THE PREDICTIONS (July 30, 2016)

Who will be Miss Teen USA 2016?
Presenters for tonight's show are: Cody Johns and Miss USA 2015, Olivia Jordan. Singer Nick Fradiani will perform at the Venue - the Venetian Theatre in Las Vegas, Nevada and this is the first Miss Teen USA pageant to be held in the U.S. since 2007 after several years of it being held in the Bahamas. The judges are some familiar faces and like Miss USA 2015, it is an all female judging panel. The judges are: Lu Parker (Miss USA 1994), Keylee Sue Sanders (Miss Teen USA 1995), Hilary Cruz (Miss Teen USA 2007), Eva Marie (WWE Entertainer) and singer Savannah Keyes.

After watching preliminaries, I have now come up with my final predictions for Miss Teen USA 2016 and they are as follows!


TOM'S FINAL PREDICTIONS FOR MISS TEEN USA 2016

Winner = Texas-Karlie Hay

Texas is an extremely competitive state and they bring it yet again with Karlie who stands out in every aspect as being a very strong, beautiful, fit, intelligent delegate that could take this competition.

1st Runner Up = California-Athenna Crosby

Athenna is quite the comedienne showing up at the pajama party dressed as Spider Man! Apart from that, she already works as a host and has a great body and a distinct look that to me is a cross between Shannen Doherty and Jennifer Love-Hewitt and she also has her bangs down. Her gown and how she worked it was sensational so I am looking for a strong showing from this girl and she could quite possibly take it all!

2nd Runner Up = Georgia-Bentley Wright

I got good vibes from this girl in the preliminaries. She is really stunning and it should come as no surprise that she has appeared in a music video for country star Jason Aldean. She has a great body, gown and overall look so I also am looking for her to do quite well.

3rd Runner Up = Alabama-Erin Snow

Erin seems to be universally favored as having a classic look with a great body and gown. She is also among the stronger delegates this year.

4th Runner Up = Tennessee-Savannah Chrisley

As you may have guessed, I reserved the 4th runner up spot for the reality TV star, Savannah Chrisley who appears on 'Chrisley Knows Best' with the rest of the Chrisley family. This spot was also given to California's Nadia Mejia at Miss USA 2016 and both Nadia and Savannah have that distinct bedhead hairstyle that really makes them stand out. Could Savannah's presence bring more fame to the Miss Teen USA pageant and would a win further sweeten the deal?

SEMIFINALISTS:

Maryland-Amy Ingram

Amy really stood out to me in a good way. I feel like she is very well put together and polished and this gown reminds me a lot of the gown that Tennessee's delegate wore last year.

Vermont-Tammy Vujanovic

I actually think Tammy is lovely and she did quite well in preliminaries as she does have a good body and is styled very well so Vermont just might place two years in a row! Vermont is an underdog state so their girls really have to fight for spots so I hope Tammy does it.

Nevada-Carissa Morrow

Nevada is the host delegate this year but she also is well prepared. I wasn't too sure about the gown at first but it's actually quite nice and different. Carissa's overall look is very good too so I think she could do quite well.

New York-Natalia Terrero

Natalia also has a spark about her and she had really powerful presence in the preliminaries and I feel like she will get a spot and do quite well.

South Carolina-Marley Stokes

Marley is a great overall delegate and South Carolina always sends well-prepared girls. But of course, she would have to wear one of those panty-gowns. Will this style never go away??? But I'll admit she worked it well so I think she will have a strong showing.

Oklahoma-Hellen Smith

I think her look works for Teen. Even the teeth. She has a good body and worked it well and her gown choice was spot on so I think she earned a spot.

Mississippi-Lauren Rymer

Lauren is the tallest delegate this year standing just over 6 feet tall and she could be the tall model delegate that goes far in the competition. Her gown presentation was somewhat mesmerizing so I can see it happening.

Minnesota-Sophia Primozich

Sophia has that fun yet diverse look to her that is very appreciated in Teen so I am looking for her to get a spot.

Illinois-Olivia Pura

I don't know why but I'm sensing Olivia Culpo-like powers with her namesake, Olivia Pura. She's quite brainy so maybe she will do well in interview and she has a decent look overall so I just am feeling her somehow.

New Hampshire-Valeria Podobniy

She may have struggled a bit with her sash during the gown competition but I think she recovered nicely and I feel this girl has something. I think her story about being from a Russian immigrant family might win her some appeal and she has a serenity about her that I just appreciate and I think the judges may reward her with a spot.

ALTERNATES:

Delaware-Emily Hutchison

Delaware's delegate has a great look but the body could be a bit better and this gown with the very-open looking neckline doesn't quite look right to me but it could help her stand out. I believe a delegate from Kosovo wore a similar gown to this at Miss Universe a few years ago.

New Jersey-Gina Mellish

Gina has a great look but her body caused her to rank a little lower in my list but she still has potential to do very well.

North Carolina-Emily Wakeman

Emily just barely escaped my list as well as she does have a good body but some of her facial expressions especially during gown didn't quite work for me but it is quite possible for her to get a spot.

Idaho-Kate Pekuri

Kate impressed me in the active-wear competition but the gown was somewhat of a letdown to me so I also just made her an alternate but she also could place. Idaho is another state that has to fight for placements as they have only placed twice in Miss Teen USA history (1989 and 2008).

