The top 20 compete in swimsuit in alphabetical order: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Louisiana, Maine, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Wisconsin

As the top 20 were announced, each was asked a personality question and the first four to step forward were the top 4 vote recipients on the Choicely Miss USA app which was a charged service so these ladies paid handsomely for their entrance to the top 20 but that they were identified as the top vote-getters appears to have cost them dearly since none of them advanced to the top 10. Even though the top 20 excluding the first four were called in random order, all 20 of them competed in alphabetical order for swimsuit which is probably easier for scoring purposes but I think the last time this was done was in 1965 (60 years ago!). Idaho was the top vote-getter and Jenny Ting Crawford was a member of that famous top 5 of Miss California USA 2012 and she was the 4th of that top 5 to make it to the Miss USA stage many years later! The other three were: California's Natalie Pack (went unplaced in 2012), Nevada's Brittany McGowan (3rd runner up at Miss USA 2015) and Florida's Brie Gabrielle (unplaced at Miss USA 2016). No word on whether or not Aqueela Zoll (who is the last member of the top 5 of Miss California USA 2012) will compete for Miss USA will age/marriage/having children restrictions removed as of 2023. Jenny did look amazing in swimsuit though despite having a 2-year-old son and her presentation was fun and flirty so at age 36, Jenny's still got it! Jenny was also one of the appointed delegates from the eight directorless states (Colorado, Idaho, Montana, New Hampshire, Oregon, Vermont, Washington and Wyoming) to place for 2025 and four of them placed (Idaho, New Hampshire, Oregon and Vermont). Idaho's personality question posed to her was what childhood favorite snack she had never had and she answered that she was embarrassed to say she never had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich because she has never seen one in person and that's a true story! She mentioned that she's a mother of a two year old so when he's old enough, the time for her to try her first peanut butter and jelly sandwich will come very soon! Rhode Island was next and was asked about attending many concerts and which was her favorite and she replied that she saw Mariah Carey on her 10th birthday wearing her 'Butterfly' t-shirt and singing as if she was heartbroken and she has fallen in love with concerts ever since. This was definitely one of the surprise entrants of the top 20 so I'm sure she appreciated the voters that got her in because those teeth... Arkansas was the third top vote-getter allowing her to advance and she shared how she lost 100 pounds and changed her lifestyle and has been living healthy ever since. She certainly was busty when she appeared in swimsuit but I think she needed a different hairstyle like with her bangs down. The final fan favorite was South Carolina which I guess I shouldn't be surprised about as she does have a large social media following as an influencer and at age 27, she is even dating 48-year-old boxer, Floyd Mayweather Jr. Her Kim Kardashian-esque body certainly grabs attention but this body type usually doesn't fare well in pageants. She was asked about her extensive travel and her favorite destination and Gallienne picked her favorite city as Tokyo, Japan as she loves the culture, food and to shop and for a tropical locale, she chose the Red Sea as it was really beautiful. Oklahoma followed and Zoe received vindication for her omission from placing at Miss Teen USA 2018. She was asked about a fear from childhood and she recalled a traumatic experience when a boy named Kevin when they were in 4th grade had an old, rotten banana and put it in on Zoe's desk and smashed it in front of her with her textbook and got it all over her triggering a fear of bananas ever since so she mentioned that if you want her to do well in a marathon, then chase her with a banana! Zoe brought some relatability to the table exposing a traumatic childhood experience which everyone has had and she did look amazing in swimsuit and proved herself worthy of a placement. Next up was Chantea McIntyre who was 1st runner up at Miss California USA 2024 but was cast in the open call for one of the directorless states to represent Oregon and I've been saying it for a long time now, Sashay, Chantea! Chantea makes history as the oldest woman to ever make top 5 at Miss USA at age 43 (due to the age limit being removed in 2023 and she is the second-oldest delegate to ever compete for Miss USA behind 44-year-old Tetra Shockley of Delaware who went unplaced this year but won the Chelsi Smith congeniality award. It should also be noted here that the late, iconic Chelsi Smith is the only Miss USA in history to also have won Miss Congeniality also winning that title at Miss Texas USA and preliminary Miss Southeast Texas USA but was defeated by Nigeria's Toyin Raji at Miss Universe 1995. Even though, Chelsi remains the only Miss Congeniality to also win Miss USA, there were two 