Miss USA 2006

Miss USA 2006 was the 55th Miss USA pageant, held at the Royal Farms Arena in Baltimore, Maryland on April 21, 2006. Fifty-one state titleholders competed for the title, which was won by Tara Conner of Kentucky. Conner was crowned by outgoing titleholder Chelsea Cooley of North Carolina.
This was the second consecutive year that the pageant was held in Baltimore, although the venue changed from the Hippodrome Theater to the larger 1st Mariner Arena. Delegates arrived in the city on 2 April 2006, and were involved in three weeks of events, appearances and preliminary competitions before the final competition. This included a trip to New York City to attend a book launch for The Miss Universe Guide to Beauty and make media appearances on Regis and Kathy, The Early Show and Total Request Live.
The pageant hosts were Nancy O'Dell (who had hosted the pageant in 2004 and 2005) and Drew Lachey. For the first time Queer Eye for the Straight Guy star Carson Kressley provided commentary. Special guest performers were the East Village Opera Company.
The finals were broadcast by NBC, with 7.77 million viewers, the second-lowest viewership ever recorded.
The winner represented the United States at Miss Universe 2006 on July 23, 2006 in Los Angeles where she placed 4th Runner-up.
Contestants
The Miss USA 2006 delegates were:
Alabama – Haleigh Stidham
Alaska – Noelle Meyer
Arizona – Brenna Sakas
Arkansas – Kimberly Forsyth
California – Tamiko Nash
Colorado – Jacqueline Madera
Connecticut – Jeannine Phillips
Delaware – Ashlee Greenwell
District of Columbia – Candace Allen
Florida – Cristin Duren
Georgia – Lisa Wilson
Hawaii – Radasha Ho'ohuli
Idaho – Allyson Swan
Illinois – Catherine Warren
Indiana – Bridget Bobel
Iowa – Sarah Corpstein
Kansas – Ashley Aull
Kentucky – Tara Conner
Louisiana – Christina Cuenca
Maine – Katee Stearns
Maryland – Melissa DiGiulian
Massachusetts – Tiffany Kelly
Michigan – Danelle Gay
Minnesota – Dottie Cannon
Mississippi – Kendra King
Missouri – Kristi Capel
Montana – Jill McLain
Nebraska – Emily Poeschl
Nevada – Lauren Scyphers
New Hampshire – Krystal Barry
New Jersey – Jessica Boyington
New Mexico – Onawa Lacy
New York – Adriana Diaz
North Carolina – Samantha Holvey
North Dakota – Kimberly Krueger
Ohio – Stacy Offenberger
Oklahoma – Robyn Watkins
Oregon – Allison Machado
Pennsylvania – Tanya Lehman
Rhode Island – Leeann Tingley
South Carolina – Lacie Lybrand
South Dakota – Alexis LeVan
Tennessee – Lauren Grissom
Texas – Lauren Lanning
Utah – Soben Huon
Vermont – Amanda Gilman
Virginia – Amber Copley
Washington – Tiffany Doorn
West Virginia – Jessica Wedge
Wisconsin – Anna Piscitello
Wyoming – Kristin George
Judges
There were two sets of judges: one for the preliminary competition (held on April 14), and another for the final night of competition (April 21). The latter judges decided who won the Miss USA title.
Preliminary judges
Jeff Kimbell – businessman involved in lobbying, political strategy, real estate, and entertainment.
Kerry Cavanaugh – North American brand manager for CoverGirl cosmetics.
Natasha O'Dell – producer for Black Entertainment Television's Special Projects Division.
Valerie Boyce – an agent for Trump Model Management.
Arnold Williams – manager of Abrams, Foster, Nole & William (based in Pennsylvania) since 1993.
Robb Merrit – Vice President of a commercial real estate developer based in Baltimore, MD.
Rhona Gaff – Vice President at the Trump Organization and is best known as the woman who rings Apprentice candidates each morning to give candidate their directions.
Finals judges
Jillian Barberie – actress and entertainer reporter for Good Day LA.
Donny Deutsch – executive and talk show host.
Gina Drosos - Vice President and General Manager of Global Cosmetics for Procter & Gamble.
Steve Madden – founder of a footwear company that bears his name.
Nicole Linkletter – fashion model who won America's Next Top Model, Cycle 5.
Donald Trump Jr. – Executive Vice President for Development and Acquisitions and son of pageant owner Donald Trump.
James Hyde – starred as Sam Bennett on NBC's Passions for seven years.
Hines Ward – wide receiver for the Pittsburgh Steelers
Chad Hedrick – speed skater and world record holder.
Pre-pageant specials
A pre-pageant special edition of Deal or No Deal aired on April 12 on NBC. It included Miss USA 2005 Chelsea Cooley and twenty-six contestants, who replaced the show's models as briefcase-holders:
Haleigh Stidham (AL), Kimberly Forsyth (AR), Tamiko Nash (CA), Jeannine Phillips (CT), Ashlee Greenwell (DE), Cristin Duren (FL), Catherine Warren (IL), Bridget Bobel (IN), Tara Conner (KY), Christina Cuenca (LA), Katee Stearns (ME), Tiffany Kelly (MA), Danelle Gay (MI), Dottie Cannon, (MN), Kristi Capel (MO), Lauren Scyphers (NV), Jessica Boyington (NJ), Onawa Lacy (NM), Samantha Holvey (NC), Kimberly Krueger (ND), Tanya Lehman (PA), Leeann Tingley (RI), Lacie Lybrand (SC), Soben Huon (UT), Amber Copley (VA), Jessica Wedge (WV).
Allison Machado (OR) was the alternate.
References
External links
Official website
2006
April 2006 events in the United States
2006 beauty pageants
2006 in Maryland