Kentucky-Christiaan Prince

She has a decent look but the body and gown weren't quite right for me. She is also among the younger contestants this year at age 15.

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

Indiana-Lauren Boswell

Lauren made my honorable mentions because she gave a very sensible answer to a question about voting that I saw in an online video so she may have done well in interview and her gown was very unique and works for Teen and her little giggles lightened the mood so maybe Lauren could parlay all of this into something big.

West Virginia-Cassy Trickett

Cassy is a decent overall delegate and she is the shortest at a petite 5 feet tall but I don't know whether or not that will work in her favor.

Missouri-Dallas Ezard

Dallas just comes across as a very nice person and while she did well, I'm not sure that it was enough.

Florida-Gracie Smith

She had a great headshot but somehow I wasn't getting the right vibes from her so she fell to my honorable mentions category.

Michigan-Unjanée Wells

Finally, Unjanée totally makes me think of Nicki Minaj but I don't know that her look would be as appreciated in this venue but she does stand out in a good way.


Just missing my list were: Louisiana, Utah and Washington

PREPARE FOR PRELIMINARIES! (July 24, 2016)

Katherine Haik, Miss Teen USA 2015

The Miss Teen USA 2016 preliminaries will be webcast via www.missuniverse.com/missteenusa on Friday, July 29 at 8 p.m. Pacific Standard Time (11 p.m. Eastern Standard Time)

The finals will be webcast the day after on Saturday, July 30 at 5 p.m. Pacific Standard Time (8 p.m. Eastern Standard Time). Olivia Jordan, Miss USA 2015 may be serving as host for the pageant.


Who will succeed Louisiana's Katherine Haik (the youngest person ever to be crowned Miss Teen USA winning her crown at age 15) and be the teen queen for Two-thousand-sweet-sixteen? Miss Teen USA 2016 has been making headlines this year largely due to the decision to eliminate the swimsuit competition this year and replace it with an athletic wear or active wear competition sponsored by Goldsheep. The swimsuit competition has always been a part of the Miss Teen USA pageant since its beginning in 1983. The early years saw the ladies compete in one-piece swimsuits though until 1992 when the contestants could choose to wear a two-piece or one-piece swimsuit. Bikinis ruled since 1992 but with new ownership from WME/IMG this year after the U.S. Republican Presidential candidate, Donald Trump sold the Miss Universe Organization pageants including Miss Teen USA to them last year, there are a few changes. A lot of other teen pageants, like Miss America's Outstanding Teen and America's Junior Miss, have an athletic wear competition in place of a swimsuit competition so this is nothing new but will this be a temporary change or a permanent one? I don't know if this change was really necessary but in this social media age, it seems that there is more sensitivity towards teens competing in swimsuits and maybe it was more of an attempt to emphasize the change that Trump is no longer involved with the pageants. Miss Teen USA has been off the television airwaves since 2008. CBS aired the Miss Teen USA pageant from 1983 to 2002 and then NBC co-owned the pageants with Donald Trump in 2003 so NBC aired the 2003 to 2007 pageants then the decision was made to take it off the air. After that, the pageant has been webcast online but even with the new ownership under WME/IMG, Miss Teen USA is still remaining a webcast so it looks like it will never return to television. The pageant is also being held back on U.S. soil this year as the 2008 to 2015 pageants were all held in the Bahamas but this year's pageant is back in the U.S. being held in Las Vegas, Nevada so it saves the hassles of having to get a passport.

In other pageant news, the first delegate for Miss USA 2017 has been crowned and she was dethroned a week later. The woman in question is Genesis Davila, who is quite familiar to the pageant scene as prior to winning Miss Florida USA 2017, Genesis was 1st runner to Miss Universe Puerto Rico 2013, Monic Perez. Genesis would compete at Miss Intercontinental 2012 and finished as 1st runner up and then she won Miss Puerto Rico World and competed at Miss World 2014 where she went unplaced. Just last year, Genesis also entered to win the new Miss 52 USA title but she wasn't selected among the final 10 for that competition and was therefore eliminated which makes me wonder if she will try again to win Miss 52 USA 2017. Initially, I thought Genesis' dethronement had something to do with her residency status since she is clearly from Puerto Rico but it turns out she was dethroned for using professional stylists in her hotel room instead of styling herself which is apparently against the state's rules. A lot of people are calling this an incredibly ridiculous reason to dethrone her and think there may be more to the story. Linette de los Santos will now be representing Florida instead at Miss USA.

Also in pageant news, there is talk about the 2016 Miss Universe pageant possibly being held in the Philippines after the reigning Miss Universe, the Philippines' own Pia Wurtzbach met with the president of the Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte. The problem is that they want to push the 2016 Miss Universe pageant to be held in May 2017! Yikes. If 2014 was the first year to not have a Miss Universe pageant in it, it looks like 2016 will be the next as the date they are hoping the Philippines will at least agree to seems to be January 29, 2017 but one reason they gave for wanting to hold it in May is being there are other major events going on around that time like Chinese New Year 2017 (which is January 28, 2017). If the pageant was held in May, this would give Pia Wurtzbach the longest reign in Miss Universe history surpassing that of Miss Universe 2011, Angola's Leila Lopes who reigned the longest from September 2011 to December 2012 (1 year and 3 months).

After viewing the Miss Teen USA Preliminaries on July 29, I will post my final predictions on the morning of July 30 and we will find out later that night, who wins the crown!