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| Miss USA 2010, Rima Fakih |
Miss USA 2011 kicks off today June 19 at the Theatre for the Performing Arts in Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. The program will be aired live on NBC and the show will be hosted by "E! News co-anchor Giuliana Rancic and Bravo's "Watch What Happens:Live" host and network's Executive President of Original Programming and Development, Andy Kohen.
The President of the Miss Universe Organization Paula M. Shugart and owner of NBC and Miss Universe Organization Paula M. Shugart made the announcement of this grand show.
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Miss USA 2010 is crowned by Miss USA 2009
Miss North Carolina, Kristen Dalton |
The 51 contestants have been living in Las Vegas all month, preparing for the event and OnTheRedCarpet.com caught up with the ladies before their big day. The beginning number is very complex, especially for a large group of 51 people. Rehearsing in the hotel rooms, the chance to learn the moves all depends on the ladies. After getting the routine, the contestants have to practice and they have to move in unison while hitting the marks noted on the carpet. As they rehearse again and again, it becomes easier (and it also creates a few blisters as this isn’t easy work by any means.) The end result is what the audience will see on live television. For the first time ever, one of the sixteen semifinalists will be selected exclusively by fans via online voting and SMS messaging. The competition formats are changed to Top 16, Top 8 and Top 4 (Miss USA 2011,1st runner-up, 2nd runner-up, 3rd runner-up). Miss USA 2011 will represent the United States at the Miss Universe 2011 pageant in São Paulo, Brazil on September 12, 2011.
Over the past two weeks contestants have been in Las Vegas in one of the biggest pageants on the planet. Living, working and breathing Miss US Pageant, it all comes down to the final day and live show to see who wins. OnTheRedCarpet.com host Rachel Smith, who was voted Miss USA 2007, asked the girls about their bikini contest preparations, rooming situations and what kind of drama has gone down behind the scenes, but the ladies insisted that this year's group has been diva free. "Even I expected the girls to be really catty when I got here but the girls are really awesome," said Miss Vermont, Lauren Carter. "There are really no huge divas, there's no crazy cutting of gowns or anything. Everybody's pretty awesome, we're all friends." Miss Tennessee, Ashley Elizabeth Durham also agreed that the contestants are more laid-back than they were when she competed in the Miss Teen USA pageant in 2006. "It's a lot different, the girls are very competitive but we have a pretty laid-back group this year, we're having a lot of fun," Durham said. "But tomorrow's prelims, so we'll see when the claws come out."
Meanwhile, former Miss USA Rima Fakih, who will surrender her crown during the Sunday's Miss USA pageant, is weighing her options for the future. Fakih said that she plans on "sleeping for a week" following the end of her reign but offered some words of advice for the next Miss USA. "This is Miss USA, this is not just any beauty pageant - there are beauty pageants and then there's Miss USA," she said. "What I would want [aspiring contestants] to know is to remember every year, have a scrapbook, know that the crown you're going to wear doesn't mean you're the most beautiful girl in the United States - you're an ambassador."
The Miss USA beauty contest has been held annually since 1952 to select the United States entrant in the Miss Universe pageant and this year it is 60 th anniversary of this contest. The Miss Universe Organization operates both Miss USA Beauty pageants, as well as Miss Teen USA. The state that wins Miss USA as many as nine times is Texas in 1977,1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1995, 2001 and 2008. Miss USA 2010 won by Rima Fakih, the current titleholder, who competed as Miss Michigan USA. Michigan won the title two more times in 1990 and 1993. Other leading states are California 5 times, New York, Hawaii and Illinois 4 times, Lousiana, South Carolina and aforesaid Michigan each for 3 times.