1st runners-up that won Miss Congeniality and they were New Jersey's Charlotte Ray in 1991 and Vermont's Mary Verdiana in 1969 with California's Cynthia "Cindy" Kirby coming close placing 3rd runner up in 1981 and also winning Miss Photogenic in 1981 as well!) and she is also married to her college sweetheart, Michael McIntyre and they have three biological daughters and one adopted son and Chantea runs a blog and even has thorough pageant experience winning Ms. World America 2021 and also previously holding the titles of Mrs. California, Miss Fresno County and Miss Tulare County and even then, she wanted to compete with younger contestants to see if she belonged and her natural charm and spunk really is infectious so it was no surprise that the judges wouldn't tell Chantea to sashay away until she made top 3! For someone who has birthed three children, Chantea had amazing rock-hard abs and she certainly has maintained her figure and looked fit and fabulous. Chantea was asked about her children's book "Two to the Toucan: Just Right, Just Me" and it reminds people that they are enough and as a married mother of four, she wanted to convey the message that you are enough, you can chase your dreams, your dreams are valid and she was there to prove that that night and she certainly did! Texas' Taylor Lauren Davis was asked about having a very different ambition than most girls and she confessed that she has four brothers and they grew up addicted to WWE wrestling so she grew up thinking she would be a wrestler until her freshman year in high school which she was kind of embarrassed about but admitted that the WWE recruitment team has reached out to Taylor and invited her to try out but she says she can't fight but it would be a great plan B. I should point out that Taylor is also a major football fan and presently works for the National Football League as a social media analyst tracking and analyzing data and is also a graduate of Howard University so she's okay even without WWE involvement but we'll see what happens in the future! Taylor's look was somewhat reminiscent of Crystle Stewart-Miss USA 2008 who also competed multiple times for Miss Texas USA prior to the win so I'm sure Taylor emulates Crystle as a role model and Taylor is the fourth black Miss Texas USA succeeding the beloved, late Chelsi Smith in 1995, Crystle Stewart in 2008 and last year's Aarieanna Ware for 2024 making this the first time that successive black Miss Texas USAs have been crowned. Florida's Lou Schieffelin was called up next matching her top 10 placement at Miss Teen USA 2018 as predicted and her accomplishments really make her stand out but she was asked about a particular modelling job where she was asked to model for the 5th Avenue American Girl doll store when custom dolls came out and she did it at age 9 but they didn't let her keep the doll they modelled from her and she also threw in that it would like Olivia Jordan too and it was a great experience. I liked that Oregon seized to the opportunity to inject some wisdom and intelligence in her answer and I feel like Florida could have been benefited or placed higher had she done something similar or mentioned some of her accomplishments like being a pilot or something to that effect. Maine was called up next and she was favorite being a tall, striking, statuesque blonde. She notably defeated Jordon Hudson at Miss Maine USA who finished as 2nd runner up for 2025 and 1st runner up for 2024 and 24-year-old Jordon has been making headlines for dating 73-year-old retired football coach, Bill Belichick and notably said 'We're not talking about this' when asked during a radio show how the couple met. Anyway, back to Shelby Howell who represented Maine wonderfully and she was asked to display a talent to imitate one of Olivia Jordan's favorite cartoon characters, Lilo from the Disney movie, Lilo & Stitch saying in Lilo's voice, "Ohana means family and family means no one gets left behind." and she said she did it for the judges in prelims as well. She added that "life is too short not to have fun and I'm having so much fun on this stage right now here at Miss USA making you all laugh on such a nerve-wracking night. Make sure that you live each day to the fullest and even if you're funny, quirky, just do it. Have fun." It was the peptalk we needed according to Olivia Jordan but a lot of people were shocked that Shelby didn't advance after swimsuit. I have absolutely no clue what happened there. Up next was New Jersey and wow, am I glad I noticed that fit body in preliminaries as she went right into my list after that but I actually didn't know the charisma combined with self-assured confidence and sassiness that Ivy possesses. But despite that fit body, Ivy loves pizza and was asked about finishing a whole pizza at Pete and Elda's in New Jersey known for their famous thin crust pizza. Ivy said she took on the challenge to devour a whole pizza and she had the t-shirt to prove it and in the words of her mother, "The girl can eat!" delivered impeccably like the sassy sista she is and when asked if she needs a pizza after the