Miss USA 2012 was the 61st

Miss USA Miss USA is an American beauty pageant that has been held annually since 1952 to select the entrant from United States in the Miss Universe pageant. The Miss Universe Organization operated both pageants, as well as Miss Teen USA, until 2020, ...

pageant, held on June 3, 2012, at

The AXIS The Zappos Theater, originally known as Aladdin Theatre for the Performing Arts, is a mid-sized auditorium located at Planet Hollywood Las Vegas on the Las Vegas Strip. The venue hosts a variety of events, including charity benefits, concerts an ...

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a state in the Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the 7th-most extensive, ...

and it was televised live on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

Alyssa Campanella Alyssa Marie Campanella (born March 21, 1990) is an American model, blogger, and beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned Miss USA 2011. Having previously been crowned Miss California USA 2011, Campanella was the sixth woman representing Calif ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

crowned her successor

Olivia Culpo Olivia Frances Culpo (born May 8, 1992) is an American model, fashion influencer, social media personality, and actress. After winning the Miss Rhode Island USA competition, she went on to be crowned Miss USA, and then Miss Universe in 2012. ...

Rhode Island Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area and the seventh-least populous, with slightly fewer than 1.1 million residents as of 2020, but it ...

at the end of the event. This was Rhode Island's first Miss USA title. Culpo represented the United States at

Miss Universe 2012 Miss Universe 2012 was the 61st Miss Universe pageant, held at the PH Live at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States on December 19, 2012. At the end of the event, Leila Lopes of Angola crowned Olivia Culpo of t ...

six months later and went on to win the

Miss Universe Miss Universe is an annual international beauty pageant that is run by a United States and Thailand based Miss Universe Organization.Natalie Tadena (July 2, 2015"Donald Trump's Miss USA Pageant Lands on Reelz Cable Channel". ''The Wall Stre ...

title, becoming the eighth American to do so. First runner-up Nana Meriwether of

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

inherited the Miss USA title replaced Culpo to finish the reign and was officially crowned on January 9, 2013. Meriwether became the second woman from Maryland to hold the Miss USA title; the first,

Mary Leona Gage Mary Leona Gage (April 8, 1939 – October 5, 2010) was an American actress, model and beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned Miss USA 1957, the first from Maryland to capture the Miss USA crown. She was stripped of her title when it was rev ...

, was dethroned shortly after winning. For the first time, a question was solicited from

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

for the final question asked of one of the five finalists. That question picked by the pageant organizers - "Would you feel it would be fair that a

transgender A transgender (often abbreviated as trans) person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Many transgender people experience dysphoria, which they seek to alleviate through ...

woman wins the Miss USA title over a natural-born woman?" - was answered by the winner, Culpo.

Background

Selection of contestants

One delegate from each state and the

District of Columbia ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

was chosen in state pageants held which began in July 2011 and ended in January 2012. The first state pageant was

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

, held on July 16, 2011 as scheduled. The final pageant was

, held on January 29, 2012. Eight delegates are former

Miss Teen USA Miss Teen USA is a beauty pageant formerly run, since 1983, by the Miss Universe Organization for girls aged 14–19. Unlike its sister pageants Miss Universe, which currently broadcasts on Fox and Miss USA, this pageant is webcast on the M ...

state winners, while one is a former Miss America state winner and the other one competed in Miss Earth United States.

Preliminary round

Prior to the final telecast, the delegates competed in the preliminary competition, which involves private interviews with the judges and a presentation show where they compete in swimsuit and evening gown. The preliminary competition took place on May 30, 2012, at 10 pm (ET) hosted by Chet Buchanan and Alyssa Campanella, and was broadcast online over Xbox Live via their

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

and MSN applications.

Finals

During the final competition, the top sixteen competed in swimsuit, while the top ten competed evening gown, and the top five competed in the final question signed up by a panel of judges. The sixteenth semifinalist was determined by voting online.

Results

‡ Voted into Top 16 as America's Choice via Internet
∞ Culpo won

. Due to protocol, Culpo resigns her title as Miss USA 2012. 1st runner-up, Nana Meriwether, replaces her as Miss USA.

Special awards

Order of announcements

Top 16

# # # # # # # # # # # # # # # #

Top 10

# # # # # # # # # #

Top 5

# # # # #

Delegates

Judges

Preliminary Judges * Michael Agbabian * Cindy Barshop * Stefan C. Campbell * Renee Simon * Alison Taub * Kim Wagner *

Randall Winston Randall Keenan Winston is a television producer and director best known for his work on ''Spin City'' and '' Scrubs''. Career He has been an associate producer on such shows as '' Champs'', '' Day By Day'', '' Brooklyn Bridge'' and ''Spin City''. ...

Final Judges * Sol Vargas *

Ali Fedotowsky Alexandra Elaine Fedotowsky-Manno (née Fedotowsky; born September 16, 1984) is an American television personality best known as a cast member on the ABC reality shows '' The Bachelor'' and ''Bachelorette'' (2010). Early life and education Fe ...

