Miss Teen USA

Miss Teen USA is a beauty pageant run by the Miss Universe Organization for girls aged 15-19. The reigning titleholder is Katie Blair of Montana.

The pageant was first held in 1983 and has been broadcast live on a succession of channels, most recently on NBC from 2002-2007. In March 2007 it was announced that the broadcast of the Miss Teen USA pageant on NBC had not been renewed, and that Miss Teen USA 2007 would be the final televised event.^[1]

Notable pageant winners include actresses Kelly Hu (1985-Hawaii), Bridgette Wilson (1990-Oregon), and Charlotte Lopez-Ayanna (1993-Vermont), and Entertainment Tonight reporter Vanessa Minnillo (1998-South Carolina).

History

The Miss Teen USA pageant was created in 1983 as a sister pageant to the Miss USA system. The first pageant was held in Lakeland, Florida in August, 1983 and was won by Ruth Zakarian of New York. The pageant moved to April the following year, and then was held in January the next two years. It was held in July from 1988-1990 and has been held in August since 1991. The most common host city was Biloxi, Mississippi which hosted the pageant from 1990-1994, which caused problems in 1992 when the conclusion of the live broadcast was delayed because of Hurricane Andrew. Other frequent host cities have been South Padre Island, Texas (1997, 2001-2002), Shreveport, Louisiana (1998-2000) and Palm Springs, California (2003-2004, 2006).

Miss Teen USA 2006

Miss Teen USA 2006, was held in Palm Springs, California on August 15, 2006. Katie Blair of Montana was crowned by outgoing queen Allie LaForce of Ohio at the culmination of the final competition.

Blair was later involved in a controversy surrounding Miss USA Tara Conner, when it was alleged the two had been partying underage in New York City clubs, and had been seen kissing each other.^[2][1] The Miss Universe Organisation, despite recognising Conner's issues, never acknowledged the rumours surrounding Blair. Due to this controversy, Mothers Against Drunk Driving severed their ties with the pageant.^[3]

Miss Teen USA Titleholders

Trivia

Delegates

• Six Miss Teen USA delegates have appeared on Reality Television and two have been Game Show models. A sixth delegate is now cohost of a motorsports television program. A seventh is a reporter for Access Hollywood.
  • Brandi Sherwood (Miss Teen USA 1989) and Claudia Jordan, Miss Rhode Island Teen USA 1990 have been "Barker's Beauties" on The Price is Right.
  • Jordan has also been a suitcase model on Deal or No Deal.
  • Delegates who have appeared on The Amazing Race are Erika Shay (Miss Pennsylvania Teen USA 1995, season 5), Christie Lee Woods (Miss Teen USA 1996, season 5), Nicole O'Brian (Miss Texas Teen USA 2000, season 5)
  • Delegates who have appeared on Survivor are Misty Giles (Miss Texas Teen USA 1999, Panama) and Danni Boatwright (Miss Kansas Teen USA 1992, Guatemala)
• Danielle Boatwright represented Kansas at Miss Teen USA in 1992 and was 2nd runner-up to Jamie Solinger. Four years later, she represented Kansas again at Miss USA in 1996, and was 1st runner-up to Ali Landry. In 2005, she appeared on Survivor: Guatemala and won the $1 million first-place prize, beating out Stephenie LaGrossa at the final tribal council.
• Nicole Manske (Miss Illinois Teen USA 1998) became host of The Speed Report in July 2006 when it was known as Speed News.
• Maria Menounos (Miss Massachusetts Teen USA 1996) became a reporter for Entertainment Tonight (2002-2004) before going to Access Hollywood in 2006.

Results

• Compared to its sister pageants Miss USA and Miss Universe, Miss Teen USA is considered more unpredictable, with no states being clear favorites. As of 2006, only Oregon has managed to have more than one victory.

• After the first five years of the pageant, four states have won the title the first year they placed: Idaho (1989), New Hampshire (1991), Iowa (1992) and Montana (2006). Four states have won the second time they placed: Vermont (1993), Delaware (1999), Wisconsin (2002) and Ohio (2005). Most of these states have also performed poorly in the Miss USA pageant.

• The most successful states are Texas which has placed fifteen times and had one winner and seven runners-up, Georgia which has placed thirteen times and had six runners-up and Tennessee which has had eleven placements, won once and had four runners-up.

• The least successful state is Utah, which has placed only once (2nd runner-up, in 1995). Arkansas, Nebraska and Wyoming have placed twice and have never won the crown. Idaho and Montana have placed once and won the title on that occasion.

• States which have performed well in the Miss Teen USA pageant but poorly in the Miss USA pageant are North Dakota and Washington.

