Miss USA 2007, the 56th Miss USA pageant, was held in Los Angeles, California, on March 23, 2007, after two weeks of events and preliminary competition. The winner of the pageant was Rachel Smith, of Tennessee.
The pageant was broadcast live on NBC from the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles, California one month earlier than the 2006 pageant. This was the second time that the pageant was held at this venue; it was previously held there in 2004, when Shandi Finnessey of Missouri was crowned Miss USA 2004. The host hotel was the Wilshire Grand.
Delegates arrived in Los Angeles on March 8, 2007, and were involved in two weeks of rehearsals and events prior to the final show. The preliminary competition were held on March 19, 2007, where all 51 contestants competed in swimsuit and evening gown, with the personal interview competition being held in private the previous day. This was the first time in recent years that the presentation show was held in the hotel ballroom, rather than at the location of the final competition.
During the final show on March 23, the fifteen delegates with the highest average score from the preliminary competition were announced. The top fifteen competed in the swimsuit competition, and the top ten competed in evening gown. The composite score was shown after each round of competition for the first time since 2002.
At the conclusion of the final night of competition, outgoing titleholder Tara Conner crowned Rachel Smith of Tennessee as the new Miss USA. Smith was the third consecutive former Miss Teen USA delegate to win the title and the second woman from Tennessee. Smith and Conner had competed together at Miss Teen USA 2002.
Nevada's evening gown score was not shown, but must be greater than 8.437.
One delegate from each state was chosen in state pageants held from June to December 2006. The first state pageant was Texas, held on June 25, 2006, and the final pageants were Kansas and Hawaii, held on December 17, 2006.
Two contestants were replaced by their first runners-up:
Helen Salas was awarded the Miss Nevada USA 2007 title on December 21, 2006, when the original winner, Katie Rees, was dethroned after the publication of racy photographs. Salas was originally the first runner-up to Ms. Rees in the Miss Nevada USA 2007 pageant which had taken place on October 8, 2006.
Erin Abrahamson was awarded the Miss New Jersey USA 2007 title on January 15, 2007, when the original winner, Ashley Harder, resigned due to pregnancy. Pageant rules prohibit titleholders from competing while pregnant. Abrahamson was originally the first runner-up to Harder in the New Jersey pageant.
For the first time in the history of the pageant, eleven former Miss Teen USA delegates competed in the pageant. Initially only nine held titles, but the number increased to eleven after two titleholders resigned and former Teen USA delegates succeeded them.
The Miss USA 2007 delegates are:
Three former Miss Teen USA 2001 titleholders, three from 2002, three from 2003 and two from 2004 competed in the Miss USA 2007 competition totaling eleven teen titleholders. It broke the former record from Miss USA 2003 with the most Miss Teen titleholders of ten. The record for the most crossovers is still Miss USA 2003 though with ten former Miss Teen USA state titleholders and 5 Miss America state holders. Below is a list of crossovers:
Gloria Almonte (New York) - previously Miss New York Teen USA 2001, 1st runner up at Miss Teen USA 2001.
Erin O' Kelley (North Carolina) - previously Miss North Carolina Teen USA 2001, Non-finalist at Miss Teen USA 2001.
Erin Abrahamson (New Jersey) - previously Miss New Jersey Teen USA 2001, Non-finalist at Miss Teen USA 2001.
Alla Ilushka (Minnesota) - previously Miss Minnesota Teen USA 2002, Semi-finalist at Miss Teen USA 2002.
Rachel Smith (Tennessee) - previously Miss Tennessee Teen USA 2002, Semi-finalist at Miss Teen USA 2002.
Lauren Barnette (Virginia) - previously Miss Virginia Teen USA 2002, Non-finalist at Miss Teen USA 2002.
Jami Stallings (Indiana) - previously Miss Indiana Teen USA 2003, Top 15 at Miss Teen USA 2003.
Amanda Rammell (Idaho) - previously Miss Idaho Teen USA 2003, Non-finalist at Miss Teen USA 2003.
Amber Seyer (Missouri) - previously Miss Missouri Teen USA 2003, Non-finalist at Miss Teen USA 2003.
Helen Salas (Nevada) - previously Miss Nevada Teen USA 2004, 2nd runner-up at Miss Teen USA 2004.
Magen Ellis (Texas) - previously Miss Texas Teen USA 2004, Top 15 at Miss Teen USA 2004
The one Miss America 2004 delegate and two 2005 delegates are:
Blair Chenoweth (Alaska) - previously Miss Alaska 2003
Jenna Edwards (Florida) - previously Miss Florida 2004, Preliminary Swimsuit award at Miss America 2005.
Jalin Wood (Mississippi) - previously Miss Mississippi 2004
Jonathan Antin - Bravo's Blow Out star
Dr. Jerry Buss - Los Angeles Lakers owner, real estate tycoon
Giuliana Rancic - E! News Co–Host
Vanessa Minnillo - Miss Teen USA 1998 from South Carolina
Kimora Lee Simmons - President and Creative Director of Baby Phat
Jerry Springer - host of NBC show America's Got Talent and host of his own talk show The Jerry Springer Show
Vince Young - Tennessee Titans quarterback
Corinne Nicolas - President of Trump Model Management
Nancy O'Dell - Access Hollywood Correspondent
Tim Vincent - Access Hollywood Correspondent
