November 8, 2020 July 31, 2021 Ohio Ohio November 14, 2020 July 10, 2021 Georgia Georgia November 21, 2020 February 20, 2021 Oregon Oregon November 21, 2020 March 20, 2021 South Carolina South Carolina November 21, 2020 March 6, 2021 Connecticut Connecticut November 22, 2020 June 6, 2021 Illinois Illinois November 22, 2020 June 27, 2021 Indiana Indiana November 22, 2020 July 26, 2021 Massachusetts Massachusetts November 22, 2020 June 13, 2021 New Jersey New Jersey November 22, 2020 August 1, 2021 Washington (state) Washington November 22, 2020 March 21, 2021 Minnesota Minnesota November 29, 2020 August 1, 2021 New Hampshire New Hampshire November 29, 2020 June 13, 2021 Missouri Missouri December 6, 2020 May 1, 2021 Oklahoma Oklahoma December 20, 2020 June 5, 2021 Arizona Arizona January 3, 2021 July 11, 2021 Washington, D.C. District of Columbia January 9, 2021 July 17, 2021 Virginia Virginia January 9, 2021 July 17, 2021 Nebraska Nebraska January 10, 2021 May 16, 2021 Nevada Nevada January 10, 2021 June 27, 2021 Kansas Kansas January 17, 2021 April 11, 2021 New York New York January 17, 2021 August 20, 2021 New Mexico New Mexico January 24, 2021 August 15, 2021 Kentucky Kentucky January 30, 2021 May 22, 2021
Due to restrictions implemented in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, numerous health and safety guidelines have been implemented for contestants, production members, and audiences at state pageants, such as taking a negative COVID-19 test and following social distancing. Additionally, a number of state pageants have had to alter their initial venue choices due to shut-downs implemented by their governor; either held behind closed doors such as Alaska and Hawaii, with only the contestants and staff were present; most state pageants had limited audition capacity with applying social distancing measures, or some with full capacity.
Selection of contestants Delegates from the fifty states and District of Columbia were selected in state pageants which began in September 2020. The first state pageants were Idaho and Montana, held together on their original dates of September 27, 2020, and the last state pageant was California, held on September 12, 2021, 350 days after the start of the 2021 pageant season, became the longest in the Miss USA history.
Eleven delegates previously competed in Miss Teen USA and Miss America, in which eight delegates are former Miss Teen USA state winners and three are former Miss America state winners. Kataluna Enriquez, Miss Nevada USA 2021, became the first openly transgender woman to compete in Miss USA.
Results
Placements PlacementContestantMiss USA 2021Kentucky – Elle Smith1st Runner-Up North Dakota – Caitlyn Vogel 2nd Runner-Up Florida – Ashley Cariño3rd Runner-Up Illinois – Sydni BennettTop 8 Maryland – Layilah Nasser North Carolina – Madison Bryant South Carolina – Marley Stokes Texas – Victoria HinojosaTop 16 Kansas – Gracie Hunt Louisiana – Tanya Crowe Mississippi – Bailey Anderson Nebraska – Erika Etzelmiller South Dakota – Caroline Pettey Tennessee – Elizabeth Pistole Utah – JessiKate Riley Virginia – Christina Thompson
§ – Voted into top 16 through the online vote
Special awards AwardContestant Best State CostumeWinner Tennessee – Elizabeth PistoleSecond Place Utah – JessiKate RileyThird Place Oklahoma – Albreuna GonzaqueMiss CongenialityMichigan – Taylor HaleMiss PhotogenicPennsylvania – Sydney Robertson
Pageant After the last year's event was impacted by the still-ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, events such as pre-pageant activities and press briefings from pageant commentators were returned across Tulsa.
Preliminary competition Prior to the final competition, the delegates competed the preliminary competition, where they competed in swim wear and evening gown. It was held on November 26 at River Spirit Casino Resort hosted by Nicole Adamo and Asya Branch.
Finals As was the case the prior edition, 16 contestants were chosen to advance to the semifinals; 15 of the semifinalists were chosen by the preliminary judges, while one was chosen through the online fan vote. The Top 16 then competed in both swimsuit and evening gown, before eight were chosen to advance. The Top 8 participated in a group discussion round conducted in two groups of four, and afterwards answered their final questions from the judges. The winner and her runners-up were announced afterwards.
