Miss USA Pageant

Miss USA 2010, the 59th edition of the Miss USA pageant, was held at the Theatre for the Performing Arts in Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada on May 16, 2010. Miss USA 2009, Kristen Dalton of North Carolina, crowned her successor, Rima Fakih of Michigan as Miss USA 2010 at the end of this event. Fakih represented the United States at the Miss Universe 2010 pageant in Las Vegas on August 23, 2010 where she did not advance to the semifinals; becoming the fourth Miss USA to do so in Miss Universe history (the last time was Shauntay Hinton in 2002). Representatives of the 50 states and the District of Columbia competed for the title in the pageant, which was broadcast live on NBC. Fakih's victory, however, was controversial with charges of bias facing the Miss USA Pageant after Morgan Elizabeth Woolard, who was runner-up, defended Arizona's anti-illegal immigration bill.[3][4][5] The pageant was co-hosted by Australian celebrity chef Curtis Stone and Today show correspondent Natalie Morales.[2] Color commentary was provided by Joan and Melissa Rivers.[2] Pop rock band Boys Like Girls performed during the swimsuit competition and country music star Trace Adkins performed during the evening gown competition.[2] Stone, Adkins and both Rivers have all appeared on Donald Trump's television show Celebrity Apprentice. Kristen Dalton and Chet Buchanan hosted the presentation show.[6] For the first time, the preliminary competition was webcast live via Ustream on May 12, 2010, following a precedent set at the 2009 Miss Universe pageant. The 2010 pageant drew the notice of conservative commentators for releasing a set of "exotic and revealing" promotional photos.[7] Pageants were held to select the representative for each state between June 2009 and January 2010. During the final show on May 16, the fifteen delegates with the highest average score 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 the fourth time since 2002. « read less