pageant, she replied, 1000%, a whole pie to herself: half-pepperoni and half-green peppers! I was reminded of Rima Fakih saying to ask her how she feels after eating a pizza after winning Miss USA 2010 so maybe mentioning pizza has its benefits in a room full of hungry pageant contestants and observers! Wisconsin followed and I guess I shouldn't be surprised that the judges were intrigued by that natural fluffy hair of hers. I thought it looked a bit clownish at first but then I was reminded of the character Shana from Jem and the Holograms and Aneisha could play Shana in a proper remake of Jem (not the disastrous WTF-is-this/this-is-nothing-like-the-cartoon movie Scooter Braun was behind released in 2015) and she was asked about her shoe collection and she kind of struggled to get out that she wanted her boyfriend to extend her closet and that she has over 100 but heels are her favorite and she mentioned that her favorites were her Christian Louboutin shoes that she wore for prelim interviews and they make her feel confident as the definition of a divalicious shoe and once she can walk in those So Kates, y'all can't tell her nothin'! Georgia was up next and she was a favorite but I sensed that she and Florida would replicate their top 10 placements at Miss Teen USA 2018 and they both did. She was asked about starring in a film about food and Savannah replied that it was called 'Chef ATL' about how to make gourmet food in a small dorm room and mentioned the teens knowing that dorm food normally isn't that good but having a home-cooked meal in your dorm is good and to check out the show for some recipes. Nebraska followed and our winner, Audrey was asked about helping make the largest gathering at a women's sporting event happen. Audrey replied, "At the time, I was serving in a leadership role on the Husker cheer squad. If you're a Husker fan, you know exactly what day I'm talking about. We set the record for a highest attended women's sporting event. We filled our entire football stadium to cheer on female athletics and it was a moment of unity and power just like on this stage. Audrey won best in swimsuit so I guess that win carried right on through to the end but I would have given the swimsuit award to Nevada. Up next was Missouri and I was happy to see this redemptive placement after she was inexplicably denied a placement at Miss Teen USA 2022 as this young lady is quite accomplished and was even 4th runner up at Miss America's Outstanding Teen 2020 so this was a strong comeback and she was asked about securing two wins in one day. She replied that she was in high school and played softball for all four years and won a district softball game that morning and then rushed to a pageant that evening and won that as well and she said moms at the pageant helped blow dry her rain-soaked hair from the softball game earlier that day so it was an awesome day! Louisiana followed and she previously placed as 4th runner up to Miss Texas USA 2025 and even 1st runner up to Miss Texas USA 2024 before hopping to Louisiana and clinching that state title and making history as the first woman of Uruguayan descent to compete at Miss USA and fancy Francie certainly possesses that Latina flair but supposedly lacked the height. She was asked to explain her love of the quote, "When we dare dream beyond borders, the universe is truly the limit." Francie explained her parents crossing borders from Uruguay to enable her to live her American dream. Her mom and dad taught her resilience and to never give up and she has 3 international scholarships and she tells children to dream beyond borders be they mental or where you are located and the universe is truly limit and do not give up and Olivia stated that immigrants make this country great and we love to hear it. Alabama was asked about landing a plane at the age of 8. Her uncle and she went out for a flight one day and he asked her if she wanted to land the plane and she was nervous but learned a few things that day and that her family believed in her even when she didn't have confidence in herself stating that she can do all things through Christ who strengthens her and not knowing on a night like that night, she would be standing on those very same principles. This was a great speech and Kennedy was bold enough to proclaim her faith even though it is often frowned upon these days so I'm sure Kennedy excelled in interview to advance. I was surprised that she advanced to top 10 though due to her height which usually affects swimsuit performance but after this interview, I can see why the judges liked her. This was followed by another woman expressing her faith, MonaLesa Brackett who, at age 36, was selected to represent the directorless state of New Hampshire and having been 2nd runner up at Miss New York USA 2025, this was a case of the shadow delegates overtaking the winner since New York's Christiana DiNardo did not place whereas MonaLesa did and she became the first hijabi contestant in Miss USA history (this almost happened when Halima Aden competed for Miss Minnesota USA 2017 but finished as 2nd runner up but later became