Arsenio Hall Arsenio Hall (born February 12, 1956) is an American comedian, actor and talk show host. He hosted the late-night talk show, ''The Arsenio Hall Show'', from 1989 until 1994, and again from 2013 to 2014. He has appeared in ''Martial Law'', '' Com ...

Marilu Henner Mary Lucy Denise Henner is an American actress. She began her career appearing in the original production of the musical '' Grease'' in 1971, before making her screen debut in the 1977 comedy-drama film '' Between the Lines''. In 1977, Henner wa ...

* Joe Jonas *

Rob Kardashian Robert Arthur Kardashian (born March 17, 1987) is an American television personality. He is known for appearing on ''Keeping Up with the Kardashians'', a reality television series that centers on his family, as well as its spin-offs. In 20 ...

George Kotsiopoulos George Kotsiopoulos (born November 18, 1968) is an American magazine editor, fashion consultant, stylist and television personality. He is style editor at large for ''Cardinal Courier Media, C'' magazine and was a fashion associate at ''The New Yo ...

Dayana Mendoza Dayana Sabrina Mendoza Moncada (born 1 June 1986) is a Venezuelan actress, model, film producer and director. She is also a former beauty queen, winner of the titles of Miss Venezuela 2007 and Miss Universe 2008. Dayana Mendoza, in 2012, parti ...

Miss Universe 2008 Miss Universe 2008 was the 57th Miss Universe pageant, held at the Crown Convention Center in Nha Trang, Vietnam on July 14, 2008. This was the first time that the Miss Universe pageant was broadcast in 1080i High-definition. At the end of t ...

from

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

Background music

* Opening Fashion Show – " Turn Up the Radio" (Remix) by Madonna, and "

LaserLight "Laserlight" is a song by English singer-songwriter Jessie J featuring French DJ David Guetta, taken from the platinum edition of Jessie J's debut studio album, '' Who You Are''. The artists co-wrote the song with The Invisible Men, Giorgio ...

" by Jessie J featuring

David Guetta Pierre David Guetta ( , ; born 7 November 1967) is a French DJ and music producer. He has over 10 million album and 65 million single sales globally, with more than 10 billion streams. In 2011, 2020 and 2021, Guetta was voted the number one D ...

(background music) * Swimsuit Competition – " #1Nite (One Night)" and " You Make Me Feel..." by Cobra Starship (live performance) * Evening Gown Competition – " Lights" (Original and instrumental versions) by Ellie Goulding (background music) * Top 5 Final Look – "America's Most Wanted" by

Akon Aliaune Damala Badara Akon Thiam (; born April 16, 1973), known mononymously as Akon, is a Senegalese-American singer, record producer, and entrepreneur. He rose to prominence in 2004 following the release of " Locked Up" (featuring Styles P ...

(live performance)

Historical significance

wins the competition for the first time, surpasses its previous highest placement in 2007 and becoming the 31st state who does it for the first time. Would go on to win

in December of that year as USA. *

earns the ''1st runner-up'' position for the second time. The last time it placed this was in

1968 The year was highlighted by protests and other unrests that occurred worldwide. Events January–February * January 5 – " Prague Spring": Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. * Janu ...

. Also became the second woman from

to win the Miss USA title. Prior to this

, outright winner of

Miss USA 1957 Miss USA 1957 was the 6th Miss USA pageant, held at Long Beach Municipal Auditorium, Long Beach, California on July 17, 1957, during the run-up to the year's Miss Universe pageant. The 1957 Miss USA pageant is, as of , the only occasion to da ...

, was disqualified after discovered she had been married and had two children. She finished as 1st runner-up, but succeeded as Miss USA 2012 after Olivia Culpo won Miss Universe. *

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

earns the ''2nd runner-up'' position for the first time and reaches its highest placement since Halle Berry in

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 **Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal enter ...

. *

earns the ''3rd runner-up'' position for the first time and reaches its highest placement since 2007. *

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

earns the ''4th runner-up'' position for the sixth time. The last time it placed this was in

1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxon Valdez oil tanker runs ...

. * States that placed in the top 16 the previous year were

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County , LargestMetro = Greater Birmingham , area_total_km2 = 135,765 ...

Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and ...

South Carolina )'' Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

, and

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

. *

made its seventh straight placement. *

and

placed for the third consecutive year. *

and

made their second consecutive placement. *

last placed in 2006. *

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

and

last placed in 2007. *

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

and

last placed in

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

. *

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the O ...

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

and Oklahoma last placed in 2010.

Kelsey Dow made it past the first elimination due to new media technology (Internet/SMS vote). *

breaks an ongoing streak of placements since 2005 after Natalie Pack failed to place in the semifinals. *

Missouri Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee): Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas t ...

breaks an ongoing streak of placements since 2010.

Notes

References

External links

Miss USA official website
{{Miss USA

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gat ...

June 2012 events in the United States 2012 beauty pageants 2012 in Nevada Zappos Theater