Miss USA 2006


Miss USA 2006 was the 55th Miss USA pageant, held at the Royal Farms Arena in Baltimore, Maryland on April 21, 2006. Fifty-one state titleholders competed for the title, which was won by Tara Conner of Kentucky USA|Kentucky]. Conner was crowned by outgoing titleholder Chelsea Cooley of North Carolina USA|North Carolina].
This was the second consecutive year that the pageant was held in Baltimore, although the venue changed from the Hippodrome Theater to the larger 1st Mariner Arena. Delegates arrived in the city on 2 April 2006, and were involved in three weeks of events, appearances and preliminary competitions before the final competition. This included a trip to New York City to attend a book launch for The Miss Universe Guide to Beauty and make media appearances on Regis and Kathy, The Early Show and Total Request Live.
The pageant hosts were Nancy O'Dell and Drew Lachey. For the first time Queer Eye for the Straight Guy star Carson Kressley provided commentary. Special guest performers were the East Village Opera Company.
The finals were broadcast by NBC, with 7.77 million viewers, the second-lowest viewership ever recorded.
The winner represented the United States at Miss Universe 2006 on July 23, 2006, in Los Angeles where she placed 4th Runner-up.

Results

Placements

Final resultsContestant
Miss USA 2006
1st Runner-Up
  • California USA|California] – Tamiko Nash
    • 2nd Runner-Up
  • Georgia USA|Georgia] – Lisa Wilson
    • 3rd Runner-Up
  • Ohio USA|Ohio] – Stacy Offenberger
    • 4th Runner-Up
  • Florida USA|Florida] – Cristin Duren
    • Top 10
  • Alabama USA|Alabama] – Haleigh Stidham
  • District of Columbia USA|District of Columbia] – Candace Allen
  • Rhode Island USA|Rhode Island] – Leeann Tingley
  • South Carolina USA|South Carolina] – Lacie Lybrand
  • Texas USA|Texas] – Lauren Lanning
    • Top 15
  • Arizona USA|Arizona] – Brenna Sakas
  • Illinois USA|Illinois] – Catherine Warren
  • Maine USA|Maine] – Katee Stearns
  • Nevada USA|Nevada] – Lauren Scyphers
  • Tennessee USA|Tennessee] – Lauren Grissom

    • Contestants

    The Miss USA 2006 delegates were:

    Judges

    There were two sets of judges: one for the preliminary competition, and another for the final night of competition. The latter judges decided who won the Miss USA title.

    Preliminary judges

    • Jeff Kimbell – businessman involved in lobbying, political strategy, real estate, and entertainment.
    • Kerry Cavanaugh – North American brand manager for CoverGirl cosmetics.
    • Natasha O'Dell – producer for Black Entertainment Television's Special Projects Division.
    • Valerie Boyce – an agent for Trump Model Management.
    • Arnold Williams – manager of Abrams, Foster, Nole & William since 1993.
    • Robb Merrit – Vice President of a commercial real estate developer based in Baltimore, MD.
    • Rhona Gaff – Vice President at the Trump Organization and is best known as the woman who rings Apprentice (U.S. TV series)|Apprentice] candidates each morning to give candidate their directions.

    Finals judges

    Pre-pageant specials

    A pre-pageant special edition of Deal or No Deal aired on April 12 on NBC. It included Miss USA 2005 Chelsea Cooley and twenty-six contestants, who replaced the show's models as briefcase-holders:
    Haleigh Stidham, Kimberly Forsyth, Tamiko Nash, Jeannine Phillips, Ashlee Greenwell, Cristin Duren, Catherine Warren, Bridget Bobel, Tara Conner, Christina Cuenca, Katee Stearns, Tiffany Kelly, Danelle Gay, Dottie Cannon,, Kristi Capel, Lauren Scyphers, Jessica Boyington, Onawa Lacy, Samantha Holvey, Kimberly Krueger, Tanya Lehman, Leeann Tingley, Lacie Lybrand, Soben Huon, Amber Copley, Jessica Wedge.
    Allison Machado was the alternate.