a judge at the 2017 Miss USA pageant resulting in her placing the woman who defeated her in Minnesota, Meridith Gould, as 2nd runner up at Miss USA 2017 and Halima also judged Miss Universe 2023). Do I think she would have placed without the hijab/burkini? Probably not but I knew that representation matters and to put New Hampshire in my list. Entering the top 20 surely made MonaLesa smile and she was asked how she survived being stranded in the ocean. MonaLesa says her dad gets stressed out a lot as he is over her adventures but she loves to do dangerous things like hiking up a volcano, jumping out of a plane and parasailing and once she flipped over on a jetski and found herself in the middle of the ocean and had to wait for rescue. As Miss USA, she said she was tried and true and had a good track record and she could handle anything. Part of MonaLesa's background is that she was raised Christian and competed in pageants years ago placing as 4th runner up for Miss District of Columbia 2013 and her mother passed away from colon cancer in 2018 so MonaLesa studied multiple religions before choosing to convert to Islam at age 32. MonaLesa feels that there are minimal differences between religions and Islam resonated with her. Tennessee's Madison Kunst followed and she was asked what she does during her missions trips to Mexico. Madison explained that she works for a nonprofit organization called the Aloe Family and they seek to provide opportunities to promote self-sufficiency, hope, healing and education to individuals facing poverty or lack of support and they help provide job skills training and help people build businesses from the ground up. Next up was Victoria from Vermont (from Virginia) who was noticeably missing one earring... Did you see that VVV connection? VVV was the name of Laylah Rose's company so was this a plant delegate??? Actually, she wouldn't have been as Victoria was selected to represent one of the directorless states through the open casting after Laylah was dismissed as Miss USA CEO. Explaining the VVV further, Victoria Chuah represented Vermont at Miss USA 2025 but is actually from Virginia and she previously represented Virginia at Miss America 2023 going unplaced but this time around, Victoria was vindicated with this victory of visualizing a top 10 placement! Victoria was asked about going skydiving multiple times including with the army. Victoria described herself as a thrillseeker which is why she was on that stage as she has always been a believer of doing things that scare you and she thinks skydiving is one of most terrifying things one could think of and she connected with the army and was able to skydive with the U.S. Army Golden Knights and she reiterated that she is a true believer in doing things that scare you and not holding back and that's why she was on the Miss USA stage. Finally, we had my winner, Mary Sickler representing the host state of Nevada and Mary notably statehopped from Texas to win Nevada after placing as 1st runner up to Taylor Lauren Davis but Mary was a total find with that glamazon body and a story like no other as she is the first Miss USA delegate to compete with alopecia universalis having lost all the hair on her entire body but she wore a wig but during preliminaries, she wore a jewelled headpiece during the preliminary evening gown competition and this was one spectacular delegate on a level that would rival any Venezuelan delegate where it is extremely competitive but Mary wore the wig throughout finals and didn't do a ruveal and take off the wig at any point (to perhaps reveal the headpiece underneath or even another wig or even her bald head). I would have loved to have seen the crown placed on either the headpiece or her bald head as that has never been seen before! We can recall past pageant participants going bald such as Miss India 1965, Persis Khambatta who had hair when she competed for Miss Universe 1965 but Persis would later shave her head as part of playing the role of Lieutenant Ilia in "Star Trek: The Motion Picture" released in 1979 and Persis tragically passed away in 1998 at age 49 after suffering a heart attack likely resulting from being a chain smoker. Another delegate noted for going bald was Tanzania's Flaviana Matata who finished in 6th place at Miss Universe 2007 so maybe we will see more contestants creatively going bald in the future and showing the world - the bald and the beautiful! Mary was asked to discuss her alopecia when called in the top 20 and what she had to say to little girls looking up to her who may struggle as well. Mary replied, "As the first woman with alopecia universalis to walk this stage, I am breaking barriers and what I want to tell every little girl is that you are enough just the way you are. I know every single person in this audience has gone through a trial. Every single person in this audience has looked in the mirror and they wished they could change something or they thought they couldn't achieve their dreams but I am a living testament that you can!" Words of encouragement spoken so eloquently. Oh, what could have been...
