Miss USA 2008

Miss USA 2008
Miss USA 2008 Crystle Stewart
Date	April 11, 2008
Presenters	Donny Osmond Marie Osmond[1]
Entertainment	Finger Eleven
Venue	The AXIS, Las Vegas, Nevada
Broadcaster	NBC (KVBC) Telemundo (KBLR)
Entrants	51
Placements	15
Winner	Crystle Stewart Texas

Miss USA 2008 was the 57th Miss USA pageant, held in Las Vegas, Nevada on April 11, 2008.^[2] At the conclusion of the final night of competition, Crystle Stewart of Texas was crowned the winner by outgoing titleholder Rachel Smith of Tennessee. Crystle represented the United States at the Miss Universe 2008 pageant, which was held in Vietnam, where she placed in the Top 10. This was also the first time in the pageant's 56-year history that two consecutive women of African Americans have been crowned.

The pageant was held at the Theatre for the Performing Arts, a 7,000-seat theater located in the Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino.^[3] The theater was also the location of Miss Universe 1991 and 1996 pageants. This is the first time that the Miss USA pageant was held in Nevada.

For the first time, the competition was broadcast in High Definition.

Brother/sister duo Donny and Marie Osmond hosted the live telecast for the first time, and Finger Eleven performed their single "Paralyzer".^[1][4] Rihanna's song Umbrella was used during the evening gown competition.

During the final show on April 11, the fifteen delegates with the highest average scores from the preliminary competition were announced. The top fifteen competed in the swimsuit competition. The top ten delegates from swimsuit competed in evening gown. The top five delegates from the evening gown competition (not averaged composite scores from both competitions) competed in the final question round to determine the winner. The judges' composite score was shown after each round of competition for only the second time since 2002.

Delegates

State	Contestant	Hometown	Age[a]	Height	Placement	Award	Notes
Alabama	Keisha Walding	Dothan	24	5'10"
Alaska	Courtney Erin Carroll[5]	Fairbanks	25	5'7"		Miss Photogenic
Arizona	Kimberly Joiner[6]	Gilbert	22	5'8"
Arkansas	Rachel Howells[7]	Alma	21	5'10"
California	Raquel Beezley[8]	Barstow	21	5'8"	Top 15
Colorado	Beckie Hughes[9][10]	Grand Junction	21	5'9"
Connecticut	Jacqueline Honulik[11]	Fairfield	21	5'8"
Delaware	Vincenza Carrieri-Russo[12]	Newark	23	5'7"
District of Columbia	Chelsey Sophia Rodgers[13]	Washington, D.C.	24	5'8"
Florida	Jessica Rafalowski	DeLand	22	5'10"	Top 10
Georgia	Amanda Kozak	Warner Robins	23	5'10"			Previously Miss Georgia 2006
Hawaii	Jonelle Layfield	Kaneʻohe	23	5'10"			Sister of Ashley Layfield, Miss Hawaii 2007
Idaho	Tracey Brown	Post Falls	21	5'9"			Previously Miss Idaho 2005
Illinois	Shanon Lersch	Chicago	25	5'10"
Indiana	Brittany Mason	Anderson	21	5'10"	Top 10
Iowa	Abbey Curran	Davenport	20	5'5"			First person with disability to compete at Miss USA
Kansas	Michelle Gillespie	Mission Hills	22	5'11"			Great-great niece of Margaret Gorman, Miss America 1921
Kentucky	Alysha Harris	Lexington	20	5'4"
Louisiana	Michelle Berthelot	Hammond	24	5'6"
Maine	Kaetlin Parent	Van Buren	20	5'8"			Previously Miss Maine Teen USA 2005
Maryland	Casandra Tressler	Damascus	22	5'9"			Later Miss United States International 2010
Massachusetts	Jacqueline Bruno	Assonet	23	5'10"	Top 10		Previously Miss Massachusetts Teen USA 2003
Michigan	Elisabeth Crawford	Canton	25	5'8"
Minnesota	Kaylee Unverzagt	Eagan	20	5'10"	Top 15
Mississippi	Leah Laviano	Ellisville	20	5'4"	1st runner-up
Missouri	Candice Crawford	Columbia	21	5'8"	Top 10		Sister of actor Chace Crawford
Montana	Tori Wanty[14]	Shelby	21	5'4"
Nebraska	Micaela Johnson	Omaha	23	5'5"
Nevada	Veronica Grabowski	Henderson	23	5'6"
New Hampshire	Breanne Silvi	Nashua	24	5'4"
New Jersey	Tiffany Andrade	Linden	22	5'5"	2nd runner-up
New Mexico	Raelene Aguilar	Sunland Park	26	5'8"			Previously Miss New Mexico Teen USA 2000
New York	Danielle Roundtree	New York City	20	5'11"
North Carolina	Andrea Duke	Saluda	26	5'11"
North Dakota	Stephanie Tollefson[15]	New Rockford	21	5'8"
Ohio	Monica Day	Grove City	25	5'9"		Miss Congeniality
Oklahoma	Lindsey Jo Harrington	Frederick	22	5'10"	3rd runner-up
Oregon	Mary Horch[16]	Corvallis	24	5'7"
Pennsylvania	LauRen Merola	Pittsburgh	23	5'8"	4th runner-up
Rhode Island	Amy Diaz	Johnston	23	5'6"	Top 15		Previously Miss Rhode Island Teen USA 2001 Later Miss Earth United States 2009 Later contestant on The Amazing Race 23 and won
South Carolina	Jamie Hill	Columbia	24	5'6"	Top 15		Contestant on The Amazing Race 10
South Dakota	Charlie Buhler	Mitchell	20	5'5"			First African American Miss South Dakota USA
Tennessee	Hailey Laine Brown	Franklin	25	5'9"	Top 10
Texas	Crystle Stewart	Missouri City	26	5'9"	Winner		Top 10 at Miss Universe 2008; placed 8th
Utah	Julia Bachison	North Ogden	24	5'7"	Top 15		Previously Miss Utah 2005
Vermont	Kim Tantlinger	Burlington	22	5'7"
Virginia	Tori Hall	Roanoke	21	5'8"			Previously Miss Virginia Teen USA 2005 Cast member on Road Rules 2007: Viewers' Revenge and The Gauntlet 3
Washington	Michelle Font	Renton	26	5'7"
West Virginia	Skylene Montgomery	Parkersburg	23	5'7"
Wisconsin	Michelyn Cynthia Butler	Madison	25	5'8"
Wyoming	Cassie Shore	Casper	22	5'5"

