Miss USA 1996
# Miss USA 1996

Miss USA 1996 was the 45th Miss USA pageant, held at South Padre Island Convention Centre on South Padre Island, Texas culminating in the final competition and crowning on February 2, 1996.

At the conclusion of the final competition, Ali Landry of Louisiana was crowned by outgoing titleholder Shanna Moakler of New York.

Landry is the first former Miss Teen USA state delegate to win the Miss USA title, the third Miss USA from Louisiana and the second Miss Louisiana USA to win both the Photogenic award and Miss USA crown, making Louisiana the only state to complete this feat after California did it in 1992. Landry is also the fifth and last Miss Photogenic to be crowned as Miss USA after winning the award.

The pageant was held on South Padre Island for the third and final time. It was hosted by Bob Goen for the third time, and Maty Monfort offered colour commentary. Aaron Neville provided entertainment during the competition.

This was also the first year that the Miss Universe Organization opened a website dedicated to the pageant, and the first time they instituted an internet vote to choose the winner of the Miss Photogenic award.

It was also the first time since 1989 that there were 10 semifinalists, instead of the usual 12. Also, this was the first year since 1991 in which the delegates wore one-piece bathing suits for the preliminary and final swimsuit competitions.

## Results

### Placements

| Final Results | Contestant |
| - | - |
| Miss USA 1996 | Louisiana – Ali Landry |
| 1st Runner-Up | Kansas – Danielle Boatwright |
| 2nd Runner-Up | Tennessee – Becca Lee |
| Top 6 | Oklahoma – Heather Crickard Michigan – Natasha Bell North Dakota – Juliette Spier |
| Top 10 | Utah – Tracy Kennick Indiana – Holly Roehl Texas – Kara Williams Illinois – Bernadette Przybycien |

### Special awards

* Miss Congeniality - Ku'ualoha Taylor (Miss Hawaii USA)
* Miss Photogenic - Ali Landry (Miss Louisiana USA)
* Finesse Style Award - Becca Lee (Miss Tennessee USA)
* Best in Swimsuit: - Danielle Boatwright (Miss Kansas USA)

## Historical significance

* Louisiana wins competition for the third time.
* Kansas earns the 1st runner-up position for the first time and reaches its highest placement since 1993.
* Tennessee earns the 2nd runner-up position for the third time. The last time it placed this was in 1984.
* Oklahoma finishes as Top 6 for the second time. The last time it placed this was in 1991.
* Michigan finishes as Top 6 for the first time and reaches its highest placement since Kenya Moore won in 1993.
* North Dakota finishes as Top 6 for the first time and reaches its highest placement since 1983.
* States that placed in semifinals the previous year were Illinois, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Texas.
* Texas placed for the fifth consecutive year.
* Illinois and Louisiana placed for the third consecutive year.
* Oklahoma made its second consecutive placement.
* Kansas and Tennessee last placed in 1994.
* Michigan last placed in 1993.
* North Dakota last placed in 1983.
* Utah last placed in 1982.
* Indiana last placed in 1981.
* Minnesota and Missouri break an ongoing streak of placements since 1994.
* New York breaks an ongoing streak of placements since 1993.

## Scores

### Preliminary scores

The following is the contestants average scores in the preliminary competition.

## Delegates

The Miss USA 1996 delegates were:

* Alabama – Benita Brooks
* Alaska – Janelle Lynn Canady
* Arizona – Christina Novak
* Arkansas – Tiffany Parks
* California – Shauna Lyn Searles
* Colorado – Suesan Rajebi
* Connecticut – Wanda Gonzales
* Delaware – Star Behl
* District of Columbia – La Chanda Jenkins
* Florida – Idalmis Vidal
* Georgia – Jenny Craig
* Hawaii – Ku'ualoha Taylor
* Idaho – Tracy Yarbrough
* Illinois – Bernadette Przybycien
* Indiana – Holly Roehl
* Iowa – Jill Simon
* Kansas – Danielle Boatwright
* Kentucky – Lorie West
* Louisiana – Ali Landry
* Maine – Julann Vadnais
* Maryland – Michele Michael
* Massachusetts – Jacquelyn Doucette
* Michigan – Natasha Bell
* Minnesota – Karin Smith
* Mississippi – Caroline Ramagos
* Missouri – Aimee Rinehart
* Montana – Tanya Pogatchnik
* Nebraska – Kerry Lynn Kemper
* Nevada – Alisa Castillo
* New Hampshire – Julie Minta Gleneck
* New Jersey – Christina Augustyn
* New Mexico – Layla Linn
* New York – Keelin Curnuck
* North Carolina – Jessica Lee McMinn
* North Dakota – Juliette Spier
* Ohio – Melissa Boyd
* Oklahoma – Heather Crickard
* Oregon – Jill Chartier
* Pennsylvania – Susan Barnett
* Rhode Island – Karen Bradley
* South Carolina – Lysa Jackson
* South Dakota – Caresa Winters
* Tennessee – Becca Lee
* Texas – Kara Williams
* Utah – Tracy Kennick
* Vermont – Nancy Anne Roberts
* Virginia – Danielle Connors
* Washington – Staci Baldwin
* West Virginia – Regina Fisher
* Wisconsin – Mary Jo Stoker
* Wyoming – Kellee Kattleman

## Crossovers

Ten delegates had previously competed in either the Miss Teen USA or Miss America pageants.

Delegates who had previously held a Miss Teen USA state title were:

* Tracy Kennick (Utah) - Miss Utah Teen USA 1989
* Ali Landry (Louisiana) - Miss Louisiana Teen USA 1990 (Semi-finalist at Miss Teen USA 1990)
* Holly Roehl (Indiana) - Miss Georgia Teen USA 1990 (Second runner-up at Miss Teen USA 1990)
* Susan Barnett (Pennsylvania) - Miss Pennsylvania Teen USA 1990 (Finalist at Miss Teen USA 1990)
* Kara Williams (Texas) - Miss Texas Teen USA 1991 (Semi-finalist at Miss Teen USA 1991)
* Juliette Spier (North Dakota) - Miss North Dakota Teen USA 1992
* Danielle Boatwright (Kansas) - Miss Kansas Teen USA 1992 (Second runner-up at Miss Teen USA 1992)
* Jill Chartier (Oregon) - Miss Oregon Teen USA 1993 (Semi-finalist at Miss Teen USA 1993)
* Tiffany Parks (Arkansas) - Miss Arkansas Teen USA 1993

Delegate who had previously held a Miss America state title:

* Tracy Yarbrough (Idaho) - Miss Idaho 1994

Delegate who previously held a Miss USA state title:

* Shauna Searles (California) took over the title of Miss California USA 1992 after Shannon Marketic was crowned Miss USA 1992.

## Judges

* C.C.H. Pounder
* Patrick Warburton
* Debbie Fields
* Frankie Liles
* Donna Sheen
* Ricky Martin
* Jeff Feringa
* Matt Whiteside
* Irene Bedard
* Eddie Rabbitt