General

• The pageant's viewership peak was hit in 1988, when the pageant averaged over 22 million viewers on CBS. Even as recently as 1999, the show managed to bring in over 10 million viewers. The 2006 airing was the second lowest rated in the pagent's 23-year history, with only 5.6 million viewers watching the live broadcast (the lowest: 2004, with 5.34 million).^[4]
• The 1984 pageant was held so close to the 1983 pageant that not every state had time to hold its 1984 state pageant. As a result, a disclaimer appeared at the end of the telecast stating that each of the contestants had been "a winner or a runner-up" in her state pageant.

Miss Teen USA-Miss USA crossovers

Miss Teen USA 1985 Kelly Hu became a TV and film actress, in addition to being a model.
(Photo taken April 17, 2002)

Miss Teen USAs at Miss USA

In the early years of Miss Teen USA, three winners represented the title "Miss Teen USA" at Miss USA. The three queens were: Ruth Zakarian (1983), Cherise Haugen (1984), and Allison Brown (1986). This also made history because the Miss USA 1984 pageant had 53 delegates, the most ever in a Miss USA pageant. In 1987, Miss Teen USA 1986, Allison Brown participated in the 1987 Miss USA pageant. All three failed to make the cut at their respective Miss USA pageants.

Only in the three years mentioned above did Miss Teen USAs automatically gain representation at Miss USA. From 1988, if the Miss Teen USA winners want to compete at Miss USA, they first must win a Miss USA state crown. A total of seven Miss Teen USA winners have participated at Miss USA, with four winning their state Miss USA crowns first. The first of these was Kelly Hu, Miss Teen USA 1985, who won the Miss Hawaii USA 1993 title and represented Hawaii at Miss USA 1993. She finished as a finalist. The next was Jamie Solinger, Miss Teen USA 1992. She took the Miss Iowa USA 1998 title but failed to make the cut at the Miss USA pageant. Only two Miss Teen USAs have made the top 3 of Miss USA. Brandi Sherwood, Miss Teen USA 1989 won the Miss Idaho USA 1997 title. Succeeding Kelly, she took 1st runner up and later inherited the Miss USA crown, when Brook Mahealani Lee of Hawaii won Miss Universe 1997. She is the only Miss Teen USA winner to hold the title Miss USA. Shauna Gambill was close in winning the Miss USA 1998 title, but placed 1st runner up to Shawnae Jebbia, Miss Massachusetts USA 1998.

There have been two years when two Miss Teen USAs participated at Miss USA. The first was 1984, when Miss Teen USA 1983 and Miss Teen USA 1984 participated, the second was 1998, when Jamie Solinger competed as Miss Iowa USA but went unplaced, and Shauna Gambill competed as Miss California USA and placed first runner-up.

The first Miss Teen USA not to win a Miss USA state pageant on her first attempt was Christie Lee Woods, Miss Teen USA 1996, of Texas, who placed third runner-up in the Miss Texas USA 2002 pageant. She would also become the first Miss Teen USA to compete for, but never win a Miss USA state title (she also placed as a semi-finalist in 2003 and 2004). The second Miss Teen USA who did not win a Miss USA state title on her first attempt was Ashley Coleman, Miss Teen USA 1999, of Delaware, who competed in the Miss California USA 2006 pageant and finished third runner-up. She is the first Miss Teen USA winner to compete in a different state from that where she won her Miss Teen USA crown.

Miss Teen USA state delegates at Miss USA

A large number of Miss Teen USA state delegates have won Miss USA state titles and competed at Miss USA. Most held both titles in the same state, but a number have held titles from two states. From 1996, many former Miss Teen USA delegates have gone on to win the Miss USA crown. All six competed for Miss USA in the state they won their Teen title. They are: Ali Landry, Miss USA 1996 (Miss Louisiana Teen USA 1990, Miss Louisiana USA 1996); Kimberly Pressler, Miss USA 1999 (Miss New York Teen USA 1994, Miss New York USA 1999); Lynnette Cole, Miss USA 2000 (Miss Tennessee Teen USA 1995, Miss Tennessee USA 2000); Susie Castillo, Miss USA 2003 (Miss Massachusetts Teen USA 1998, Miss Massachusetts USA 2003); Chelsea Cooley, Miss USA 2005 (Miss North Carolina Teen USA 2000, Miss North Carolina USA 2005); Tara Conner, Miss USA 2006 (Miss Kentucky Teen USA 2002, Miss Kentucky USA 2006).

The last year that no former Miss Teen USA state delegate made the first cut at Miss USA was in 1994.

=References

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