This year 51 contestants are:
1. Alabama USA, Madeline Mitchell
2.Alaska USA, Jessica Chuckran
3.Arizona USA, Brittany Dawn Brannon
4. Arkansas USA, Lakynn McBride
5. California USA, Alyssa Campanella
6. Colorado USA, Blair Adair Griffith
7.Connecticut USARegina Turner
8. Delaware USA, Katie Hanson
9. District Of Columbia USA, Heather Danelle Swann
10. Florida USA, Lissette Garcia
11. Georgia USA, Kaylin Reque
12. Hawaii USA, Angela Byrd
13. Idaho USA, Erza Haliti
14. Illinois USA, Angela Sparrow
15. Indiana USA, Jillian Wunderlich
16. Iowa USA, Rebecca Goldsmith
17. Kansas USA, Jaymie Stokes
18. Kentucky USA, Kia Ben-et Hampton
19. Louisiana USA, Page Pennock
20. Maine USA, Ashley-Lynn Marble
21. Maryland USA, Allyn Rose
22. Massachusetts USA, Alida D'Angona
23. Michigan USA, Channing Pierce
24. Minnesota USA, Brittany Lee Thelemann
25. Mississippi USA, Keeley Patterson
26. Missouri USA, Hope Driskill
27. Montana USA, Brittany Wiser
28. Nebraska USA, Haley Jo Herold
29. Nevada USA, Sarah Chapman
30. New Hampshire USA, LacyJane Folger
31. New Jersey USA, Julianna White
32. New Mexico USA, Brittany Toll
33. New York USA, Amber Marie Collins
34. North Carolina USA, Brittany Leigh York
35. North Dakota USA, Brandi Lynn Schoenberg
36. Ohio USA, Ashley Nicole Caldwell
37. Oklahoma USA, Kaitlyn Smith
38. Oregon USA, Anna Prosser
39. Pennsylvania USA, Amber-Joi Watkins
40. Rhode Island USA, Kate McCaughey
41.South Carolina USA, Courtney Hope Turner
42.South Dakota USA, Chandra Rae Burnham
43. Tennessee USA, Ashley Elizabeth Durham
44. Texas USA, Ana Christina Rodriguez
45. Utah USA, Jamie Lynn Crandall
46. Vermont USA, Lauren Carter
47.Virginia USA, Nikki Poteet
48. Washington USA, Angelina Kayyalaynen
49. West Virginia USA, Whitney Veach
50. Wisconsin USA, Jordan Marie Morkin
51. Wyoming USA, Kaitlyn Davis
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| All Winners of Miss USA |
2:31 AM
US Supreme Court at last established the claim of the heirs of billionaire J. Howard Marshall, the late husband of Anna Nicole Smith (November 28, 1967 – February 8, 2007). Justices lead by Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. say a Texas probate court had the authority only to resolve the Marshall estate dispute. This declaration came as California bankruptcy judge incorrectly granted Anna Nicole Smith over $400 million from the estate of her oil magnate husband J Howard Marshall. In the 5-4 decision by the judges is the victory for the Texas heirs of Smith's late billionaire husband, J. Howard Marshall. The original heir his son, Pierce Marshall, who filed the case, also died during the 15 years of the course of the litigation.
Anna Nicole Smith, the former Playboy Playmate, married the billionaire Marshall in 1994 when she was 26 and he was 89. Marshall died in 1995 and by a will left his entire estate to his son Pierce and nothing for his wife Nicole Smith. Smith sued in response, but a Texas probate court granted the entire estate to Pierce Marshall despite claims by Smith that he had conspired to withhold funds promised to her by his father. Smith then made a similar claim against Pierce Marshall when she filed for bankruptcy in a California court. This time Smith won, and the bankruptcy court awarded her over $400 million. This decision sparked years of litigation over whether the determination by the Texas probate court or the California bankruptcy court prevailed. Smith died in 2007 from what was determined to be an accidental overdose, but her estate continued the legal fight to keep her portion of the estate. "We conclude that, although the [California] Bankruptcy Court had the statutory authority to enter judgment on [Smith's] counterclaim, it lacked the constitutional authority to do so," Chief justice John Roberts wrote. Roberts began his opinion with a paragraph-long quotation and alluded from Charles Dickens' "Bleak House" to highlight the fact that none of the original parties to the lawsuit lived to see its result.