It was also nice to have color commentators talk throughout the telecast as it makes it feel more like a competition and it's more entertaining so we had the return of some passionate pageant followers, Noelia Voigt Hendrix who originally won Miss USA 2023 but resigned during her reign and didn't participate in the 2024 but now that Laylah Rose is gone, Noelia seems to no longer be silenced as she encrypted in her famous resignation post from Instagram but did you notice, she didn't identify herself as a Miss USA during the telecast? Also participating as color commentators were Dani Walker-Miss Montana USA 2018 and Andreia Gibau-Miss New York USA 2020 and these ladies really follow their pageants so they did a formidable job.
The swimsuit competition also looked good with the unplaced delegates parading with the two delegates stopping and standing together but this was a little messier in finals since those that placed weren't in the parade so the order changed quite a bit. The biggest contrast during preliminaries were Louisiana and Maine standing next to each other as Maine was considerably taller so she made Louisiana look much shorter. The swimsuit song was 'Never Looked So Good' by lunaluxe.


The top 10 compete in evening gowns in alphabetical order: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas, Vermont

On to the top 10 announced in this order: Florida, Texas, Nebraska, Georgia, Nevada, Oregon, New Jersey, Vermont, Alabama and Oklahoma but again they competed in gown in alphabetical order. The judges were also introduced before the top 10 ladies competed in gown and they were Nia Sanchez-Miss USA 2014, Sasha Farber of Dancing With The Stars, designer Kenneth Barlis, media personality Jade Roper-Tolbert and talent agent Hannah Edwards.
After a slight delay in cueing the music prompting Olivia Jordan to say 'Cue the music!' after a long silence, it was time to witness the evening gown competition set to a very fitting song, China Styles' "Don't Tilt Your Crown" with the 41 remaining delegates parading on stage until it was time for the top 10 to reveal their gowns individually. Some notable gown changes from prelims among the non-top 10 include California and Louisiana. Idaho also changed her gown but I preferred the prelim gown and I loved that Mississippi and Tennessee who were both crowned under Kim Greenwood (now retired and another of Laylah Rose's state director casualties) broke the order and came out holding hands during the gown parade showing their true sisterhood friendship. We also learned about each of the top 10 delegates through their video packages and some standout reveals include that Alabama's Kennedy Whisenant was abandoned shortly after birth by her biological mother who didn't have the means to take care of her and she was adopted 9 months later and raised to be the great woman she is today. Alabama's gown was an intricately-designed, silver-beaded masterpiece with strings of beads dangling from her wrists and the back of the gown reminiscent of Amelia Vega-Miss Universe 2003 and she wore it very well. Florida's Lou Schieffelin lost her father a few months ago due to a heartattack and she is from a third-generation Florida ranch family. Florida's gown was a bit of a rocket-pop nightmare. I'm sure she meant to go patriotic with the red, white and blue theme but it was more costumey than fitting for the evening gown competition which was somewhat upsetting. Georgia's Savannah Miles loves to travel since childhood with her mother and is rarely without a suitcase. Her illusion gown had an intergalactic theme with a purplish hue topped with galaxy-like designs adorned with sparkles almost as if they were stars and an off-shoulder piece that raised up in the back giving some old-school glamour with peekaboo cutouts and what looked like a circular planet near the mid-section so it's almost like she was telling the judges with this gown that she was Miss "Universe" ready but perhaps the judges thought this gown was more on the provocative side so she didn't advance. Nebraska's Audrey Eckert transitioned from being an athlete to coaching and mentoring youth about online