Judges Preliminary Paul Anthony – American hairstylist Elan Biongiorno – American celebrity make-up artist LeeAnne Locken – American reality television personality and Miss Arizona USA 1989 Pamela Price – American marathon runner Chuck Steelman – American fashion analyst and expert
Finals Natalía Barulích – Croatian-Cuban model, social media influencer, and singer Sophie Elgort – American photographer Chloe Flower – American composer and classical pianist Ty Hunter – American personal stylist Haley Kalil – American model and Miss Minnesota USA 2014 Alton Mason – American model Pascal Mouawad – Lebanese jeweler, businessman, and CEO of Mouawad Oliver Trevena – English actor and television presenter
Contestants Fifty-one contestants competed for the title.
State/district Contestant Age Hometown Notes Alabama Alexandria Flanigan 25 Cullman Alaska Madison Lea Edwards 25 Anchorage Arizona Cassidy Jo Jacks 27 Mesa Later contestant on season 1 of Farmer Wants a Wife Arkansas Stephanie Barber 23 Fayetteville California Sabrina Lewis 24 BerkeleyLater Miss California 2023 Colorado Olivia Lorenzo 20 Fort Collins Connecticut Amanda Torchia 25 Middlebury Delaware Drew Sanclemente 25 Odessa District of Columbia Sasha Perea 28 Washington, D.C.Florida Ashley Ann Cariño Barreto 27 KissimmeeLater Miss Universe Puerto Rico 2022 Georgia Cora Griffen 25 Columbus Hawaii Allison Chu 27 Honolulu Previously Miss Hawaii 2016Sister of Julianne Chu, Miss Hawaii USA 2018 Idaho Katarina Schweitzer 27 Boise Illinois Sydni Bennett 20 Algonquin Previously Miss Illinois Teen USA 2018 Indiana A'Niyah Birdsong 26 Anderson Iowa Katie Wadman 21 Iowa City Kansas Gracie Hunt 22 Overland Park Daughter of Clark Hunt and Tavia Shackles, Miss Kansas USA 1993, and granddaughter of Lamar Hunt Kentucky Elle Smith 23 Louisville Louisiana Tanya Crowe 28 Amite City Professional cheerleader for the New Orleans Saintsations Maine VeronicaIris Bates 21 Portland Active member of the United States Air Force Maryland Layilah Nasser 26 Montgomery Village Massachusetts Sarah DeSouza 25 Dracut Michigan Taylor Mackenzie Hale 26 DetroitLater winner of Big Brother 24 and America's Favorite Houseguest Minnesota Katarina Spasojevic 20 Minnetonka Mississippi Bailey Anderson 22 Hurley Missouri Joye Forrest 26 Spanish Lake Former professional cheerleader for the Los Angeles Laker Girls Montana Jami Forseth 24 Huntley Previously Miss Montana Teen USA 2016 Nebraska Erika Etzelmiller 24 Lincoln Previously Miss Nebraska Teen USA 2016 Nevada Kataluna Patricia Enriquez 27 Las Vegas First openly transgender woman to compete at Miss USA New Hampshire Taylor Fogg 26 Newbury New Jersey Celinda Ortega 26 Fair Lawn New Mexico Christa Schafer 26 Las Cruces New York Briana Siaca 27 Brentwood North Carolina Madison Bryant 24 Fayetteville North Dakota Caitlyn Vogel 21 Minot Previously Miss North Dakota Teen USA 2019 Ohio Nicole Wess 23 Cincinnati Oklahoma Albreuna Dominique Gonzaque 28 Oklahoma City Oregon Allison Cook 27 Portland Previously Miss Oregon 2013 Pennsylvania Sydney Robertson 24 Williamsport Previously Miss Pennsylvania Teen USA 2014 Rhode Island Karly Laliberte 27 Pawtucket South Carolina Marley Stokes 24 Lexington Previously Miss South Carolina Teen USA 2016 South Dakota Caroline Pettey 27 Rapid City Tennessee Elizabeth Pistole 21 Franklin Texas Victoria Hinojosa 22 McAllen Granddaughter of U.S. Representative Rubén HinojosaUtahJessiKate Riley25BeaverPreviously Miss Utah's Outstanding Teen 2014Previously Miss Utah 2017 Vermont Joanna Nagle 27 Colchester Virginia Christina Thompson 25 Leesburg Previously Miss New Jersey Teen USA 2013Daughter of Hallie Bonnell, Miss Ohio USA 1987 Washington Christine Brodie 26 Seattle West Virginia Alexis Bland 22 Parkersburg Wisconsin Samantha Keaton 20 Milwaukee Wyoming Mackenzie Kern 21 Casper Previously Miss Wyoming Teen USA 2018 Later Miss Wyoming 2023
Notes
References
External links
Miss USA official website