BEAUTY PAGEANT OF Miss USA 2011
Miss USA 2011, the 60th anniversary of the Miss USA pageant, will be held at the Theatre for the Performing Arts in Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada on June 19, 2011. Miss USA 2010, Rima Fakih of Michigan will crown her successor at the end of this event. Miss USA 2011 will represent the United States at the Miss Universe 2011 pageant in São Paulo, Brazil on September 12, 2011. 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 contestants were asked difficult questions in video interviews taped ahead of the pageant, several news sites reported on Friday, June 17, 2011.
According to reports, the contestants were asked whether they believe evolution should be taught in schools and if they would pose for nude photographs, as seen on the videos embedded below.
Paula Shugart, president of the Miss Universe Organization, which also runs Miss USA, was quoted saying that these “topics are very relevant and in the news.”
Keith Lewis, executive state pageant director for California, New Hampshire and New York reportedly said that the contestants were “scared to death.”
“The girls are concerned that there is a right or wrong answer. Polarising questions often create a situation where you suffer… if you agree, and if you do not.” Lewis reportedly told Fox News.
“The pageant officials are intimidating contestants into answering questions a certain way that are deemed ‘politically correct’ while discriminating against their own belief and opinions. The Miss USA Organization is choosing topics that are not only controversial, but intimidating,” Angie Meyer, former Miss USA publicist reportedly said.
Christian Post reporter Stephanie Samuel said that these questions together with a new online voting system “have some worried that this year’s Miss USA pageant queens may feel pressured to compromise their beliefs in order to win the crown.”
Miss USA Pageant finals will be held at Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada on June 19, 2011, 9pm ET.