safety. Her red satin gown was very simple with points at the bust and rhinestones over one bust and the top of the opposite side of the train with a slit to show of her legs. Sometimes judges like a simpler look like this so I guess it helped contribute to Audrey's win. Nevada's Mary Sickler revealed that she has travelled the world as a model but was diagnosed with alopecia universalis in December 2024 right after shooting a Louis Vuitton campaign but is using that to empower people to fight life's battles. Nevada's cuffneck gown was just a breathtaking, spectacular vision of utter glamour and she really did look like she belonged in a Miss Venezuela pageant! Oh, how it pains me that we won't see this showstopping woman on the Miss Universe stage! Mary stepped out looking like a supremely confident diva in a white gown with silver and blue crystals adorned and a fabulous feather-boa shawl with feathers at the bottom and illusion material with individual feather patterns running from the top to bottom and Mary was nothing short of sensational. I kind of hoped for a removal of the wig to maybe reveal the headpiece she wore in preliminaries but I was so pleased with this performance. Mary really brought the glamourous element to this competition that has been missing for so long. New Jersey's Ivy Harrington talked about creating MVP(Most Valuable Pivot) to encourage young girls to become the architects of their identities and pivot into their purpose. New Jersey's bronze gown to match her skin tone was divine. She had her hair slicked back into a bun and the shawl shimmered in the light with puffs around the elbows and was reminiscent of the gown Margot Bourgeois of Trinidad & Tobago wore at Miss Universe 1997. Ivy carried that ornate bronze gown with dignity and class and the confidence of this woman is just off the charts! Oklahoma's Zoe Ferraro's video package talked about overcoming a reading disability at a young age to become an achieved woman. Oklahoma's yellow gown with the zebra stripes was very reminiscent of the gown Noelia Voigt wore when she won Miss USA 2023 with added elements like the elegant illusion train with feather trim so Zoe looked like a ray of sunshine! Oregon's Chantea McIntyre talked about marrying her college sweetheart, raising four children and starting Passion for Pennies which encourages women through workshops and mentorships to make income from what they love doing. Oregon and Idaho became the first married mothers to place under the new 2023 rules to remove restrictions on age/marriage/having children which is a sharp contrast from 1957 when the late Leona Gage of Maryland was dethroned shortly after winning Miss USA 1957 when it was discovered that she was a twice-married mother of two boys and also lied about her age (She was 18 and not 21 at the time). Oregon's gown was sharply different from her preliminary white gown with feather boa bringing back the old-school glamour but this regal midnight-blue number with a pleated skirt and over-the-shoulder pleated capes with a nice cut and gradient pattern was really queenly and Chantea's confidence was unmistakable that the judges wouldn't dare let her sashay away. Texas discussed growing up with 4 brothers and being a sports fanatic and encourages people to go after their dreams. Texas wore what a call the gingerbread gown as she looks like a gingerbread woman with the white frosting-like designs over the layered gown that matched Taylor's skin tone with white decorative beads running down so I guess she just had to make the judges hunger for her and she did indeed advance but the rocket-pop effect didn't seem to help Florida advance. I guess the judges prefer cookies over popsicles... Mm-hmm. Those judges ate up all that gingerbread! Vermont's Victoria Chuah discussed finishing both her Bachelor and Master's degree in four years and she is a software engineer, model, ballet dancer and even a stand-up comedian who dreams of hosting a late night talk show. Vermont's gown was a cherry-red number with beads hanging over the shoulders, a nice cuff-neck and highlighted by a very open back cut-out and it was also simple but elegant.

