Miss USA 1990

Updated on Jan 03, 2024

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Date March 2, 1990 Winner Carole Gist Michigan		Broadcaster CBS, KWCH Congeniality Janet Tveita

Presenters Dick Clark, Leeza Gibbons and Laura Harring Venue Century II Convention Center, Wichita, Kansas

Miss USA 1990, the 39th Miss USA pageant, was televised live from the Century II Convention Center in Wichita, Kansas on March 2, 1990.

At the conclusion of the final competition, Carole Gist of Michigan was crowned by outgoing titleholder Gretchen Polhemus of Texas. Carole became the first African American winner ever and the first woman from Michigan to be crowned as Miss USA.

For the first time, each judge's score was displayed to every audience, adding transparency to the process.

A major format change in 1990 transformed the Miss USA competition for the next decade: the delegates would face an extra round of elimination on finals night: the top six judges' questions.

Instead of reducing the top twelve to the usual final five, the judges would pick an intermediate top six. Those six finalists would answer questions from the judges and the field was reduced to a final three, who would face the traditional final question, adding unpredictability to the competition after five Texan Miss USA winners from GuyRex Associates, which would lose its Miss Texas USA franchise the next year.

The pageant was hosted by Dick Clark for the second of five times, with color commentary by Leeza Gibbons and Laura Harring, Miss USA 1985.

This was the first time the pageant was held in Wichita, where it would be staged for the next three years.

Special awards

Miss Congeniality: Janet Tveita (Minnesota)

Miss Photogenic: Stephanie Teneyck (Mississippi)

Historical significance

Carole Gist was Michigan's first placement since 1983 and she won the title.

New Jersey placed second runner-up for the second consecutive year, a record for the state.

This was Alaska's fourth placement ever, and its first since 1978.

Kentucky placed for the first time since 1982.

Georgia placed for the fifth consecutive year, with top six placements or higher every year.

This was the District of Columbia's first placement since 1984. It would not place again until 2001.

Illinois placed for the seventh consecutive year.

Texas had a semifinalist for the sixteenth and last year in succession. The state would not place in 1991.

Mississippi won its fourth placement in five years, a record for the state. It did not place again until 2005.

Ohio placed for the first time since Halle Berry was first runner-up in 1986. The state did not place again until 1999.

Gina Tolleson would represent the USA at Miss World, where she took the title. Carole Gist represented USA at Miss Universe 1990 where she finished runner-up to Norway's Mona Grudt. If Carole had won Miss Universe, Miss South Carolina, Gina Tolleson, would have become Miss USA and Miss New Jersey, Karin Hartz, would have represented the USA at the Miss World Pageant. It has been the closest that USA has been of winning both major Big 4 pageants.

Preliminary competition

The following are the contestants' scores in the preliminary competition.

Delegates

The Miss USA 1990 delegates were:

Crossovers

1990 was the year with the smallest number of crossover contestants since 1986.

Only three delegates had previously competed in the Miss Teen USA pageant:

Julie Stanford (Maryland) - Miss Maryland Teen USA 1986

Kari Larson (North Dakota) - Miss North Dakota Teen USA 1984 (Semi-finalist at Miss Teen USA 1984)

Allison Barbeau-Diorio (Connecticut) - Miss Connecticut Teen USA 1987

No former Miss America delegates competed for the second year in a row.

Gina Tolleson later won Miss World 1990.

Judges

Rebecca Brandewyne

Robin Cousins

Eileen Fulton

Dan Isaacson

Barbara Peterson

Irene Kassorla

Judi Sheppard Missett

References

Miss USA 1990 Wikipedia

(Text) CC BY-SA

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