Miss USA 1981

Miss USA 1981, the 30th Miss USA pageant, was televised live on May 21, 1981 from the Gulf Coast Convention Center in Biloxi, Mississippi on CBS.

Miss USA 1981
Date	May 21, 1981
Presenters	Bob Barker
Venue	Gulf Coast Convention Center, Biloxi, Mississippi
Broadcaster	CBS
Entrants	51
Placements	12
Winner	Kim Seelbrede Ohio
Congeniality	Cynthia Kerby  California
Photogenic	Cynthia Kerby  California

The pageant was won by Kim Seelbrede of Ohio, who was crowned by outgoing titleholder Jineane Ford of Arizona. Seelbrede was the second woman from Ohio to win the Miss USA title, and went on to place as a semi-finalist in Miss Universe 1981.

The 1981 pageant featured only 50 delegates after Deborah Fountain of New York was disqualified during the preliminary judging after being found to have padded her swimsuit.[1] The final question that was asked by each of the Top Five delegates was "Your sister or best friend has been chosen for the Miss USA 1982 and she came to you for advice what would you tell her?"

This year marked the first year since 1957 a runner-up of Miss USA was sent to Miss World, this would continue until 1991 when the Miss World Organization stop accepting Runner-Ups from Miss USA, due to MUO refusing to make a public announcement during the pageant. Between 1958-1980, a separate pageant determined the US representatives at Miss World.

Results

Final Results	Contestant
Miss USA 1981	Ohio – Kim Seelbrede
1st Runner-Up	Indiana – Holli Dennis
2nd Runner-Up Miss World USA 1981	Louisiana – Lisa Moss
3rd Runner-Up	California – Cynthia Kerby
4th Runner-Up	Hawaii – Teri Ann Linn
Top 12	Alabama – JoAnne Henderson Arizona – Cassie Hill Georgia – Lisa Condre Maryland – Linda Lambert Tennessee – Sharon Kay Steakly Texas – Diana Durnford Virginia – Pam Hutchens

Final Competition

State	Preliminary Average	Interview	Swimsuit	Evening Gown	Semifinal Average
Ohio – Kim Seelbrede	8.801 (1)	9.396 (1)	9.592 (1)	9.567 (1)	9.518 (1)
Indiana – Holli Dennis	8.263 (5)	8.708 (5)	8.830 (6)	9.090 (4)	8.876 (5)
Louisiana – Lisa Moss	8.645 (2)	9.159 (2)	9.338 (2)	9.290 (2)	9.262 (2)
California – Cynthia Kerby	8.255 (6)	8.990 (3)	8.924 (5)	9.081 (5)	8.998 (3)
Hawaii – Teri Ann Linn	8.412 (3)	8.813 (4)	9.038 (3)	9.102 (3)	8.984 (4)
Alabama – JoAnne Henderson	8.125 (10)	8.432 (6)	8.930 (4)	8.965 (7)	8.775 (6)
Georgia – Lisa Condre	8.398 (4)	8.195 (7)	8.557 (7)	8.988 (6)	8.580 (7)
Arizona – Cassie Hill	8.129 (9)	8.177 (8)	8.535 (8)	8.212 (9)	8.308 (8)
Texas – Diana Durnford	8.058 (12)	7.791 (11)	8.155 (10)	8.504 (8)	8.150 (9)
Virginia – Pam Hutchens	8.185 (8)	8.092 (9)	8.164 (9)	8.081 (11)	8.112 (10)
Tennessee – Sharon Kay Steakly	8.066 (11)	8.075 (10)	8.076 (11)	8.090 (10)	8.080 (11)
Maryland – Linda Lambert	8.227 (7)	7.550 (12)	7.702 (12)	7.831 (12)	7.694 (12)

Winner      First runner-up      Second runner-up      Third runner-up      Fourth runner-up (#) Rank in each round of competition

Special awards

Award	Contestant
Miss Congeniality	California – Cynthia Kerby
Miss Photogenic	California – Cynthia Kerby

(Kerby is the only Miss USA delegate to have won both special awards)

Historical significance of Miss USA 1981

• Ohio wins competition for the second time.
• Indiana earns the 1st runner-up position for the first time and surpasses its previous highest placement in 1966, becoming its highest position ever at the contest.
• Louisiana earns the 2nd runner-up position for the first time.
• California earns the 3rd runner-up position for the fifth time. The last time it placed this was in 1977.
• Hawaii earns the 4th runner-up position for the first time.
• States that placed in semifinals the previous year were Alabama, Arizona, Maryland and Texas.
• Texas placed for the seventh consecutive year.
• Arizona placed for the third consecutive year.
• Alabama and Maryland made their second consecutive placement.
• California, Hawaii and Virginia last placed in 1979.
• Indiana last placed in 1978.
• Georgia last placed in 1977.
• Louisiana last placed in 1976.
• Ohio last placed in 1972.
• Tennessee last placed in 1970.
• New York breaks an ongoing streak of placements since 1979.

Delegates

The Miss USA 1981 delegates were:

Alabama - JoAnne Henderson Alaska - Shelley Brunaugh Arizona - Cassie Hill Arkansas - Lynnanne Derryberry California - Cynthia Kerby Colorado - Shannon Davidson Connecticut - Kelly Thompson Delaware - Natalie Ramsey District of Columbia - Belinda Johnson Florida - Valerie Lundeen Georgia - Lisa Condre Hawaii - Teri Ann Linn Idaho - Lori Ditch Illinois - Leslie Renfrow Indiana - Holli Dennis Iowa - Jennifer Lynn Wimpey Kansas - Missy Kaser Kentucky - Denise Gibbs Louisiana - Lisa Moss Maine - Judy Lynn Footer Maryland - Linda Lambert Massachusetts - Joann Savery Michigan - Karen Eidson Minnesota - Polly Peterson Mississippi - Angela Ashmore Missouri - Karyn Smagacz

Montana - Cathi Jo Locati Nebraska - Ladonna Hill Nevada - Mary Lebsock New Hampshire - Cynthia Lee Graves New Jersey - Christy Garthwaite New Mexico - Lise Gabrielle Dominique Thevenet New York - Deborah Fountain (disqualified) North Carolina - Lisa Colleen Swift North Dakota - Laurie Saarinen Ohio - Kim Seelbrede Oklahoma - Stacey Loach Oregon - Dawn Lewis Pennsylvania - Nena Stone Rhode Island - Patti Reo South Carolina - Zade Turner South Dakota - Joan Abbott Tennessee - Sharon Kay Steakly Texas - Diana Durnford Utah - Tonya Anderson Vermont - Jeannette Wulff Virginia - Pam Hutchens Washington - Leila Wagner West Virginia - Kelly Carr Wisconsin - Dawn Marie Spreeman Wyoming - Deborah Aspinwall

Judges

• Cindy Adams, American gossip columnist and writer
• Joey Adams, American comedian
• Dwight Clark
• Jim Fowler, zoologist and host of television show Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom
• Mary Therese Friel, Miss USA 1979
• Gary Graffman, pianist

References

1. "Headliners; Truth in Packaging". New York Times. 1981-05-24. Retrieved 2010-05-10.

External links

• Miss USA official website