Pageant News Bureau - Miss USA 2005

Miss USA 2005
April 11, 2005, Baltimore, Md.

All photos courtesy of Miss Universe L.P., LLLP

Final 2
1st runner-up Brittany Hogan of California hugs the new Miss USA Chelsea Cooley of North Carolina

The cool one cometh

Chelsea Cooley, a dark-haired pageant veteran from North Carolina, was crowned Miss USA 2005 on April 11, 2005, in Baltimore. Amazingly, she is the first woman from the Tarheel State ever to win the pageant, which is now in its 54th year. (Neighboring South Carolina, for instance, has won it three times.)

The first runner-up was Brittany Hogan of California. The second runner-up was Kristen Lynn Johnson of Kentucky, finishing in the same spot as she did at Miss Teen USA 2000 (a pageant in which Ms. Cooley also competed). The third runner-up was Jill Gulseth of Illinois, and the fourth runner-up was Melissa Witek of Florida.

4th runner-up Melissa Witek of Florida

Other semifinalists were Tyler Willis of Texas (who also won Miss Photogenic), Marin Poole of Utah, Crystal Hayes of Michigan, Kristin Morrison of West Virginia and Jessica Furrer of Arkansas.

Melissa Young of Wisconsin was voted Miss Congeniality by her fellow contestants.

On a tie-in episode of "Fear Factor," which ran on NBC-TV just prior to the pageant, Sarah-Elizabeth Langford, Miss District of Columbia USA, was named Miss Fear Factor. She beat several other Miss USA contestants in events that included being swarmed over by worms while wearing a bikini. (Sounds like good preparation for a show business career.)

Who is Chelsea Cooley?

The new Miss USA reminds some people of former Miss America Kate Shindle, which may sound strange, because Ms. Shindle is rarely described as looking like a "USA.girl." The two women have the same aristocratic, angular features, but Ms. Cooley is more sensual and graceful. She was a dancer before she was a beauty queen.

Pageant fans have been aware of her for years. "If I had made a bet a few years ago," said one of them, "I would have picked Chelsea to be competing at Miss World someday. Now she's going to Miss Universe. It makes sense, but I never expected it."

Ms. Cooley has had her share of titles. She was Miss North Carolina Teen USA 2000 and Miss United States Teen 2001. Nobody was shocked when she won Miss North Carolina USA. But perhaps because she was so familiar, there was little "buzz" about her in Baltimore. Most such gossip is about the "long shots" and the "sure things." She was neither; she was a contender.

She gets better every time she competes, and she always adapts to her circumstances. Look for her to be a showstopper at Miss Universe. And maybe more.

Getting beyond the pope

The death of Pope John Paul II in early April limited advertising for Miss USA 2005. It even caused the Pageant News Bureau to stop covering pageants altogether during the official mourning periiod, which ran though the day of the pageant. Some readers, including some Catholics, thought that decision was downright weird.

Some suggested that respect was never our real motive. Our journalistic staff was stretched too thin because of assignments to Rome, they theorized. (Indeed, we never denied that.) A few people hinted that PNB founder Gerdeen Dyer was trying to weaken the pageant for some inscrutable motive of his own. ("Look what he did to Miss America," one complained. "How much power does that guy have?")

We decided to take up the matter again with Mr. Dyer, an affable, scholarly man who wears his supposed power very lightly. "I thought it was significant that the pageant was being held in Maryland this year," he said. "It's the only U.S. state that began as a Catholic colony. We bent over backward to be respectful to everyone in this situation, but maybe we bent too far."

And there the matter remains.

Who's the barest?

A swimsuit company (and a swimsuit controversy) helped create the Miss USA Pageant. Now that the pageant has its own swimwear, we asked our erstwhile colleague Pamela Lamont to comment on the styles she saw. Here is her response:

"There was a contrast here, an odd one. The bikinis in the actual 'swimsuit' competition were not daring at all. Flowery panties have always seemed innocent to me. But the nonfinalists who backed up the event were dressed like "gentleman's club dancers" and gyrating suggestively. It reminded me of an oilman's harem, with the oil already being poured.

"You asked me nothing about the gowns, but there the contrast was even starker. Half the finalists were sheathed in what my maids used to call '50s frumpy.' Some of the others put sex far above taste. One in particular. . . well, no need to name it. It reminded me of a woman I knew who was undressing for a repairman when guests wandered in. Nothing to do but smile."

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Miss USA 2005April 11, 2005, Baltimore, Md.

Miss USA 2005
April 11, 2005, Baltimore, Md.