Contestant gallery

• 
  Raquel Beezley
  Miss California USA 2008
• 
  Keisha Walding
  Miss Alabama USA 2008
• 
  Vincenza Carrieri-Russo
  Miss Delaware USA 2008
• 
  Shanon Lersch
  Miss Illinois USA 2008
• 
  Michelle Berthelot
  Miss Louisiana USA 2008
• 
  Casandra Tressler
  Miss Maryland USA 2008
• 
  Elisabeth Crawford
  Miss Michigan USA 2008
• 
  Kaylee Unverzagt
  Miss Minnesota USA 2008
• 
  Candice Crawford
  Miss Missouri USA 2008
• 
  Veronica Grabowski
  Miss Nevada USA 2008
• 
  Crystle Stewart (2008 winner)
  Miss Texas USA 2008
• 
  Charlie Buhler Miss South Dakota USA 2008

Contestant notes

Michelle Gillespie is crowned Miss Kansas USA 2008

• Due to accounting errors, Christina Silva was crowned Miss California USA. When the mistake was discovered a week after the pageant, the real winner Raquel Beezley assumed the title.^[8]
• Michelle Gillespie, Miss Kansas USA, is the great-great niece of Miss America 1921, Margaret Gorman of Washington, DC.^[17]
• Three contestants previously competed in the Miss Texas USA and/or Miss Texas Teen USA pageants before winning titles in other states:
  • Candice Crawford (Missouri) placed third runner-up at Miss Texas Teen USA 2003 and 2005. She is the sister of Gossip Girl actor Chace Crawford.^[18]
  • Elisabeth Crawford (Michigan) was a non-finalist at Miss Texas USA 2004 to 2006
  • Veronica Grabowski (Nevada) competed at the Miss Texas Teen USA 2003 and Miss Texas USA 2007 pageants, finishing as a semifinalist in both years.
• Amy Diaz (Rhode Island) and Danielle Roundtree (New York) competed at Miss Florida USA 2007. Diaz placed third runner-up and Roundtree was a non-finalist.^[19]
• Abbey Curran (Iowa) was the first contestant with a disability. Curran was born with cerebral palsy.^[20]
• Amy Diaz (Rhode Island) competed at Miss Earth 2009 in Boracay, Philippines but unplaced.

