The storm of controversy surrounding racial comments made by Donald Trump weeks ago may have dropped a few obstacles on the 2015 Miss USA Pageant, but it didn’t put out the contestants’ fire. The heated competition and the events leading up to it concluded with the crowning of Miss USA 2015 Olivia Jordan on Sunday in the Baton Rouge River Center.
Jordan, the Miss Oklahoma USA 2015 title holder, stood out in a crowd of accomplished, career driven women and in front of a panel of judges that held pageant experience themselves. Such judges included former Miss USA and Miss Universe winners.
Jordan was crowned by Miss USA 2014 Nia Sanchez with a $200,000 crown handcrafted in Prague by high-class diamond company D.I.C. Made of rubies, diamonds, sapphire and gold, the crown pays homage to the United States flag and the freedom for all, according to a news release.
“I just feel so incredibly grateful for this opportunity,” Jordan said in a press conference following the event. “I am very humbled by the crown on my head that is the most stunning thing I have ever seen.”
The pageant this year was one of firsts. It will be marked in the Miss USA brand’s history as the first pageant to allow viewers to save a contestant in the Top 10 rank from elimination and the first pageant to award not one, but two contestants the title of Miss Congeniality — Miss Alaska USA and Miss Delaware USA.
The pageant, which was picked up and broadcasted by REELZ Channel after being dropped by NBC, opened to a vocal performance by singer Travis Garland, accompanying dancers and the 51 state title holding contestants — all bearing either fans or umbrellas to reflect the Louisiana heat . The whole ordeal embodied the spirit of jazz, rock ‘n’ roll, patriotism and Louisiana — all in one.
Emmy Award-winning game show host Todd Newton and former Miss Wisconsin USA 2009 Alex Wehrley co-hosted the event as contestants were narrowed down following each competition category. Garland and other performers such as singers Stefano Langone and Felicia Barton, and former The Voice contestant Adley Stump, took the stage as all of the pageant contestants modeled their swimsuits and evening gowns.
The top 15 contestants were narrowed down according to results from the Miss USA preliminary competition and included women representing the states of Texas, Maryland, Arizona, Michigan, Virginia, Rhode Island, Kentucky, Hawaii, New York, Illinois, Nevada, Oklahoma, Delaware, Louisiana and Alabama.
These top-competing women were able to model in their swimsuits individually during the swimsuit competition as judges scored them based on the physique of their bodies. The results indicated that Nevada, Hawaii, Rhode Island, Maryland, Alabama, Louisiana, Michigan, Oklahoma, Delaware and Texas would move on to the next round as the top 10 contestants.
Although she did not make the top 10 cut, Miss Kentucky USA Katie George was also able to advance to the next round after gaining the popularity vote from viewers. A poll was collected on the Miss USA website during the duration of the commercial break.
The top 15 contestants moved on to individually model their evening gowns onstage as Stump performed her single, “Little Black Dress.” Dresses of all shapes and colors graced the stage during this portion of the competition. Jordan wore a pink ball gown adorned with ruffles while Miss Louisiana USA Candice Bennett wore a white fitted a-line gown with metallic accents.
Following the evening gown competition, the top five contestants were narrowed down to Oklahoma, Texas, Rhode Island, Maryland and Nevada. These women advanced to the personality interview portion of the competition and were prompted to answer questions asked by judges.
Miss Nevada USA Brittany McGowan stumbled through her answer when asked by Miss USA judge Crystle Stewart what she would do to improve race relations in the U.S. Similarly, Miss Rhode Island USA was not able to answer when asked her opinion of whether political correctness was helping or hurting this country.
A question from Facebook was asked to all of the top five contestants — Which american woman would you like to see on the bill and why? Two contestants chose Oprah, although one was joking. Rosa Parks and Harriet Tubman were also thrown into the mix.
When asked what she thought the next thing was needed to be tackled on a national level, Jordan responded, “I think we still need to talk about race relations in this country. We have not solved this issue, and we really need to work on being an accepting society where every single person is given the same rights and privileges and opportunities.”
Jordan is an international model who is recognized by Children of the Night, a group which dedicates itself to getting U.S. children out of prostitution, for her advocacy. Her performance in the swimsuit, evening gown and personality interview won her the title of Miss USA 2015. And with her new title, she will be advancing to the Miss Universe 2015 pageant.
“I hope to inspire people to be fearless and to not let any fear of failure stop you from going after your wildest dreams,” Jordan said.