Miss Illinois USA

The pageant weekend is fun, fun, fun! The contestants enjoy getting to know the pageant staff and other contestants. We bring in a choreographer and a producer, who will put together two great shows. During the Presentation Show, each contestant is presented to the judges in the preliminary active wear/swimwear and evening gown competitions. At the end of the Coronation Show, we will have a new MISS ILLINOIS USA & MISS ILLINOIS TEEN USA.

The winner of MISS ILLINOIS USA will advance to the nationally televised MISS USA Pageant, and the winner of the MISS ILLINOIS TEEN USA title will advance to the MISS TEEN USA Pageant. Should MISS ILLINOIS USA go on to win MISS USA, she would then advance to the ultimate contest… the internationally televised MISS UNIVERSE Pageant.

The Competition:
Each Contestant will compete in three phases of preliminary competition: active wear/swimsuit, evening gown, and interview. The scores from the preliminary phases of competition are added up, and the contestants with the highest composite scores become semifinalists. The number of semifinalists will be between 8 and 16, and will be determined by the total number of contestants in the competition.

Scoring is based on the following:

• Active Wear/Swimsuit: each contestant is evaluated on her physical fitness, stage-presence, and overall impression.

• Evening Gown: each contestant is evaluated on grace, poise, style, stage presence, the confidence with which she carries herself, and overall-impression.

• Interview: preliminary interviews are panel style. You will have two and a half minute interview with the five judges. Its very comfortable and conversational. Contestants are scored on their communication skills, and personality. They are NOT scored on their opinions or personal beliefs. Once the semifinalists are announced during the final show, they will again compete in active wear/swimsuit and evening gown. These two phases of competition will narrow the field to a group of five finalists.

The top-5 will then each have an on-stage interview. The interview will be conducted by the emcee. She will ask them a question submitted by a fellow contestant and one submitted by a judge. After the top-5 interviews, the judges will make the final rankings based on their overall impression of each contestant. The judges will select a winner, 1st runner-up, 2nd runner-up, 3rd runner-up, and 4th runner-up in each age group.