See also

• Miss USA 2007
• Miss Universe 2008
• Miss Teen USA 2008

Notes

1. Ages at the time of the pageant

References

1. "America's beloved Brother & Sister duo, Donny and Marie Osmond, to host the 2008 Miss USA Pageant". Miss USA Press. 2008-03-14. Archived from the original on 2008-08-07.
2. "Miss USA coming to Las Vegas". News 3 Las Vegas. 2007-12-13. Archived from the original on 2007-12-07. Retrieved 2007-12-13.
3. "Donny and Marie to host Miss USA Pageant - UPI.com". UPI. Retrieved 2024-07-09.
4. "Heather Mills, Rob Schneider, Joey Fatone, Kristian Alfonso, Amanda Beard, Christian Siriano, Shawne Merriman, Ken Paves, Kelly Carlson, and George Wayne to Judge 2008 Miss USA Pageant On NBC April 11th/Finger Eleven Will Perform Their Hit Song "Paralyzer" During the Live Telecast from Las Vegas" (Press release). Miss Universe Organization. 2008-03-31. Archived from the original on 2008-08-07.
5. "UAF student wins Miss Alaska USA crown". Associated Press. 2007-12-17.
6. Gersema, Emily (2007-12-10). "Gilbert woman to vie for Miss USA crown". The Arizona Republic. Retrieved 2008-03-07.
7. Fry, Kenneth (2008-02-23). "Alma Woman Prepares For Miss USA Pageant". Press Argus-Courier.^{[permanent dead link‍]}
8. "New Miss California winner named after accounting error". Associated Press. 2007-12-04.
9. "Owner of Pinque wins Miss Colorado USA crown". The Daily Sentinel. 2007-10-30.
10. Stina Sieg (31 October 2007). "Businesswoman named Miss Colorado". The Post Independent. Glenwood Springs and Garfield County, CO, USA: Swift Communications, Inc. Archived from the original on 1 March 2021. Retrieved 15 April 2020.
11. "Daughter of officer sets sights on Miss USA". The Norwalk Advocate. 2008-01-24. Retrieved 2008-03-07. ^{[dead link‍]}
12. Zewe, Adam (2007-12-10). "Vincenza Carrieri-Russo crowned Miss Delaware USA". The Community News. Archived from the original on 2008-04-21. Retrieved 2008-03-07.
13. Bryce, Peter (2008-03-18). "Next Stop Miss USA: DC's Pageant Representative on Fashion, Fitness, Guilty Pleasures, and Embarrassing Moments". Washingtonian. Archived from the original on 2008-04-10. Retrieved 2008-03-20.
14. Milliard, Trevon (2008-03-20). "UM student wins Miss Montana". Montana Kaimin. Archived from the original on 2008-04-10. Retrieved 2008-03-20.
15. Johnson, Andrea. "Miss N.D. focuses on healthy lifestyles". Minot Daily News. Retrieved 2008-03-20. ^{[dead link‍]}
16. Hogue, Theresa (2008-03-14). "Miss Oregon gets ready for pageant". Albany Democrat-Herald. Retrieved 2008-03-20.
17. Bhargava, Jennifer (2007-12-25). "Mission Hills woman captures Miss Kansas title". Kansas City Star. Retrieved 2008-03-07.^{[permanent dead link‍]} (Google cache)
18. Raubolt, Jordan (2007-11-16). "Crowning achievement: MU student sets sights on career". Columbia Daily Tribune.
19. "Jenna Edwards of North Miami is next Miss Florida USA". Associated Press. 2006-07-15.
20. "Pageant Is Her Crowning Achievement: Miss Iowa, In Las Vegas For Miss USA Pageant, Was Born With Cerebral Palsy". Las Vegas: CBS. April 10, 2008. Archived from the original on 6 November 2008. Retrieved 5 June 2010.

External links

• Miss USA official website Archived 2006-09-18 at the Wayback Machine