Miss USA 2005
Miss USA 2005, the 54th Miss USA pageant, was held in Baltimore, Maryland in April 11, 2005. It was won by Chelsea Cooley of North Carolina.
Fifty-one state titleholders competed for the title of Miss USA in the Hippodrome Theatre on April 11, 2005. The hosts were Access Hollywood stars Nancy O'Dell and Billy Bush.
This was the first of two years the pageant was held in Maryland, as it was held in Los Angeles, California in 2004. The new location was announced in October 2004.
Competition
After the delegate introductions and opening number, the top fifteen contestants were announced. These girls went on to compete in the evening gown competition, where they displayed an evening gown of their choice and were judged in poise and grace. This year's gown competition was notable for two daring gowns, that of Brenda Brabham, Miss Pennsylvania USA, and Meaghan Jarensky, Miss New York USA. Brabham's gold gown featured a bra-style top connected to a flowing skirt with high slit, revealing most of her top half like a swimsuit, and Jarensky's silver Graecan gown also was an unusual cut.The second cut followed, with the delegates being narrowed down to ten. The finalists then competed in the swimsuit competition, wearing specially designed floral swimsuits from Endless Sun. Brittany Hogan, Miss California USA dropped her cloth as she walked in swimsuit, but despite this went on to place as 1st runner up. Miss New York USA, Meaghan Jarensky almost tripped on the fallen cloth.
The final five were then announced, and the delegates competed in interview with the "final question". The questions were all written by Miss USA 2004, Shandi Finnessey and the top 5. Finally, the runners-up were announced, and Chelsea Cooley of North Carolina was crowned Miss USA.
Results
Placements
| Final Results | Contestant |
| Miss USA 2005 |
|
| 1st Runner-Up |  California – Brittany Hogan |
| 2nd Runner-Up |  Kentucky – Kristen Johnson |
| 3rd Runner-Up |  Illinois – Jill Gulseth |
| 4th Runner-Up |  Florida – Melissa Witek |
| Top 10 |  Maryland – Marina Harrison Mississippi – Jennifer Adcock New York – Meaghan Jarensky Oklahoma – Laci Scott Pennsylvania – Brenda Brabham |
| Top 15 |  Arkansas – Jessica Furrer Michigan – Crystal Hayes Texas – Tyler Willis Utah – Marin Poole West Virginia – Kristin Morrison |
North Carolina – Chelsea CooleySpecial awards
Historical significance
- North Carolina wins competition for the first time and surpasses its previous highest placement from the last year. Also becoming in the 29th state who does it for the first time.
- California earns the 1st runner-up position for the fifth time. The last time it placed this was in 1998.
- Kentucky earns the 2nd runner-up position for the first time and surpasses its previous highest placement in 1965, becoming its highest placement of the state.
- Illinois earns the 3rd runner-up position for the third time. The last time it placed this was in 1979.
- Florida earns the 4th runner-up position for the third time. The last time it placed this was in 1966.
- States that placed in semifinals the previous year were Florida, North Carolina, Oklahoma and Texas.
- Texas placed for the fifth consecutive year.
- Oklahoma placed for the third consecutive year.
- Florida and North Carolina made their second consecutive placement.
- Michigan last placed in 2003.
- California and New York last placed in 2002.
- Utah last placed in 1998.
- Illinois last placed in 1996.
- Kentucky and Maryland last placed in 1995.
- Pennsylvania last placed in 1993.
- Mississippi last placed in 1990.
- West Virginia last placed in 1987.
- Arkansas last placed in 1982.
- New Mexico and Tennessee breaks an ongoing streak of placements since 2003.
- Alabama and South Carolina break an ongoing streak of placements since 2002.
