Miss USA 1988
Miss USA 1988 | |
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Date | March 1, 1988 |
Presenters | Alan Thicke and Tracy Scoggins |
Venue | El Paso Convention And Performing Art Center (Abraham Chavez Theater) El Paso, Texas |
Broadcaster | CBS, KDBC-TV |
Entrants | 51 |
Placements | 10 |
Winner | Courtney Gibbs![]() |
Congeniality | Elva Anderson![]() |
Best State Costume | Lagracella Omran![]() |
Photogenic | Rowanne Brewer![]() |
Miss USA 1988, the 37th Miss USA pageant, was televised live from the El Paso Civic Center in El Paso, Texas on March 1, 1988. At the conclusion of the final competition, Courtney Gibbs of Texas was crowned Miss USA, becoming the fourth consecutive winner from Texas.[1]
The pageant was hosted by Growing Pains star Alan Thicke, the first time in twenty years that Bob Barker did not host, and the pageant commentator was Tracy Scoggins.[2] Barker, an animal rights activist, refused to be involved because one of the winner's prizes was a fur coat.[3] There had been controversy surrounding the fur coats since the previous year, and Barker claimed he had asked pageant officials not to give away coats for years but that he had been ignored.[4] Other animal rights activists threatened to picket the pageant in protest at its fur policy and disrupted a pre-pageant press conference.[5][6] In an unrelated attack, Scoggins was attacked in an elevator following pageant rehearsals. The attacker was charged with attempted sexual assault.[7]
This was the first time that the pageant was held in Texas and the only time it was ever held in El Paso. El Paso had hosted the Miss Teen USA 1987 pageant the previous year, and it was announced in November 1987 that the city would likely host Miss USA 1988.[8]
Results
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/91/Miss_USA_1988_results_map.png/220px-Miss_USA_1988_results_map.png)
Placements
Final Results | Contestant |
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Miss USA 1988 | |
1st runner-up Miss World USA 1988 |
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2nd runner-up |
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3rd runner-up |
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4th runner-up |
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Top 10 |
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Special awards
Award | Contestant |
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Miss Congeniality |
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Miss Photogenic | |
Best State Costume |
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Final competition
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Preliminary swimsuit scores
The following is the contestants average scores in the Preliminary swimsuit competition.
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Historical significance
- Texas wins competition for the fifth time and fourth in a row.
- California earns the 1st runner-up position for the third time. The last time it placed this was in 1967. Also it reaches the highest placement since Julie Hayek won Miss USA 1983.
- Georgia earns the 2nd runner-up position for the second time. The last time it placed this was in 1986.
- Florida earns the 3rd runner-up position for the third time. The last time it placed this was in 1975.
- Mississippi earns the 4th runner-up position for the second time. The last time it placed this was in 1979.
- States that placed in semifinals the previous year were Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Mississippi and Texas.
- Texas placed for the fourteenth consecutive year.
- Illinois placed for the fifth consecutive year.
- Georgia and Mississippi placed for the third consecutive year.
- Florida made its second consecutive placement.
- California, Oklahoma and South Carolina last placed in 1986.
- Tennessee last placed in 1984.
- Maryland last placed in 1982.
