Miss USA 2016

Delegates from 50 states and the District of Columbia were chosen in state pageants held from July 2015 to January 2016. The first state pageant was Florida, held on July 11, 2015 (the day before the Miss USA 2015 final competition), and the final pageant was Kentucky, held on January 31, 2016; fifteen of these delegates were former Miss Teen USA state winners (made the highest number ever surpassed the previous number of 12 former teens in Miss USA 2014) and two of them were former Miss America state winners.

Two were appointed as replacements after the original titleholders of their states were unable to compete because of commitments: Devin Gant, who was the first runner-up in Miss North Carolina USA 2016 after Allie Dunn, the winner of that competition, as Dunn was fell ill leading to the days before the start of the pageant and prevented from entering registration form. Gant did make a last minute trip to Las Vegas as the pageant activities were already started.[13] Kelsey Schmidt, who was the first runner-up in Miss Washington USA 2016 after Stormy Keffeler, the winner of that competition, had to resign after pleaded guilty from DUI disclosure in April 2015.[14]

A 52nd contestant took part in the competition via social media voting . The Miss Universe Organization along with the fashion agency Sherri Hill decided to make a competition online where different women from all the US competed.[15] Finally, 10 women were selected by a panel of judges, and these 10 finalists were revealed on May 10, 2016. The winner between these 10 candidates competed as Miss 52 USA in the Miss USA 2016 pageant on June 5, 2016.[16] The winner, which was announced on May 18, 2016, was Alexandra Miller from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

The 10 selected finalists were:

N°	Name	Age	Hometown	State
1	Catherine Williams	24	San Antonio	Texas
2	Yvonne Vega	25	New Braunfels	Texas
3	Jessica Bean	24	Casper	Wyoming
4	Alexandra Miller	26	Oklahoma City	Oklahoma
5	Ivana Thomas	22	Durham	North Carolina
6	Amanda Bell	24	Nashville	Tennessee
7	Kaitlyn Smith	26	Jacksonville Beach	Florida
8	Molly Vierhile	23	San Francisco	California
9	Niki Kafashzadeh	24	Rockville	Maryland
10	Bridgette Garb	21	Oak Park	California

The panel of judges that selected the 10 finalists were:[17]

• Alessandra Garcia, American plus-size model.
• Ashley Wagner, American figure skater.
• Andrew Serrano, American IMG Fashion Director of Global Public Relations.
• Lauren Giraldo, American social media star.
• Pia Wurtzbach, Miss Universe 2015 from the Philippines.
• Sherri Hill, American fashion designer and businesswoman.

Prior to the final competition, the delegates competed in the preliminary competition, which involves private interviews with the judges and a presentation show where they compete in swim wear and evening gown. It was held on June 1, 2016 and was broadcast on the Miss Universe website and mobile app and was hosted by Nick Teplitz and Olivia Jordan.

• Fred Nelson [18] – President/Executive Producer of the People's Choice Awards
• Jimmy Nguyen – Entertainment and digital media lawyer, diversity advocate, blogger, and technology advisor
• Joey Boukadakis [18] – Writer, director, producer, and media executive
• Keltie Knight [18] – Correspondent and weekend host of CBS's The Insider
• Kristin Conte [18] – Marketing and communications executive and event creator
• Nick Phelps [18] – Global Alliance Director at Droga5
• Rebecca Bienstock [18] – West Coast Bureau Chief at Us Weekly magazine

During the final competition, the top fifteen competed in swim wear, while the top ten also competed in evening gown. The top five also competed in a submitted question round. Unlike in previous years, the third runner-up and the fourth runner-up were not awarded as the format was revived in Miss Universe 2015, and instead the judges would determine those three finalists to advance in the top three. The top three also competed in the same question round and a final runway, and the winner was decided by a panel of judges alongside the two runners-up.

• Ali Landry [19] – Miss USA 1996 from Louisiana
• Crystle Stewart [19] – Miss USA 2008 from Texas
• Joe Zee [19] – Editor in Chief and Executive Creative Officer of Yahoo Fashion
• Laura Brown [19][20] – Features/Special Projects and Executive Director of Harper's Bazaar magazine
• Nigel Barker [19] – Fashion photographer and the host of UK and US versions of The Face

•  United States: Fox
• Africa: DSTV Mzansi Magic (delayed broadcast)
• Asia-Pacific: Star World
•  Venezuela: Venevisión