Miss Teen USA is a beauty pageant run by the Miss Universe Organization for girls aged
14–19.
The reigning titleholder is K. Lee Graham of South Carolina.
As of 2014, the pageant is webcast on the official Miss Teen USA website and on Microsoft's
Xbox Live service.
The pageant was first held in 1983 and has been broadcast live on a succession of channels,
most recently on NBC from 2003–2007.
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.
Since 2008, the pageant is held at the Atlantis Paradise Island Resort, located in Nassau,
Bahamas.
Notable pageant winners include actresses Kelly Hu, Bridgette Wilson, Charlotte Lopez-Ayanna,
Vanessa Minnillo, Shelley Hennig, and sportscaster Allie LaForce.
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 in 1988–1990 and has been held in August since 1991.
The most common host city was Biloxi, Mississippi which hosted the pageant from 1990 till 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, Shreveport, Louisiana
and Palm Springs, California.
Competition rounds Prior to the final telecast the delegates
compete in the preliminary competition, which involves private interviews with the judges
and a presentation show where they compete in swimsuit and evening gown.
During the final competition, the semi-finalists are announced and go on to compete in swimsuit
and evening gown.
From 1983 to 2002 all semi-finalists also competed in an interview competition as well
as both swimsuit and evening gown, followed by one or two final interview questions.
In 2003, a new format was introduced where the top fifteen competed in evening gown,
the top ten competed in swimsuit and the top five competed in the final question.
In 2006, the order of competition was changed where the top fifteen competed in swimsuit
and the top ten in evening gown.
The latest competition format was used since 2008 the final not broadcast on TV, where
the top fifteen both competed in swimsuit and evening gown, and the top five competed
in the final question who all signed up by a panel of judges.
Titleholders
Winners gallery
By number of wins Top 15 states by tally
Delegates
Seven Miss Teen USA delegates have appeared on reality television and two have been game
show models.
A sixth delegate is an ESPN presenter.
A seventh is a reporter for Access Hollywood.
Brandi Sherwood, Ashley Coleman 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, Christie Lee Woods, Nicole
O'Brian.
Delegate who appeared on "America's Prom Queen is Macy Erwin 2007.
Delegates who have appeared on Survivor are Misty Giles and Danni Boatwright.
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 Briscoe became a journalist and is currently an ESPN presenter, currently the
studio host for motorsport programming.
Maria Menounos became a reporter for Entertainment Tonight before going to Access Hollywood and
hosted the Eurovision Song Contest in 2006.
Cerina Vincent went on to become a successful model and actress, with many film and television
credits to her name.
Her most notable role being Maya, the Yellow Ranger in the television series Power Rangers
Lost Galaxy.
Shelley Hennig currently stars on the MTV series Teen Wolf, playing the character Malia
Tate.
Broadcasting of the pageant 1983–2007: Viewership and later decline
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 pageant's 23-year history, with only
5.6 million viewers watching the live broadcast.
The 2007 telecast was the last time Miss Teen USA aired live on television.
2008: Dark pageant The 2008 pageant was held, untelevised, on
August 16, 2008.
One factor that prevented NBC from broadcasting was its prime time commitment to the 2008
Summer Olympics in Beijing.
2009–present: Internet pageant Since 2009, it is broadcast over the Internet
on the Miss Teen USA website.
It can be viewed worldwide, without any region restrictions via geolocation.
In 2012, the pageant began to simulcast on Microsoft's Xbox Live service, expanding accessibility
to Xbox consoles and Windows Phone 8 devices.
Unlike the website, it has been available in a limited number of countries due to the
service's availability, the number of which varying by year.
Mainstay countries have included Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia,
France, Germany, Italy, Mexico, Spain, UK and the U.S., all of which carried Xbox Live's
broadcast more than once.
In 2014, YouTube replaced Ustream as host broadcaster and the event became available
for the first time on Microsoft's newest console, Xbox One.
In addition, YouTube's webcast can also be viewed on-demand on mobile phones, tablets
and other video game consoles.
Starting in 2015, the Xbox broadcast will be overseen by Cloudgine, a Scottish technology
provider run by Dave Jones, and will also be accessible in China.
As both Ustream and YouTube are blocked, the pageant was not available to view within the
country.
Crossovers with Miss USA
Miss Teen USA 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, Cherise Haugen, and Allison Brown.
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 USA winners automatically gain representation
at Miss USA.
Starting in 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 USA winners 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.
However, to date it has never happened that the same woman had won the 2 separate pageants
officially.
There have been two years when two Miss Teen USA winners 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.
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.
Tami Farrell, Miss Teen USA 2003, competed at Miss California USA 2009 as Miss Malibu
USA, but failed to win the crown, placing first runner-up to Carrie Prejean.
Farrell competed at Miss Teen USA as Miss Oregon Teen USA, and was one of the few Miss
Teen USA winners to try for the state crown outside of the state she represented for Miss
Teen USA.
In a span of only two years later, Miss Teen USA 2006, Katie Blair also competed at Miss
California USA 2011.
Representing the state of Montana at Miss Teen USA 2006, Blair is only the third Miss
Teen USA to compete in a state other than the state she competed in Teen.
Similarly to Coleman and Farrell, Blair placed 1st runner up in the pageant, to Alyssa Campanella,
who also competed in Miss Teen USA representing another state.
Campanella went on to win Miss USA 2011.
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.
Out of the eight former teens which won the crown outright, seven competed for Miss USA
in the state they won their Teen title and one represented a different state.
They are: Ali Landry, Miss USA 1996
Kimberly Pressler, Miss USA 1999 Lynnette Cole, Miss USA 2000
Susie Castillo, Miss USA 2003 Chelsea Cooley, Miss USA 2005
Tara Conner, Miss USA 2006 Rachel Smith, Miss USA 2007
Alyssa Campanella, Miss USA 2011 Miss USA 2009 was the first Miss USA pageant
since 1994 where no former Miss Teen USA state titleholders made the semi-finals.
See also Miss Teenage America
Miss America's Outstanding Teen References
External links Miss Teen USA official website