After a very long sponsor shout-out, we got the top 5 announced and they answered their questions in the order they were announced rather than alphabetical this time! Nebraska, Oregon, Nevada, Texas and New Jersey made up the top 5. Nebraska picked Nia Sanchez who asked, "When people look back on our generation 100 years from now, what do you hope they say about us and what are you doing to help make that happen?" Nebraska answered, "Good question. Our generation is, without a doubt, adaptable. We have learned to grow and change through so many things. I work in digital media every single day and I teach 500 athletes on a weekly basis how to stay safe online and being safe online and learning to grow up in a digital world acquire...requires you to be adaptable just like the job of Miss USA. She's heading to Miss Universe very shortly and she needs to be adaptable. She needs to roll with the punses...punches and she needs to lead our great nation with pride. Thank you." This was a decent answer despite a few stumbles but Audrey's warm and sincere energy really came through in this answer and helped her win the crown. Oregon picked Sasha Farber who asked, "Artificial intelligence is rewriting how we live and work. In one sentence, what's the greatest ethical line you believe AI should never cross and why?" Oregon replied, "In one sentence... Leave our creativity alone. (audience cheers) I think it's...I think (laughs)... As...As a business owner, As a business owner and a model and I own a modelling agency as well, I think it's really important that we keep the human element in our society. I think it's so important that we let creatives be creative and let the computer do the, the stuff that we don't wanna do. I would love an automated vacuum. We have that. Can I have an automated laundrymat(laundromat)? Things like that but let the creatives be creative." This was a "creative" answer coming from someone who has a blog so It was great that Chantea was able to think on her feet so quickly and inject a bit of humor while she was at it. Nevada followed asked by Kenneth Barlis, "You wake up tomorrow and every social media platform is gone forever. What changes first in you, in society and how we measure influence?" Nevada answered, "I would love to see a more accepting society. I think social media, we often compare ourselves and we wish we had the best outfit or we think we're not doing enough travelling but if we remove social media, we'll learn to live in the real world and I think we'll become more accepting. I truly believe that it doesn't matter where you come from, what God you believe in, who you love, how much hair is on your head in my case! We are all worthy of acceptance and that starts today." I think this was a really good answer actually. I think the ending fell a little flat and maybe "that starts today" wasn't really the right choice of words but I really thought this would be forgiven and Mary would be heading to Universe but the judges obviously thought differently... Texas was up next and Jade Roper-Tolbert asked her, "If you could erase one barrier in the United States that keeps women from building lasting wealth, which barrier would you remove and how?" Texas replied, "If I could remove one barrier, I would say accessibility. As a woman who works in sports, I know far too well that sometimes it's very difficult to imagine yourself in certain spaces because you haven't seen people who look like you infiltrate these spaces. I think it starts with representation and paying it forward and I want to be that example if I'm ever so fortunate to be Miss USA. I want to inspire every person watching here in Reno, USA and the universe. It doesn't matter if you were the first to do whatever is on your heart as long as you believe in yourself, you are more than halfway there. Thank you." This was yet another nice, well thought-out answer. Finally, New Jersey showed us how it's done. Hannah Edwards asked her first, "Miss New Jersey. Checking in. How are you doing?" and New Jersey humorously and cockily replied, "Exceptional. I can't wait to have some of that pizza I was talking about earlier!" These ladies have learned from Brook Lee's famous "eat everything twice" answer that won her Miss Universe 1997! Hannah proceeded to ask the actual question, "Imagine you have the undivided attention of every 15 year old girl in the country for 60 seconds, what do you say?" New Jersey confidently replied, "Young lady, you ARE the architect of your identity. I'm a former division one collegian athlete and now I have the opportunity to give back to the young girls that I coach in basketball and lacrosse. I also run a workshop. It's called MVP. That's not Most...Most Valuable Player, that's Most Valuable Pivot and I teach them to become the architects of their identity outside of their athletic jerseys and as your Miss U....S....A...., my mission, my motive and most importantly, my movement will consist of equipping the next generation with the tools and the confidence that they need to go from their most valuable pivot and catapult it into their most valuable purpose." I was so impressed with this finely crafted answer that I know she practiced since she said something very similar in her video package and I especially appreciated New Jersey's firm delivery of this answer. New Jersey has that sass and this is obviously a churched woman who preaches just like the many sermons I'm sure she has heard. I thought Ivy handily won this after that supremely confident answer and attitude but I guess she just had to settle for 1st runner up.
