This was the first edition of the Miss USA pageant to be held under the ownership of WME/IMG, which purchased the Miss Universe Organization from Donald Trump on September 14, 2015, three days after NBCUniversal sold him its 50% interest in the organization in exchange for Trump's dropping a breach of contract lawsuit he filed against the media company in August for terminating NBC's contract to televise the Miss Universe and Miss USA pageants. It was also the first Miss USA pageant to be broadcast on Fox after signed an agreement in October 2015.[8][9][10]
For the first time, a 52nd entrant for the pageant was decided via a nationwide search through social media voting.[11]
On April 5, the Miss Universe Organization announced that the competition would be hosted at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, and a seventh time hosting the state in nine years.[7]
Hosts and performers
On May 25, it was announced that the competition would be hosted by Terrence J, while Ashley Graham would serve as backstage host. A week later, Julianne Hough was announced as the second host would work alongside Terrence J. Hough is a dancer and judge on Dancing with the Stars.[6][12]
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), two of them were former Miss America state winners and three of them were former Miss America's Outstanding Teen state winners.
Two state titleholders were appointed as replacements after the original titleholders were unable to compete. Stormy Keffeler, the original Miss Washington USA 2016, resigned in January 2016 after pleaded guilty from disclosure of DUI in April 2015. She was replaced by Kelsey Schmidt, who was the first runner-up of the Miss Washington USA 2016 pageant,[14] and Allie Dunn, the original Miss North Carolina USA 2016, resigned two weeks before the start of the Miss USA 2016 competition when she was falling ill and missed the start of pageant activities prevented from entering registration form. She was replaced by Devin Gant, who was the first runner-up of Miss North Carolina USA 2016 pageant and made a last minute trip to Las Vegas as the pageant activities were already started.[15]
In May 2016, 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.[17] 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.[18] The winner was announced on May 18, 2016, and Alexandra Miller from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma was named as Miss 52 USA.
Sherri Hill, American fashion designer and businesswoman.
Pageant
Preliminary round
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.[20]
Kristin Conte [21] – Marketing and communications executive and event creator
Nick Phelps [21] – Global Alliance Director at Droga5
Rebecca Bienstock [21] – West Coast Bureau Chief at Us Weekly magazine
Finals
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.
