Miss USA 2011

Miss USA 2011, the 60th anniversary of the Miss USA pageant, was held at the Theatre for the Performing Arts in Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada on June 19, 2011. Miss USA 2010, Rima Fakih of Michigan crowned her successor, Alyssa Campanella of California, at the end of this event.[3] Miss USA 2011 will represent the United States at the Miss Universe 2011 pageant in São Paulo, Brazil on September 12, 2011. For the first time ever, one of the sixteen semifinalists was selected exclusively by fans via online voting and SMS messaging. Due to this, the competition formats were changed to Top 16, Top 8 and Top 4.

Placements

Final results Contestant

Miss USA 2011

California - Alyssa Campanella

1st runner-up

Tennessee - Ashley Durham

2nd runner-up

Alabama - Madeline Mitchell

3rd runner-up

Texas - Ana Rodriguez

Top 8

Hawaii - Angela Byrd

Maine - Ashley Lynn Marble

Maryland - Allyn Rose

South Carolina - Courtney Turner

Top 16

Arizona - Brittany Brannon

Florida - Lisette Garcia

Georgia - Kaylin Reque

Indiana - Jillian Wunderlich

Missouri - Hope Driskill

New Mexico - Brittany Toll

New York - Amber Collins

Utah - Jamie Crandall

Historical significance

Alyssa Campanella becomes the third known Miss USA with red hair, although it should be noted that this is not her natural hair color.

Campanella also is the highest ranked state delegate at a Miss Teen USA competition (1st runner-up in 2007) to win the Miss USA title outright. (Only one Miss Teen USA winner has ever held the Miss USA title, and it was inherited, not won outright. This was achieved by Miss USA 1997 Brandi Sherwood of Idaho)

California won Miss USA for the sixth time. The last winner was Shannon Marketic in 1992.

Tennessee made its sixth straight placement at Miss USA and its highest since Rachel Smith won in 2007.

Alabama made its highest placement at Miss USA since coming in 1st runner-up in 2003.

Texas made its highest placement at Miss USA since Crystle Stewart won in 2008.

New Mexico's Brittany Toll becomes the first state delegate to make it past the first elimination in the history of Miss USA due to new media technology (internet/SMS vote). New Mexico last placed in 2004.

Titleholders Celebration

As part of the pageant's 60th anniversary, 36 Miss USA titleholders were in attendance at this year's pageant. Some of those in attendance are listed below.

Myrna Hansen - Miss USA 1953

Miriam Stevenson - Miss Universe 1954

Charlotte Sheffield - Miss USA 1957

Terry Lynn Huntingdon - Miss USA 1959

Marite Ozers - Miss USA 1963

Bobbie Johnson - Miss USA 1964

Sue Ann Downey - Miss USA 1965

Sylvia Hitchcock - Miss Universe 1967

Wendy Dascomb - Miss USA 1969

Tanya Wilson - Miss USA 1972

Karen Morrison - Miss USA 1974

Barbara Peterson - Miss USA 1976

Kimberly Tomes - Miss USA 1977

Judi Andersen - Miss USA 1978

Jineane Ford - Miss USA 1980

Terri Utley - Miss USA 1982

Julie Hayek - Miss USA 1983

Gretchen Polhemus - Miss USA 1989

Carole Gist - Miss USA 1990

Shannon Marketic - Miss USA 1992

Kenya Moore - Miss USA 1993

Shanna Moakler - Miss USA 1995

Brook Lee - Miss Universe 1997

Brandi Sherwood - Miss USA 1997

Kimberly Pressler - Miss USA 1999

Kandace Krueger - Miss USA 2001

Susie Castillo - Miss USA 2003 (as co-presenter)

Shandi Finnessey - Miss USA 2004

Chelsea Cooley - Miss USA 2005

Tara Conner - Miss USA 2006

Rachel Smith - Miss USA 2007

Crystle Stewart - Miss USA 2008

Kristen Dalton - Miss USA 2009

Rima Fakih - Miss USA 2010 (as outgoing titleholder)

Alyssa Campanella - Miss USA 2011 (as current titleholder)

Judges

Preliminary Judges

BJ Coleman

Brian Fitterer

Christie Bear

Colleen Grillo

Fred Nelson

Lauren Ivester

Mark Rogers

Valerie Nome

Wayne Bernath

Final Judges

Tyson Chandler

Rocco DiSpirito

Mariel Hemingway

Penn Jillette

Lil Jon

Caroline Manzo

Zuleyka Rivera

Suzi Weiss-Fischmann

Background Music

Contestant Intros : "On the Floor" by Jennifer Lopez featuring Pitbull

Swimsuit Competition : "Blow" by Ke$ha

Evening Gown Competition : "Written in the Stars" by Tinie Tempah featuring Eric Turner (live performance)

Crossovers

One contestant previously competed at the Miss America pageant:

Miss Montana USA - Brittany Wiser was previously Miss Montana 2009.

Nine contestants previously competed at the Miss Teen USA pageant:

Interestingly, two former consecutive Miss New Jersey Teen USAs will compete against each other. Such a situation has never happened before.

Miss California USA - Alyssa Campanella was previously Miss New Jersey Teen USA 2007 and placed 1st runner up at Miss Teen USA 2007.

Miss Colorado USA - Blair Adair Griffith was previously Miss Colorado Teen USA 2006 and won Miss Congeniality at Miss Teen USA 2006.

Miss Indiana USA - Jillian Wunderlich was previously Miss Florida Teen USA 2008 and placed in the Top 15 at Miss Teen USA 2008.

Miss Kansas USA - Jaymie Stokes was previously Miss Kansas Teen USA 2007 and placed in the Top 10 at Miss Teen USA 2007.

Miss Maine USA - Ashley Lynn Marble was previously Miss Maine Teen USA 2000 and is now the longest tenured return to nationals, as Ashley won her teen title 11 years ago. The previous longest tenure was Aureana Tseu, Miss Hawaii USA 2009, who returned after 10 years.

Miss New Jersey USA - Julianna White was previously Miss New Jersey Teen USA 2006 and placed in the Top 10 at Miss Teen USA 2006.

Miss New Mexico USA - Brittany Toll was previously Miss New Mexico Teen USA 2005 and placed in the Top 10 at Miss Teen USA 2005.

Miss Tennessee USA - Ashley Durham was previously Miss Tennessee Teen USA 2006.

Miss West Virginia USA - Whitney Veach was previously Miss West Virginia Teen USA 2003.

One contestant previously competed at the Miss Teen America pageant:

Miss Arizona USA - Brittany Dawn Brannon was previously Miss Teen America 2007.

Replacements

Miss Maine USA - Ashley Lynn Marble was the first runner-up at Miss Maine USA 2011 but later was crowned Miss Maine USA 2011 on January, 25, 2011 to replace the original winner Emily Johnson, who resigned to attend her sister's wedding instead.

Miss Wisconsin USA - Shaletta Porterfield, the original winner, resigned due to personal matters in May 2011. First runner-up, Jordan Morkin, took over the title and competed at Miss USA.