Miss USA 2019
Miss USA 2019 was the 68th Miss USA pageant, held at the Grand Sierra Resort in Reno, Nevada on May 2, 2019. The 2019 competition served as the second consecutive time that the pageant has been held concurrently with the Miss Teen USA competition. This was also the final pageant where it was televised on Fox.
The contest was won by Cheslie Kryst of North Carolina, who was crowned by Sarah Rose Summers of Nebraska. This was North Carolina's third time winning the Miss USA title, and its first in ten years. Kryst was the first non-consecutive African American to win the title and the third one in four years. Kryst represented the United States at Miss Universe 2019, placing in the top ten.
Contestants from fifty states and the District of Columbia competed in this edition. Nick Lachey and Vanessa Lachey served as hosts, while Lu Sierra served as commentator. T-Pain and Nick Lachey performed in this edition.
Background
Location and date
On March 28, 2019, the Miss Universe Organization confirmed that the pageant would be held on May 2 at the Grand Sierra Resort in Reno, Nevada. Shortly afterwards, it was confirmed that Miss USA 2018 hosts Nick Lachey and Vanessa Lachey would be returning to host the 2019 competition.Following the announcement of Reno being selected as the competition's host city, it emerged that the MUO were originally planning on holding the competition in Honolulu, Hawaii. The plan was rejected by Hawaiian officials and relocated to Reno by the MUO after the Hawaii Tourism Authority reported that they would be unable to secure the funds to host the competition that the MUO had requested, adding that they would be interested in hosting in the future.
Selection of participants
Delegates from 50 states and the District of Columbia were selected in state pageants that began in August 2018 and ended in January 2019. The first state pageant was Alaska, held on August 4, 2018, and the final pageants were California USA|California], Kentucky and New Mexico, both held on January 27, 2019. Seven of them were former Miss Teen USA state winners, three of them were former Miss America state winners and two of them were former Miss America's Outstanding Teen state winners.Pageant
Format
Same as the previous year, during the final competition, the results of the preliminary competition — which consisted of the swimsuit competition, the evening gown competition, and the closed-door interview determined the fifteen semi-finalists who advanced at the first cut. The fifteen semi-finalists competed in the swimsuit competition, while 10 competed in the evening gown competition. Five finalists were chosen to competed in a question round regarding current affairs, while three finalists competed in the final question round and final walk.Judges
- Nicole Feld – businesswoman, producer, and vice president for Feld Entertainment, Inc.
- Kim Kaupe – businesswoman and co-founder of The Superfan Company
- Demi-Leigh Nel-Peters – Miss Universe 2017 from South Africa
- Ukonwa Ojo – marketing executive for CoverGirl, Rimmel, and Vera Wang
- Amy Palmer – journalist and media entrepreneur
- Denise Quiñones – Miss Universe 2001 from Puerto Rico
- Hillary Schieve – politician and Mayor of Reno, Nevada
- Patricia Southall – philanthropist and Miss Virginia USA 1994