Miss USA 2009

Miss USA 2009 was the 58th Miss USA pageant, held at the Planet Hollywood Theatre for the Performing Arts in Las Vegas, Nevada on April 19, 2009. At the conclusion of the final night of competition, Kristen Dalton of North Carolina was crowned by outgoing titleholder Crystle Stewart of Texas.

The event was hosted by Billy Bush of Access Hollywood and actress Nadine Velazquez; Bush returned to host the pageant which he last emceed in 2005. He had previously co-hosted Miss USA 2003 with Daisy Fuentes and Miss USA 2004–2005 with Nancy O'Dell. Entertainment was provided by Kevin Rudolf who performed "Let It Rock" during the swimsuit competition and The Veronicas performed "Untouched" during the evening gown competition.

The competition was broadcast in High Definition for only the second time in history.

Delegates representing the fifty states plus the District of Columbia competed in the pageant, and arrived in Las Vegas on April 2. Miss USA Kristen Dalton represented the US at the Miss Universe 2009 pageant, where she reached the Top 10.

Pageants were held from June 2008 to January 2009 to select the representative for each state. During the final show on April 19, the fifteen delegates with the highest average scores from the preliminary competition were announced. The top fifteen competed in the swimsuit competition. The top ten delegates from swimsuit competed in evening gown. The top five delegates from the evening gown competition (not averaged composite scores from both competitions) competed in the final question round to determine the winner. The judges' composite score was shown after each round of competition for only the third time since 2002.

Delegates
The Miss USA 2009 delegates were:

Preliminary judges

 * Cara Petry
 * Chip Lightman
 * Lori Levine
 * Nick Light
 * Randall Winston
 * Rich Thurber
 * Seth Mayeri

Telecast judges

 * Alicia Jacobs - Access Hollywood & KVBC News Entertainment
 * Brian Graden - MTV Networks Music Channel
 * Claudia Jordan - Deal or No Deal The Celebrity Apprentice, Miss Rhode Island USA 1997, Miss Rhode Island Teen USA 1990, host of Miss Universe 2009
 * Eric Trump - Trump Organization
 * Holly Madison - Playboy model, Television personality
 * John Miller - NBC Universal executive
 * Kelly Monaco - Dancing with the Stars season 1 winner
 * Kenan Thompson - Saturday Night Live
 * Perez Hilton - Celebrity gossip
 * Robert Earl - CEO of Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino
 * Shandi Finnessey - Miss USA 2004 from Missouri
 * Willie Geist - Morning Joe of MSNBC

Background music

 * Contestants introduction: "Hot N Cold" by Katy Perry; "That's Not My Name" by The Ting Tings
 * Swimsuit competition: "Let It Rock" by Kevin Rudolf
 * Evening gown competition: "Untouched" by The Veronicas

Controversy
During the 2009 Miss USA pageant, Miss California Carrie Prejean, was asked by openly gay pageant judge, Perez Hilton, whether she believed every state should legalize same-sex marriage. She responded that she did not. After the pageant Hilton made negative comments about the contestant and told ABC News: "She lost it because of that question. She was definitely the front-runner before that," leading some to believe that the answer directly had caused her to lose the competition. Prejean stated that Miss California USA officials had pressured her to apologize for her statement and "not talk" about her Christian faith.

Several politicians and commentators assailed Hilton and defended Prejean for honestly stating her personal beliefs.

Following the pageant, Prejean hired a Christian public relations firm, and appeared in a television advertisement by the National Organization for Marriage. However, on June 10, 2009, Prejean again stated that her question caused her to lose her title when she learned she was fired by Donald Trump. Miss California USA officials state that her answer had nothing to do with her termination, citing continued breach of her contract instead.

New crown
In keeping with co-owner NBC Universal's "Green is Universal" environmental initiative, the Miss Universe Organization announced that Diamond Nexus Labs would become the official jewelry sponsor for the Miss Universe, Miss USA and Miss Teen USA pageants. DNL 's man-made gemstones are "all synthesized in clean labs using environmentally friendly processes". Diamond Nexus Labs will create a custom-designed crown for Miss USA 2009, as well as for the Miss Universe and Miss Teen USA pageants later this year.