Miss USA 1981
| Miss USA 1981 | |
|---|---|
| File:Miss USA 1981 opening titles.jpg | |
| Date | May 21, 1981 |
| Presenters | Bob Barker |
| Venue | Gulf Coast Convention Center, Biloxi, Mississippi |
| Broadcaster | CBS, WJTV |
| Entrants | 51 |
| Placements | 12 |
| Winner | Kim Seelbrede Ohio |
| Congeniality | Cynthia Kerby California |
| Photogenic | Cynthia Kerby California |
Miss USA 1981 was the 30th Miss USA pageant, televised live on May 21, 1981 from the Gulf Coast Convention Center in Biloxi, Mississippi on CBS.
The pageant was won by Kim Seelbrede of Ohio, who was crowned by outgoing titleholder Jineane Ford of Arizona. Seelbrede was the second woman from Ohio to win the Miss USA title, and went on to place as a semi-finalist in Miss Universe 1981.
The 1981 pageant featured only 50 delegates after Deborah Fountain of New York was disqualified during the preliminary judging after being found to have padded her swimsuit.[1] The final question that was asked by each of the Top Five delegates was "Your sister or best friend has been chosen for the Miss USA 1982 and she came to you for advice what would you tell her?"
This year marked the first year since 1957 a runner-up of Miss USA was sent to Miss World, this would continue until 1991 when the Miss World Organization stop accepting Runner-Ups from Miss USA, due to MUO refusing to make a public announcement during the pageant. Between 1958-1980, a separate pageant determined the US representatives at Miss World.
Results
| Final Results | Contestant |
|---|---|
| Miss USA 1981 | |
| 1st Runner-Up |
|
| 2nd Runner-Up |
|
| 3rd Runner-Up |
|
| 4th Runner-Up | |
| Top 12 |
Final Competition
| State | Preliminary
Average |
Interview | Swimsuit | Evening Gown | Semifinal Average |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ohio – Kim Seelbrede
|
8.801 (1) | 9.396 (1) | 9.592 (1) | 9.567 (1) | 9.518 (1) |
 Indiana – Holli Dennis
|
8.263 (5) | 8.708 (5) | 8.830 (6) | 9.090 (4) | 8.876 (5) |
 Louisiana – Lisa Moss
|
8.645 (2) | 9.159 (2) | 9.338 (2) | 9.290 (2) | 9.262 (2) |
| California – Cynthia Kerby
|
8.255 (6) | 8.990 (3) | 8.924 (5) | 9.081 (5) | 8.998 (3) |
 Hawaii – Teri Ann Linn
|
8.412 (3) | 8.813 (4) | 9.038 (3) | 9.102 (3) | 8.984 (4) |
 Alabama – JoAnne Henderson
|
8.125 (10) | 8.432 (6) | 8.930 (4) | 8.965 (7) | 8.775 (6) |
 Georgia – Lisa Condre
|
8.398 (4) | 8.195 (7) | 8.557 (7) | 8.988 (6) | 8.580 (7) |
 Arizona – Cassie Hill
|
8.129 (9) | 8.177 (8) | 8.535 (8) | 8.212 (9) | 8.308 (8) |
 Texas – Diana Durnford
|
8.058 (12) | 7.791 (11) | 8.155 (10) | 8.504 (8) | 8.150 (9) |
 Virginia – Pam Hutchens
|
8.185 (8) | 8.092 (9) | 8.164 (9) | 8.081 (11) | 8.112 (10) |
 Tennessee – Sharon Kay Steakley
|
8.066 (11) | 8.075 (10) | 8.076 (11) | 8.090 (10) | 8.080 (11) |
 Maryland – Linda Lambert
|
8.227 (7) | 7.550 (12) | 7.702 (12) | 7.831 (12) | 7.694 (12) |
|
Special awards
| Award | Contestant |
|---|---|
| Miss Congeniality |
|
| Miss Photogenic |
|
(Kerby is the only Miss USA delegate to have won both special awards)
Historical significance of Miss USA 1981
- Ohio wins competition for the second time.
- Indiana earns the 1st runner-up position for the first time and surpasses its previous highest placement in 1966, becoming its highest position ever at the contest.
- Louisiana earns the 2nd runner-up position for the first time.
- California earns the 3rd runner-up position for the fifth time. The last time it placed this was in 1977.
- Hawaii earns the 4th runner-up position for the first time.
- States that placed in semifinals the previous year were Alabama, Arizona, Maryland and Texas.
- Texas placed for the seventh consecutive year.
- Arizona placed for the third consecutive year.
- Alabama and Maryland made their second consecutive placement.
- California, Hawaii and Virginia last placed in 1979.
- Indiana last placed in 1978.
- Georgia last placed in 1977.
- Louisiana last placed in 1976.
- Ohio last placed in 1972.
- Tennessee last placed in 1970.
- New York breaks an ongoing streak of placements since 1979.
Delegates
The Miss USA 1981 delegates were:
Alabama - JoAnne Henderson
Alaska - Shelley Brunaugh
Arizona - Cassie Hill
Arkansas - Lynnanne Derryberry
California - Cynthia Kerby
Colorado - Shannon Davidson
Connecticut - Kelly Thompson
Delaware - Natalie Ramsey
District of Columbia - Belinda Johnson
Florida - Valerie Lundeen
Georgia - Lisa Condre
Hawaii - Teri Ann Linn
Idaho - Lori Ditch
Illinois - Leslie Renfrow
Indiana - Holli Dennis
Iowa - Jennifer Lynn Wimpey
Kansas - Missy Kaser
Kentucky - Denise Gibbs
Louisiana - Lisa Moss
Maine - Judy Lynn Footer
Maryland - Linda Lambert
Massachusetts - JoAnn Savery
Michigan - Karen Eidson
Minnesota - Polly Peterson
Mississippi - Angela Ashmore
Missouri - Karyn Smagacz
Montana - Cathi Jo Locati
Nebraska - Ladonna Hill
Nevada - Mary Lebsock
New Hampshire - Cynthia Lee Graves
New Jersey - Christy Garthwaite
New Mexico - Lise Gabrielle Dominique Thevenet
New York - Deborah Fountain (disqualified)
North Carolina - Lisa Colleen Swift
North Dakota - Laurie Saarinen
Ohio - Kim Seelbrede
Oklahoma - Stacey Loach
Oregon - Dawn Lewis
Pennsylvania - Nena Stone
Rhode Island - Patti Reo
South Carolina - Zade Turner
South Dakota - Joan Abbott
Tennessee - Sharon Kay Steakley
Texas - Diana Durnford
Utah - Tonya Anderson
Vermont - Jeannette Wulff
Virginia - Pam Hutchens
Washington - Leila Wagner
West Virginia - Kelly Carr
Wisconsin - Dawn Marie Spreeman
Wyoming - Deborah Aspinwall
Judges
- Cindy Adams, American gossip columnist and writer
- Joey Adams, American comedian
- Dwight Clark
- Jim Fowler, zoologist and host of television show Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom
- Mary Therese Friel, Miss USA 1979
- Gary Graffman, pianist
- Phil Roura, Editor of People Page, NY Daily News
References
- ^ "Headliners; Truth in Packaging". New York Times. 1981-05-24. Retrieved 2010-05-10.