Because I am a pageant aficionado, I am sometimes asked to review the results of pageants, especially national pageants like Miss USA.  I thought that I would make my thoughts public on this blog since I stand behind my word.

Overall: I thought the production value was high.  The set was GORGEOUS!  I hope that Miss USA remains in Baton Rouge or Louisiana and they use the set again.  I loved the Cajun theme.  It was very appropriate, fun, and fresh to the Miss USA pageant.  The hosts Giuliana Rancic and MSNBC news anchor Thomas Roberts did an outstanding job moving the show along and their commentary and necessary banter was appropriate.  All in all, it was top notch, but who would expect less from Donald Trump?

The Winner:  Miss Nevada Nia Sanchez deserved to win hands down.  She is a beautiful woman with the total package and more.  She even has a fourth degree black belt in Taekwondo.  Of course, she looked amazing in the swimsuit competition and her red gown for the evening gown competition was incredible.  I loved her answer to the question posed to her by Miss USA pageant judge Rumer Willis about the increase of sexual assaults on college campuses.  Miss Nevada’s response was that colleges try to protect their reputations first instead of sexual assault victims and that females, at an early age, should learn confidence and self-defense to protect themselves.  Overall, Miss Nevada was a standout who deserved to win.

Miss Indiana:  The so-called controversy surrounding Miss Indiana’s choice to have a more “natural” body as opposed to the super skinny typical Miss USA body confounds me.  Miss Indiana Mekayla Diehl sported a more traditional body as part of the Top 20 swimsuit  competition much to the delight of social media and bloggers everywhere.  I, particularly, thought she looked great and was surprised to learned that even with her “curvier” body, she was still a size 4.  Regardless, she was still left out of the Top 10.

Surprises:  There were a few contestants that I thought should have placed higher.  I’m also cautious of stating these because I was not a judge and I didn’t meet these girls in interview or see them in person.  I’m only judging by their photographs and/or what I saw on stage.

• Miss Alabama:  Beautiful girl; should have at least advanced to the Top 10
• Miss Tennessee:   Same as Miss Alabama; A beautiful girl who should have advanced further
• Miss Colorado:  Although I didn’t see her onstage much (or in interview obviously), I thought she was consistent in her photos.  I was surprised that she wasn’t called in the Top 20.

I may be leaving out several deserving young ladies, but I thought the three above were particularly left out of their next tier.

The Venue:  As I stated above, I think that Baton Rouge and Louisiana were great choices to host the Miss USA pageant.  The Cajun theme was perfect and it appears that the contestants had plenty to do.  I think it’s great for Miss USA to explore different areas of the country instead of just holding the pageant in Las Vegas year after year.

Final Comments:  I thought this year’s Miss USA production was one of the best.  If I had the change anything, it was have been the music.  I would have gone all jazz and left out the other music that they tried to integrate.  Other than that, the pageant was awesome!  It certainly seemed that the contestants came away with a great experience!