Stunning Alyssa Campanella fromCaliforniaconfirmed her favoritism and was the winner of Miss USA 2011!
Alyssa Campanella, a 21-year-old redhead representing California, was named Miss USA at the annual beauty pageant in Las Vegas on Sunday. The full-time model, who was born and raised in New Jersey which she represented at the Miss Teen USA contest in 2007, was considered one of the favorites by pageant experts.
She will represent the United States at the Miss Universe pageant to be held in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on September 12. Campanella was crowned by incumbent Miss USA, Rima Fakih, a Lebanese-born Muslim who was the first Arab-American to hold the title.
The 60th edition of the pageant brought many innovations in its format. The semi-finalists’ judges combined scores are no longer displayed for the tv audience. Instead, fans can score the candidates and their average score appears on tv (but only the judges’ scores are tabulated and count to select further finalists and Miss USA). The semi-finalists and finalists were announced in groups, instead of individually. There were 16 quarter-finalists, one chosen by the fans through internet voting (instead of 15), 8 semi-finalists (instead of 10), and 4 finalists (instead of 5).
Several former title holders attended the pageant, including Miss USA and Miss Universe 1954, Miriam Stevenson.
This year’s panel of judges included several well-known celebrities, including Dallas Maverick center Tyson Chandler, chef Rocco DiSpirito, actress Mariel Hemingway, magician Penn Jillette, rapper and producer Lil Jon, “Real Housewives of New Jersey” housewife Caroline Manzo and OPI beauty products founder Suzi Weiss-Fischmann.
The show was co-hosted by Bravo’s Andy Cohen and E! News Anchor Giuliana Rancic.
Overall, the was an excellent show ended with a great winner, who will certainly represent the USA well in Miss Universe 2011.
Miss Tennessee, Ashley Durham, was the 1st runner-up, Miss Alabama, Madeline Mitchell, the 2nd, and Miss Texas, Ana Rodriguez, the 3rd.
The semi-finalists were Maryland, Hawaii, South Carolina and Maine.
Among the 16 semi-finalists, were the candidates from Utah, Indiana, Georgia, Arizona, New York, Florida, Missouri and New Mexico (most voted in the internet).