The absence of Michigan's Alma Cooper-Miss USA 2024 who won under the turbulent ownership of Laylah Rose who has been dismissed as director of Miss USA and Miss Teen USA which allowed Thom Brodeur and his Queen Beauty Network to take over and produce these pageants which appeared to many like they weren't going to happen this year due to resignations of multiple state directors and even leaving 8 states that had to have their delegates chosen through an open call casting and 3 of these delegates placed (Oregon, Idaho and New Hampshire) but it was actually disheartening to see Alma's absence despite the tribute set to an instrumental version of "Shallow" with a montage of videos of Alma's lackluster reign for which she received basically no help from Laylah Rose and went unplaced at Miss Universe 2024. I actually teared up during this montage of Alma's lackluster reign set to the Brooklyn Duo's gorgeous instrumental rendition of "Shallow" by Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper and it almost felt like Alma had passed away but she didn't thankfully! I hope we will see her in some capacity in a future Miss USA pageant because it's not really right for her to go out like this and I don't know if her connection to Laylah Rose had anything to do with this absence either so when the dust settles, Alma may make a comeback in a similar way that Noelia Voigt did. This is actually the first time since 1953 that the reigning Miss USA didn't crown her successor as the first Miss USA-Jackie Loughery who won in 1952 got married and so her successor, Myrna Hansen was crowned by Ruth June Hampton-Miss New Jersey USA 1952 and top 10 finalist at Miss USA 1952. Audrey one-upped Myrna though and was crowned by a surprise appearance by Miss Universe herself, Victoria Kjaer Theilvig of Denmark!


Just like that, another Miss USA has been crowned after it was declared that the 4th runner up was Nevada, 3rd runner up was Texas, 2nd runner up was Oregon and when it was down to the final 2, it was hilarious when New Jersey gave the hosts some serious side-eye as if to say "Y'all betta stop playin'!" when they were teasing drawing out the results when Emmanuel said, "I think we should wait a little longer." but then the results were announced first that Nebraska's Audrey Eckert was the new Miss USA with New Jersey as 1st runner up and Audrey's reaction was so momentous. She clasped hands with New Jersey and buckled to her knees down so far to the ground and the way her dress bent made it look like Audrey was turning into a transformer action figure (probably turning into the Jaguar car that she won) but she did indeed transform at that moment into Miss USA 2025! The rest of the delegates seemed happy with Audrey's win and her genuine nature will reflect the class of 2025 extremely well.




I also wonder if under Thom Brodeur's directorship if the state directors that left will come back or not so it will be interesting to see if they do and even if the numbers of entrants increase for 2026 state pageants or not as a result of these changes or if the numbers will still be disturbingly low so we'll just have to wait and see. The prizes like the Jaguar car and new sponsors should hopefully help things.
While I was hoping for a glamazon winner this year with Nevada's Mary Sickler, the judges opted for the likeable, girl next door with Audrey which is often the case in pageants recently. Audrey is already in Thailand to compete for Miss Universe and she had maybe a week to prepare similarly to Elle Smith in 2021 but in the early years, this was the norm to have less than a week between winning Miss USA and then competing Miss Universe from the beginning in 1952 until 1965 when Miss USA and Universe stopped being concurrent events and these days, it is Miss USA and Miss Teen USA that are the concurrent events. The only two women to make top 5 at Miss Teen USA, Miss USA and Miss Universe are Tennessee's Lynnette Cole in 2000 (4th at Miss Teen USA 1995, Miss USA 2000 winner and 5th at Miss Universe 2000) and Kentucky's Tara Conner (3rd at Miss Teen USA 2002, Miss USA 2006 winner and 5th at Miss Universe 2006). Coming close making top 7 at all 3 pageants is Louisiana's Ali Landry who was 7th at Miss Teen USA 1990, Miss USA 1996 winner and 6th at Miss Universe 1996. Now, we have Nebraska's Audrey Eckert who was 4th at MIss Teen USA 2020 and Miss USA 2025 winner so if Audrey makes the top 5 at Miss Universe, she will join Lynnette and Tara in this exclusive, elite group of women who made the top 5 at all three of the original MUO pageants! Will she do it? We'll find out on November 20! Another connection that Audrey has to Thailand is that Audrey used to work for a handbag company called Sapahn in the U.S. but their products are made in Thailand so this is an interesting twist!
Sawadee, Audrey!

The Prethoughts - Miss USA 2025