Judges
- Michael Phelps – Olympic gold medalist swimmer
- Molly Sims – Star of NBC show Las Vegas
- Sugar Ray Leonard – Boxer
- Frederic Fekkai – Beauty expert
- Pamela Dennis – Fashion designer
- Raj Bhakta – The Apprentice contestant
- Ksenia Maksimova – Model
- Brody Hutzler – Actor on Days of Our Lives
Delegates
- Alabama – Jessica Tinney
- Alaska – Aleah Scheick
- Arizona – Mariana Loya
- Arkansas – Jessica Furrer
- California – Brittany Hogan
- Colorado – Lauren Cisneros
- Connecticut – Melissa Mandak
- Delaware – Sheena Benton
- District of Columbia – Sarah-Elizabeth Langford
- Florida – Melissa Witek
- Georgia – Tanisha Brito
- Hawaii – Jennifer Fairbank
- Idaho – Sade Aiyeku
- Illinois – Jill Gulseth
- Indiana – Kaitlyn Christopher
- Iowa – Joy Robinson
- Kansas – Rachel Saunders
- Kentucky – Kristen Johnson
- Louisiana – Candice Stewart
- Maine – Erica Commeau
- Maryland – Marina Harrison
- Massachusetts – Cristina Nardozzi
- Michigan – Crystal Hayes
- Minnesota – Carrie Lee
- Mississippi – Jennifer Adcock
- Missouri – Andrea Ciliberti
- Montana – Amanda Kimmel
- Nebraska – Jana Murrell
- Nevada – Shivonn Geeb
- New Hampshire – Candace Glickman
- New Jersey – Sylvia Pogorzelski
- New Mexico – Jacqueline Deaner
- New York – Meaghan Jarensky
- North Carolina – Chelsea Cooley
- North Dakota – Chrissa Miller
- Ohio – Aisha Berry
- Oklahoma – Laci Scott
- Oregon – Jessica Carlson
- Pennsylvania – Brenda Brabham
- Rhode Island – Allison Paganetti
- South Carolina – Sarah Medley
- South Dakota – Jessica Fjerstad
- Tennessee – Amy Colley
- Texas – Tyler Willis
- Utah – Marin Poole
- Vermont – Amanda Mitteer
- Virginia – Jennifer Pitts
- Washington – Amy Crawford
- West Virginia – Kristin Morrison
- Wisconsin – Melissa Ann Young
- Wyoming – Abby Norman
Contestant notes
- In a record at the time, seven contestants had previously competed in the Miss America pageant, outnumbering those who had previously competed at Miss Teen USA. Four of the contestants had competed together at Miss America 2003.
- Delegates who had previously competed at Miss America were:
- *Mariana Loya - Miss Washington 1998
- *Jennifer Adcock - Miss Mississippi 2002
- *Jennifer Pitts - Miss Virginia 2002
- *Sarah Elizabeth Langford - Miss District of Columbia 2002
- *Tanisha Brito - Miss Connecticut 2002
- *Candace Glickman - Miss New Hampshire 2003
- *Marina Harrison - Miss Maryland 2003
- Contestants who had previously competed at Miss Teen USA were:
- *Chelsea Cooley - Miss North Carolina Teen USA 2000
- *Kristen Johnson - Miss Kentucky Teen USA 2000
- *Sarah Medley - Miss South Carolina Teen USA 2001
- *Candice Stewart - Miss Louisiana Teen USA 2002
- *Jessica Fjerstad - Miss South Dakota Teen USA 2002
- *Marin Poole - Miss Utah Teen USA 2002
- Kristen Johnson, Melissa Witek and Kaitlyn Christopher later competed at "Miss Team USA" on NBC's reality television show Treasure Hunters.
- Amanda Kimmel appeared on ', ' and . She placed 3rd, 2nd and 9th respectively. She represented United States at Miss Earth 2005, where she placed as a finalist.
- Jana Murrell went on to represent the United States at Miss Earth 2008, where she placed as a semi-finalist.
- Candice Stewart will be appearing on Big Brother 15.
Pre-pageant special
- The contestants involved were:
- Stunts