Plot Synopsis

Each year since 1952, young women have vied for the title of Miss USA, with contestants -- one from each of the 50 United States and the District of Columbia -- competing in three categories: swimsuit, evening gown and interview. MISS USA began as a concurrent event with the MISS UNIVERSE competition in Long Beach, CA, and the two events moved together to Miami Beach, FL, in 1960, where CBS began broadcasting the MISS UNIVERSE competition with highlights from the MISS USA PAGEANT, which was held earlier that same week. In 1965, the two competitions became separate live television specials on CBS, the network that showed MISS USA every year through 2002. After changing networks in 2003, NBC broadcast the competition live through 2014. In 2015, ReelzChannel telecast the event live, picking up the rights after NBCUniversal dropped the competition following controversial comments by Donald Trump, whose company, the Trump Organization, owns the MISS USA PAGEANT. In September 2015, Trump sold the Miss USA Pageant (and the Miss Universe Pageant) to WME/IMG, with the event returning to primetime network television in 2016 on FOX. Television coverage moved to FYI, beginning in 2020.
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Hosted by Zuri Hall, the 71st annual competition was telecast live from the Grand Sierra Resort in Reno, NV, on Monday, October 3, 2022 from 8pm ET/5pm PT (live) on FYI and Hulu. Hall's sideline hosts are Julissa Bermudez and Micah Jesse. The judging panel is Fashion Designer Aaron Potts, Tony-Award Winning Producer and owner of NitroC Group Ashlee Clarke, Founder of Dogpound Kirk Myers, Fashion Designer and Model Nicole Williams-English, Serial Entrepreneur and Sports Illustrated Social Media-at-Large Olivia Ponton, and International South Korean Table Tennis Champion Player and model Soo Yeon Lee. The two-hour event features women representing all 50 states and the District of Columbia in multiple categories, including private interview, swimsuit, evening gown, and onstage question, ending with Kentucky's Elle Smith, who was the first biracial woman to represent and win her state, crowning her successor.