Miss USA 2005

Miss USA 2005 was the 54th Miss USA pageant, held in Baltimore, Maryland on April 11, 2005. It was won by Chelsea Cooley of North Carolina.

Fifty-one state titleholders competed for the title of Miss USA in the Hippodrome Theatre on April 11, 2005. The hosts were Access Hollywood stars Nancy O'Dell and Billy Bush.

This was the first of two years the pageant was held in Maryland, as it was held in Los Angeles, California in 2004. The new location was announced in October 2004.

Judges
The celebrity panel of final competition judges was announced on 10 March 2005. The judges were:
 * Michael Phelps – Olympic gold medalist swimmer
 * Molly Sims – Star of NBC show Las Vegas
 * Sugar Ray Leonard – Boxer
 * Frederic Fekkai – Beauty expert
 * Pamela Dennis – Fashion designer
 * Raj Bhakta – The Apprentice contestant
 * Ksenia Maksimova – Model
 * Brody Hutzler – Actor on Days of Our Lives

Delegates
The Miss USA 2005 delegates were:


 * Alabama – Jessica Tinney
 * Alaska – Aleah Scheick
 * Arizona – Mariana Loya
 * Arkansas – Jessica Furrer
 * California – Brittany Hogan
 * Colorado – Lauren Cisneros
 * Connecticut – Melissa Mandak
 * Delaware – Sheena Benton
 * District of Columbia – Sarah-Elizabeth Langford
 * Florida – Melissa Witek
 * Georgia – Tanisha Brito
 * Hawaii – Jennifer Fairbank
 * Idaho – Sade Aiyeku
 * Illinois – Jill Gulseth
 * Indiana – Kaitlyn Christopher
 * Iowa – Joy Robinson
 * Kansas – Rachel Saunders
 * Kentucky – Kristen Johnson
 * Louisiana – Candice Stewart
 * Maine – Erica Commeau
 * Maryland – Marina Harrison
 * Massachusetts – Cristina Nardozzi
 * Michigan – Crystal Hayes
 * Minnesota – Carrie Lee
 * Mississippi – Jennifer Adcock
 * Missouri – Andrea Ciliberti
 * Montana – Amanda Kimmel
 * Nebraska – Jana Murrell
 * Nevada – Shivonn Geeb
 * New Hampshire – Candace Glickman
 * New Jersey – Sylvia Pogorzelski
 * New Mexico – Jacqueline Deaner
 * New York – Meaghan Jarensky
 * North Carolina – Chelsea Cooley
 * North Dakota – Chrissa Miller
 * Ohio – Aisha Berry
 * Oklahoma – Laci Scott
 * Oregon – Jessica Carlson
 * Pennsylvania – Brenda Brabham
 * Rhode Island – Allison Paganetti
 * South Carolina – Sarah Medley
 * South Dakota – Jessica Fjerstad
 * Tennessee – Amy Colley
 * Texas – Tyler Willis
 * Utah – Marin Poole
 * Vermont – Amanda Mitteer
 * Virginia – Jennifer Pitts
 * Washington – Amy Crawford
 * West Virginia – Kristin Morrison
 * Wisconsin – Melissa Ann Young
 * Wyoming – Abby Norman

Pre-pageant special
Six Miss USA contestants competed in a special edition of Fear Factor.
 * The contestants involved were:
 * Miss Fear Factor: Sarah-Elizabeth Langford (Miss District of Columbia USA 2005)
 * 2nd place tie: Brittany Hogan (Miss California USA 2005),
 * 3rd place: Meaghan Jarensky (Miss New York USA 2005)
 * 4th place: Laci Scott (Miss Oklahoma USA 2005)
 * 5th place: Cristina Nardozzi (Miss Massachusetts USA 2005)
 * 6th place: Kristen Johnson (Miss Kentucky USA 2005)


 * Stunts
 * Stunt #1 (Water beams): Contestants had to work their way around a square-shaped beam structure and collect up to ten flags before jumping into the water below. The beams were rigged with high-pressure jets that sprayed water during the stunt. The four contestants who completed the stunt in the fastest time or those that collected the flags the fastest before falling advanced to the next round.


 * Stunt #2 (Triple Dump Tunnel) Contestants fought a high pressure water hose to make their way through an acrylic glass tunnel while attempting to pull down three chains and collect a key from each. The hose stopped after the retrieval of the second key. Each time they retrieved a key, a bucket containing 55 gallons of disgusting contents would be dumped on them. The first bucket contained dead fish and fish guts, the second bucket contained fish oil, and the third bucket contained red worms and super worms. At the end of the tunnel the contestants had to use the keys to open three locks, open a door, and grab a flag. The three that completed this stunt the fastest advanced to the finals.


 * Stunt #3 (Helicopter net-cage) Contestants had to work their way around the outside of a square-shaped cage made of cargo netting suspended under a helicopter, attempting to release 5 flags from the sides of the cage and 1 flag from the bottom of the cage. The one who released the most flags the fastest before falling into the water below won the competition.