Miss USA 1998

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Miss USA 1998
Date: 6 March 1998
Presenters: J. Eddie Peck, Ali Landry, Julie Moran
Venue: Grande Palace Theatre, Branson, Missouri
Broadcaster: CBS
Winner: Shawnae Jebbia
Represented: State flag Massachusetts
Congeniality: Vera Morris
Photogenic: Sonja Glenn

The Miss USA 1998 pageant was held in Shreveport, Louisiana in March, 1998. The preliminary competition was held on 6 March 1998 and the final competition on 10 March 1998.[1] The event was won by Shawnae Jebbia of Massachusetts, who was crowned by outgoing titleholder Brandi Sherwood of Idaho.[2]

The pageant was held in Shreveport, Louisiana for the second consecutive year; unusually Shreveport would also host the Miss Teen USA pageant later the same year. Owner Donald Trump had initially suggested that the event would be moved to New York City, however an agreement was reached in November 1997 for the pageant to stay in Louisiana.[3] During the two weeks that the delegates were in Shreveport the city and local companies benefitted from the extra business generated by the pageant and by the publicity offered by three minutes of promotion during the live broadcast.[4][5] The expected worldwide audience for the pageant was 300 million people.[6]

The pageant was hosted by The Young and The Restless star J. Eddie Peck for the first and only time, and Ali Landry, Miss USA 1996 and Julie Moran, co-host of Entertainment Tonight, offered colour commentary.[7] She Moves provided entertainment during the competition. Executive producers Susan Winston and Dan Funk were chosen to produce the live telecast, broadcast on CBS.[8]

During the competition, in a pre-taped segment, Halle Berry, Miss Ohio USA 1986 and first runner-up to Christy Fichtner at Miss USA 1986, was awarded a Distinguished Achievement Award for her achievements in acting.

Contents

[edit] Notable Features

For the first time since 1993, ten former Miss Teen USA delegates competed in the Miss USA pageant. Also for the second time only, this pageant featured two former Miss Teen USA titleholders. Miss Teen USA 1994 representing California was Shauna Gambill who placed first runner-up, whilst Jamie Solinger representing Iowa, Miss Teen USA 1992 , did not place. The first time that two Miss Teen USAs competed at Miss USA was in 1984 when Miss Teen USA 1983 and 1984 represented "Miss Teen USA" and their year that they won the title. The two titleholders did not have to win a state title to compete in which the Miss USA 1984 pageant had 53 delegates. This time the two Miss Teen USAs had to win their state titles first making it the first time that two Miss Teen USAs represented their states at Miss USA.

This was also the first year that three of the top five delegates were former Miss Teen USA delegates. First runner-up Shauna Gambill was Miss California USA 1994 and Miss Teen USA 1994, Melanie Breedlove (2nd runner-up) was Miss Missouri Teen USA 1995 and Melissa Leigh Anderson was Miss Utah Teen USA 1990.

The Miss Photogenic award was chosen by an online internet poll for the second year.[9]

[edit] Results

[edit] Placements

Map showing placements by state
Map showing placements by state
  • The remaining top five finalists were (in order of placement): Melissa Leigh Anderson (Utah), Holly Mills (Texas)
  • The remaining top ten semi-finalists were (in order of placement): Stacey Kole (Arizona), Debbie Delhomme (Louisiana), Natasha Vantramp (Washington), Johnelle Ryan (Michigan) and Meredith Blankenship (Virginia).

[edit] Special awards

[edit] Scores

[edit] Final competition

State Interview Swimsuit Evening Gown Average Finalists
Massachusetts 8.90 9.41 9.65 9.32 9.34
Missouri 9.23 9.33 9.11 9.22 9.28
Texas 9.06 9.15 9.18 9.13 9.01
California 9.07 9.23 9.08 9.12 9.26
Utah 9.12 8.91 8.95 9.00 9.16
Arizona 8.90 8.93 8.86 8.90
Louisiana 8.78 8.80 9.05 8.87
Washington 8.67 9.04 8.80 8.83
Michigan 8.61 9.08 8.66 8.78
Virginia 8.53 8.65 8.83 8.67
     Winner
     First runner-up
     Second runner-up
     Finalists

[edit] Delegates

The Miss USA 1998 delegates were:

[edit] Crossovers

Eleven delegates had previously competed in either the Miss Teen USA or Miss America pageants.

Delegates who had previously held a Miss Teen USA state title were:

Delegates who had previously held a Miss America state title were:

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Swimsuit and evening gown judging narrows field to 10 for Miss USA", Associated Press, 1998-03-07. 
  2. ^ Foster, Mary. "Miss Massachusetts wins Miss USA crown", Associated Press, 1998-03-11. 
  3. ^ Associated Press. "Pageant to Stay in Shreveport", The New Orleans Times-Picayune, 1997-11-28, p. A3. 
  4. ^ "Miss USA delegates arrive by runway and highway", Associated Press, 1998-02-22. 
  5. ^ Foster, Mary. "Miss USA brings glamour, tourists to La.", The Baton Rouge Advocate, 1998-03-10. 
  6. ^ "Miss USA delegates began pageant preparations", Associated Press, 1998-02-23. 
  7. ^ Langley, Greg. "Miss USA Pageant returns to Shreveport", The Baton Rouge Advocate, 1998-03-06. 
  8. ^ "Miss Universe Pageants Crown Blanki & Bodi as Executive Producers", Business Wire, 1998-03-02. 
  9. ^ "MISS USA Pageant Goes Online With `Interactive Web-Site Voting for Photogenic Award", Business Wire, 1998-03-03. 

[edit] See also

[edit] External links