Miss USA 2020 final predictions

[samuel]

So delighted to see the Miss USA pageant being held this year! It has been a crazy year and due to Covid, things were really uncertain. Kudos to MUO for staging the Miss USA and Miss Teen USA pageants this year. Here are my final predictions for Miss USA 2020:

MISS USA 2020: NEW YORK
First runner up: Oklahoma
Second runner up: Idaho
Top 5 finalists: Mississippi and Florida
Top 10: New Jersey, North Dakota, Massachusetts, District of Columbia, and Arkansas
Top 16: Hawaii, North Carolina, Maryland, Tennessee, Texas, and California

Top 27 Honorable Mentions: Georgia, Ohio, Louisiana, Utah, Alabama, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, New Hampshire, Minnesota, and Pennsylvania

Special awards,
Miss Congeniality: Utah, Louisiana, or Kansas
Miss Photogenic: Oklahoma

New York is without a doubt the front runner to win! Her resume, catwalk, body, and interview skills are excellent! One of the most common issues Miss USA winners have is catwalk and the last Miss USA with a powerful catwalk is arguably Crystle Stewart in 2008! New York will have the best shot in bringing USA back to the top 5 in Miss Universe. The last time Miss USA has made top 5 is Olivia Jordan in 2015 (quite some time). She is certainly the one to beat and hopefully she will win. I can’t remember the last time when New York is so heavily favored at Miss USA (maybe Shanna M. in 1995?)

There are a lot of beautiful faces this year but many of the contestants lack the stage presence/IT factor. We will see what MUO thinks.

May the best girl win and may she do well at Miss Universe!! I hope to see Miss USA making top 3/5 next year and hopefully win!

[samuel]

Hey all, wanted to share some thoughts on the pageant before I lose interest and decide not to write anything later lol. I do want to start off by thanking MUO/IMG/WME for organizing the pageant. During these difficult times, it’s hard to see the pageant being held. All the state titleholders were left in limbo and it’s great to see it being held. I do want to congratulate all the contestants and their family members for making this happen as well. I want to say that first because my comments will somewhat harsh to some contestants.

Onto the pageant, I am certainly underwhelmed with the production. Who is the producer of the pageant this year?? I know it’s on cable network but I did pay a modest fee to watch the pageant on my smart tv and I was a little disappointed. The pageant’s production was exactly like Teen except that it was broadcasted on cable television. I missed the suspenseful music AND the camera focusing on the ladies and zooming into their faces.

I know it’s important to social distance during these difficult times. But, why were the ladies wearing masks during the top 16 announcement? We missed their smiles/facial expressions!! We only saw their eyes. Come on! And, speaking of top 16, who won the Internet vote?? Come on, it should’ve been announced. Many people (including me) took part in the voting. And who won Miss Congeniality? And we have no Miss Photogenic again??

Onto the top 16, I only got 7 out of 16 (I thought it was 6). It certainly is an all time low for me. Very surprised with the results. Although most of the ladies were on my top 27 list, I am still surprised some facially prettier ladies didn’t make it - particularly Texas and Florida. The hometown girl, Tennessee was also denied. Maryland (although beautiful) did not make it after the weird hands on hips evening gown performance during prelims. Arkansas also didn’t make it. North Dakota was really stunning and performed well but didn’t. Montana - may not be the facially strongest but did make an impact at prelims. She had stage presence. She didn’t make it either. We have the same states (pretty much) year after year.. many states have had droughts for many years.

Indiana has a strong body but it was clearly a shock that she may it. Georgia’s inclusion is also surprising. Nevada - very mature looking and her evening gown performance was very distracting. Still confused how she got the call. Alabama is youthful looking but also a surprise since many other ladies were stronger. Missouri, although beautiful, didn’t make a lasting impact for many people. Illinois is also a confusing pick. California has a strong sash but I still don’t understand why she’s so heavily favored. Her styling wasn’t very good and was somewhat skinny. Ohio and Louisiana were decent.

After a surprising top 16 (the ladies were very competitive this year and it was hard to say honestly), the swimsuit eliminations were decent. Not much surprises since they all did nice.

The top 5 exclusions were truly WTF. Very very shocked that New York didn’t make it. She may not have her the best face but she had the resume, the interview skills, the catwalk, and the body. She certainly was our BEST bet to win Miss Universe. I would without a doubt know she would’ve made top 5 at Miss Universe. What happened?? Was it the gown? Maybe it needed more glitter. Her prelims performance was better but she certainly deserved a spot in the top 5 over Indiana and Alabama. Hawaii and New Jersey (stunning!!) also deserved to be up there. What did the selection committee see in Indiana and Alabama? I really don’t know..

Onto the top 5, if anything, Alabama certainly proved to be one of the better talkers here. She answered really well. I guess the selection committee did consider overall impression here as she placed 5th even though she did comparatively better than some in Q&A. Indiana also did good but kinda faltered after the laugh in the final word. It was obviously she wouldn’t win as she and Alabama did not have the aura in the top 5. No idea what happened here. I do want to congratulate them and their families for making it so far in the pageant.

Onto the top 3. Oklahoma is stunning and reminded me of Jade K. (Miss Nevada USA 2012). She had the height, stage presence, and beauty to win. Unfortunately after both rounds of Q&A, it was obviously she bombed it. Although I think she would’ve made top 10 at Miss Universe, she was outshined and it was evident that she wouldn’t win. Long gone the days where the selection committee crowns a winner that didn’t ace her Q&A. It was a pity since it was her (and Idaho)’s pageant to lose. I wanted to give her the crown but gave it to NY. After NY was cut, she was the default winner but her interview skills really did her in. This was further proven since she placed third despite messing up her Q&A. She is beautiful and made it far and congrats to her.

With Idaho and Mississippi left, the latter had the slight edge since she nailed both questions. Idaho was nervous and reminded me of Miss North Dakota USA 2014. Idaho has the stage presence. height, and exotic factor that would’ve made USA a favorite at Miss Universe. But, based on overall impression, it was Mississippi time to shine. Indeed, Aysa captured her state’s first Miss USA title and became the SIXTH Miss America state titleholder to win Miss USA. Interestingly, she competed with Nia Franklin at Miss America 2019 and Nia is friends with her predecessor, Cheslie Kryst. Nia also judged Miss Teen USA 2020 last Saturday.

While Idaho seemed to be the better choice for Miss Universe, she would’ve likely made the top 10 only. Mississippi has the beauty and interview skills but lacks some impact in presentation. She will need to work on projecting her stage presence and catwalk if she wants to do well at Miss Universe. I certainly want to see Miss USA do well because we have not made the top 5 at Miss Universe for four straight years. That’s the longest drought we’ve had.

Congratulations to Aysa for winning her state’s first title! Also congrats on Idaho for making it so far, Kim’s non placement at Miss Teen USA 2012 was a major disappointment and she was very close in winning Idaho’s first title as well.

On a side note, I am very pleased that New York made the cut. While I think she should’ve won, it is nice to see the state bring waves to Miss USA as most winners are not favored nowadays. I hope the state continues to send contenders to nationals. I also hope to see Andreia compete in Miss World or Miss International as she is International titleholder material!! Please continue trying!!