Miss USA 2017


Miss USA 2017 was the 66th Miss USA pageant. It was held on May 14, 2017 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. Terrence J and Julianne Hough served as hosts, while Ashley Graham also returned as backstage host, all for a second consecutive year.. Brett Eldredge, Pitbull, and the cast of by Cirque du Soleil performed.
Deshauna Barber of the District of Columbia crowned her successor Kára McCullough, also of the District of Columbia, at the end of the event. McCullough represented the United States at the Miss Universe 2017 competition, placed in the top 10. This is the first back to back win for a state at Miss USA since Texas won the crown in 1988 and 1989.

Background

Selection of participants

Delegates from 50 states and the District of Columbia were selected in state pageants began in July 2016 and ended in February 2017. The first state pageant was Florida, held on July 16, 2016, and the final pageant was Alaska, held on February 4, 2017; eight of them were former Miss Teen USA state winners and three of them were former Miss America state titleholders.
One state titleholder was appointed as a replacement after the original titleholder was unable to compete for disclosure reasons: Linette De Los Santos, who was the first runner-up of Miss Florida USA 2017, after Génesis Dávila, the winner of that competition as the latter was later revealed she hired professional makeup artists instead by to do herself and was disqualified from the title a few days later, Dávila would later win the title the following year and competed in Miss USA 2018.

Results

Final ResultsContestant
Miss USA 2017
  • District of Columbia – Kára McCullough
1st Runner-Up
  • New Jersey – Chhavi Verg
    • 2nd Runner-Up
  • Minnesota – Meridith Gould
    • Top 5
  • Illinois – Whitney Wandland
  • South Carolina – Megan Gordon
    • Top 10
  • Alaska – Alyssa London
  • California – India Williams
  • Missouri – Bayleigh Dayton
  • New York – Hannah Lopa
  • Tennessee – Allee-Sutton Hethcoat

    • Awards

    Historical significance

    Preliminary competition

    Prior to the final competition, 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. It was held on May 11, 2017 on the official Miss USA YouTube channel and was hosted by Entertainment reporter and Miss Wisconsin USA 2009 Alex Wehrley and Deshauna Barber.

    Judges

    For the first time since 2003, the number of finalists decreased to 10 from 15 in the previous year. The top 10 finalists compete in both swimsuit and evening gown, while the top 5 are in a qualifying question, and the final 3 are subjected in the final question round and a final runway, the winner is decided by a panel of judges.

    Judges

    Contestant stats provided via the Miss Universe Organization.
    StateNameAgeHeightHometownPlacementNotes
    AlabamaBaylee Smith20Tuscaloosa
    AlaskaAlyssa London27AnchorageTop 10First Tlingit Miss Alaska USA
    ArizonaTommy Lynn Calhoun27Tucson
    ArkansasArynn Johnson20Hot SpringsPreviously Miss Arkansas Teen USA 2015
    CaliforniaIndia Williams20LafayetteTop 10
    ColoradoSabrina Janssen21Denver
    ConnecticutOlga Litvinenko27GreenwichPreviously Miss Connecticut Teen USA 2007
    DelawareMia Jones21BearPreviously Miss Delaware Teen USA 2014
    Kára McCullough25Miss USA 2017
    FloridaLinette De Los Santos25Miami
    GeorgiaDeAnna Johnson21HazlehurstTop 10 finalist on season eight of The Voice
    HawaiiJulie Kuo23Honolulu
    IdahoCassie Lewis26Moscow
    IllinoisWhitney Wandland25ChicagoTop 5Chicago Bulls Luvabull
    IndianaBrittany Winchester27Indianapolis
    IowaKelsey Weier26West Des MoinesContestant on season 24 of The Bachelor
    KansasCatherine Carmichael26ManhattanPreviously Miss Kansas World America 2015
    KentuckyMadelynne Myers22Louisville
    LouisianaBethany Trahan21Lake Charles
    MaineBrooke Harris26Lee
    MarylandAdrianna David22RockvilleLater Miss Maryland 2018
    MassachusettsJulia Scaparotti24PeabodyNew England Patriots Cheerleader
    MichiganKrista Ferguson24Detroit
    MinnesotaMeridith Gould22Minneapolis2nd Runner-upPreviously Miss South Dakota 2014 & Miss South Dakota's Outstanding Teen 2012
    MississippiAshley Hamby24Madison
    MissouriBayleigh Dayton23Lee's SummitTop 10First African-American Miss Missouri USA
    Later a HouseGuest on Big Brother 20
    MontanaBrooke Bezanson20Missoula
    NebraskaJasmine Fuelberth20NorfolkPreviously Miss Nebraska Teen USA 2013
    NevadaLauren York23 Jean
    New HampshireSarah Mousseau26Portsmouth
    New JerseyChhavi Verg20Edison1st Runner-up
    New MexicoAshley Mora25AlbuquerquePreviously Miss New Mexico World 2015
    New YorkHannah Lopa25SpencerportTop 10
    North CarolinaKatie Coble27CharlottePreviously Miss North Carolina Teen USA 2007
    North DakotaRaquel Wellentin24Fargo
    OhioDinaleigh Baxter24Winchester
    OklahomaAlex Smith20Mooreland
    OregonElizabeth Denny26Roseburg
    PennsylvaniaCassandra Angst23Feasterville
    Rhode IslandKelsey Swanson23Cranston
    South CarolinaMegan Gordon23North AugustaTop 5Later Miss South Carolina World 2019
    South DakotaTessa Dee26MitchellPreviously Miss South Dakota 2013
    TennesseeAllee-Sutton Hethcoat25FranklinTop 10
    TexasNancy Gonzalez27Freeport
    UtahBaylee Jensen23South JordanDaughter of Miss USA 1989 Gretchen Polhemus
    VermontMadison Cota21Bellows FallsPreviously Miss Vermont Teen USA 2014
    VirginiaJacqueline Carroll23StanardsvillePreviously Miss Virginia Teen USA 2010
    WashingtonAlex Carlson-Helo23Mill CreekPreviously Miss Washington Teen USA 2012
    West VirginiaLauren Roush22MasonLater a contestant from Are You The One? 7
    Later Miss Pennsylvania World 2019
    WisconsinSkylar Witte19Schofield
    WyomingMikaela Shaw23CasperPreviously Miss Wyoming 2015

    International broadcasters

    Television