Miss Teen USA

History

The following is a list of pageant editions and information.

Competition rounds

Prior to the final telecast the delegates compete in the preliminary competition, which involves private interviews with the judges and a presentation show where they compete in swimsuit and evening gown.

During the final competition, the semi-finalists are announced and go on to compete in swimsuit and evening gown. From 1983 to 2002 all semi-finalists also competed in an interview competition as well as both swimsuit and evening gown, followed by one or two final interview questions. In 2003, a new format was introduced where the top fifteen competed in evening gown, the top ten competed in swimsuit and the top five competed in the final question. In 2006, the order of competition was changed where the top fifteen competed in swimsuit and the top ten in evening gown. The latest competition format was used since 2008 the final not broadcast on TV, where the top fifteen both competed in swimsuit and evening gown, and the top five competed in the final question who all signed up by a panel of judges.

Former Miss Teen USA, Katherine Haik wanted to eliminate the swimsuit competition. The swimsuit category was chastised for exploiting and sexualizing young women and not promoting diverse body types. The new active-wear portion will increase the focus on wellness and health of young ladies.

Titleholders

This is a list of women who have won the Miss Teen USA beauty pageant.

Delegates

1983–2007: Viewership and later decline

The pageant's viewership peak was hit in 1988, when the pageant averaged over 22 million viewers on CBS. Even as recently as 1999, the show managed to bring in over 10 million viewers. The 2006 airing was the second lowest rated in the pageant's 23-year history, with only 5.6 million viewers watching the live broadcast (the lowest: 2004, with 5.34 million). The 2007 telecast (25th Anniversary, scheduled for August 24, 2007) was the last time Miss Teen USA aired live on television.

2008: Dark pageant

The 2008 pageant was held, untelevised, on August 16, 2008. One factor that prevented NBC from broadcasting was its prime time commitment to the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.

2009–present: Internet pageant

Since 2009, it is broadcast over the Internet on the Miss Teen USA website. It can be viewed worldwide, without any region restrictions via geolocation. Currently, it is hosted by YouTube (Ustream from 2009-13). In addition, the webcast can be accessed on the pageant's Facebook page and on mobile devices using the official Miss Universe mobile app released during Miss USA 2016.

In 2012, the pageant began to simulcast in selected regions on Microsoft's Xbox Live service, allowing owners of the Xbox 360 and/or Xbox One consoles to watch the pageant on a television screen.

Miss Teen USA at Miss USA

In the early years of Miss Teen USA, three winners represented the title "Miss Teen USA" at Miss USA. The three queens were: Ruth Zakarian (1983), Cherise Haugen (1984), and Allison Brown (1986). This also made history because the Miss USA 1984 pageant had 53 delegates, the most ever in a Miss USA pageant. In 1987, Miss Teen USA 1986, Allison Brown participated in the 1987 Miss USA pageant. All three failed to make the cut at their respective Miss USA pageants.

Only in the three years mentioned above did Miss Teen USA winners automatically gain representation at Miss USA. Starting in 1988, if the Miss Teen USA winners want to compete at Miss USA, they first must win a Miss USA state crown. A total of seven Miss Teen USA winners have participated at Miss USA, with four winning their state Miss USA crowns first. The first of these was Kelly Hu, Miss Teen USA 1985, who won the Miss Hawaii USA 1993 title and represented Hawaii at Miss USA 1993. She finished as a finalist. The next was Jamie Solinger, Miss Teen USA 1992. She took the Miss Iowa USA 1998 title but failed to make the cut at the Miss USA pageant. Only two Miss Teen USA winners have made the top 3 of Miss USA. Brandi Sherwood, Miss Teen USA 1989 won the Miss Idaho USA 1997 title. Succeeding Kelly, she took 1st runner up and later inherited the Miss USA crown, when Brook Mahealani Lee of Hawaii won Miss Universe 1997. She is the only Miss Teen USA winner to hold the title Miss USA. Shauna Gambill was close in winning the Miss USA 1998 title, but placed 1st runner up to Shawnae Jebbia, Miss Massachusetts USA 1998. However, to date it has never happened that the same woman had won the 2 separate pageants officially.

There have been two years when two Miss Teen USA winners participated at Miss USA. The first was 1984, when Miss Teen USA 1983 and Miss Teen USA 1984 participated, the second was 1998, when Jamie Solinger competed as Miss Iowa USA but went unplaced, and Shauna Gambill competed as Miss California USA and placed first runner-up.

The first Miss Teen USA not to win a Miss USA state pageant on her first attempt was Christie Lee Woods, Miss Teen USA 1996, of Texas, who placed third runner-up in the Miss Texas USA 2002 pageant. She would also become the first Miss Teen USA to compete for, but never win a Miss USA state title (she also placed as a semi-finalist in 2003 and 2004). The second Miss Teen USA who did not win a Miss USA state title on her first attempt was Ashley Coleman, Miss Teen USA 1999, of Delaware, who competed in the Miss California USA 2006 pageant and finished third runner-up. She is the first Miss Teen USA winner to compete in a different state from that where she won her Miss Teen USA crown. Tami Farrell, Miss Teen USA 2003, competed at Miss California USA 2009 as Miss Malibu USA, but failed to win the crown, placing first runner-up to Carrie Prejean. Farrell competed at Miss Teen USA as Miss Oregon Teen USA, and was one of the few Miss Teen USA winners to try for the state crown outside of the state she represented for Miss Teen USA. In a span of only two years later, Miss Teen USA 2006, Katie Blair also competed at Miss California USA 2011. Representing the state of Montana at Miss Teen USA 2006, Blair is only the third Miss Teen USA to compete in a state other than the state she competed in Teen. Similarly to Coleman and Farrell, Blair placed 1st runner up in the pageant, to Alyssa Campanella, who also competed in Miss Teen USA representing another state. Campanella went on to win Miss USA 2011.