Delegates
The Miss USA 1988 delegates were:
Alabama - Rhonda Mooney
Alaska - Raun Reaves
Arizona - Kris Keim
Arkansas - Melissa Staples
California - Diana Magaña[10]
Colorado - Nicola Svaldi
Connecticut - Catherine Calasso
Delaware - Christina lee Angel
District of Columbia - Elva Anderson
Florida - Monica Farrell[11]
Georgia - Donna Rampy
Hawaii - Paula Prevost
Idaho - Kay Kinsey
Illinois - Gina Zordani
Indiana - Loetta Earnest
Iowa - Julie Kemmerling
Kansas - Cynthia Decker
Kentucky - Suzanne Pitman
Louisiana - Rhonda Vinson
Maine - Suzanne Grenier
Maryland - Rowanne Brewer
Massachusetts - Ania Lovely
Michigan - Anthonia Dotson
Minnesota - Julie Nelson
Mississippi - Dana Richmond
Missouri - Alecia Workman
Montana - Kimberly Topp
Nebraska - Kellie O'Neil[12]
Nevada - Lagracella Omran
New Hampshire - Diane Wright
New Jersey - Colleen Carlone
New Mexico - Stephanie Storrie
New York - Linnea Mancini
North Carolina - Tammy Tolar
North Dakota - Kate Sevde
Ohio - Gina West
Oklahoma - Tamara Walker
Oregon - Elaine Rohrer
Pennsylvania - Susan Gray
Rhode Island - Cindy Geronda
South Carolina - April Abel
South Dakota - Sandi Fix
Tennessee - Stephanie Potts
Texas - Courtney Gibbs[13]
Utah - Suzie Lundell
Vermont - Stacy Sisson
Virginia - Denise Smith
Washington - Sandra Kord
West Virginia - Cathy Fowler
Wisconsin - Mary Kay Anderson
Wyoming - Kristen Youmans
Contestant notes
- Two contestants had previously competed in the Miss Teen USA pageant. They were Kris Keim (Arizona), who was Miss Arizona Teen USA 1983, and Melissa Staples (Arkansas), who was Miss Arkansas Teen USA 1984
- Two contestants had previously competed in the Miss America 1986 pageant. They were Mary Kay Anderson (Wisconsin), formerly Miss Wisconsin 1985 and Monica Farrell (Florida), formerly Miss Florida 1985.
- Prior to the pageant Suzanne Pitman (Kentucky) was arrested on a drunk-driving charge but allowed to compete in the pageant.[14]
- Miss Minnesota USA winner Sue Bolich resigned her title one week after she was arrested for shoplifting.[15][16] The other pageant contestants were already in El Paso at the time of her resignation, and first runner-up Jolene Stavrakis was to be sent in Bolich's place. However, Stavrakis also had a previous shoplifting charge on her record, and she too withdrew from the pageant.[17] Julie Nelson, second runner-up in the state pageant, assumed the title and represented Minnesota at Miss USA.[18]
Judges
- Jennifer Ashe
- Mary Kay Ash
- Michelle Butin
- Gil Gerard
- Albert Hague
- Sharlene Wells Hawkes
- Michael K. Herbert
- Stanley Platos
References
- ^ "Miss Texas, Again, Wins Miss USA Crown". The Associated Press. 1988-03-01.
- ^ United Press International (1988-02-21). "El Paso hosts a blemished USA contest". Houston Chronicle. p. 32.
- ^ "Barker resigns in pageant furor". USA Today. 1988-01-12.
- ^ "Host Bob Barker Pulls Out of Miss Universe Pageant in Fur Controversy". Associated Press. 1988-01-12.
- ^ United Press International (1988-02-12). "Animal lovers planning protest of Miss USA pageant fur coat prize". Houston Chronicle. p. 10.
- ^ Lewis, Holden (1988-02-26). "Animal-Rights Activist Disrupts Miss USA News Conference". Associated Press.
- ^ Lewis, Holden (1988-02-26). "Miss USA Pageant Host Assaulted in Elevator". Associated Press.
- ^ Associated Press (1987-11-06). "El Paso is considered top contender for Miss USA pageant". The Dallas Morning News. p. 31A.
- ^ "Here's Miss Photogenic". Chicago Sun-Times. 1988-02-28.
- ^ Bizjak, Tony (1987-10-01). "Bringing Up Beauty / In the months before the Miss USA Pageant, advisers work on Miss California". The San Francisco Chronicle. p. B3.
- ^ Associated Press (1987-08-07). "New Miss Florida-USA crowned, but couch potatoes couldn't see it". St. Petersburg Times. p. 5B.
- ^ Associated Press (1988-01-11). "Omahan to Seek Miss USA Title". The Omaha World-Herald.
- ^ Associated Press (1987-08-04). "Metroplex beauty wins Miss Texas". Houston Chronicle. p. 10.
- ^ "Miss Kentucky USA Arrested on Drunken Driving Charges". Associated Press. 1988-01-18.
- ^ "Miss Minnesota-USA Arrested On Theft Charge". Associated Press. 1988-01-30.
- ^ "Miss USA-Minnesota Resigns Title". Associated Press. 1988-02-08.
- ^ "Second Beauty Queen Withdraws Over Shoplifting". The Associated Press. 1988-02-10.
- ^ Furst, Randy (1988-02-11). "3rd Miss Minnesota-USA has `nothing to hide'". Star-Tribune Newspaper of the Twin Cities Mpls.-St. Paul. p. 01A.