Miss USA 2021 was the 70th Miss USA pageant, held on 29tth November 2021 at the Paradise Cove Theater of River Spirit Casino Resort in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where stunning delegates from all over the States competed for the national title and the opportunity to represent USA at the Miss Universe 2021 pageant. At the end of the event, Miss USA 2020 Asya Danielle Branch crowned Elle Smith of Kentucky as Miss USA 2021.
Before the new court for Miss USA 2021 was announced, the Top 8 finalists were put through a grilling question and answer round, which was a chance for them to impress the judges and the audience with their intelligent and witty answers.
The judges for the national finals included Croatian-Cuban model, social media influencer and singer; Natalía Barulích; American photographer; Sophie Elgort, American composer and classical pianist; Chloe Flower, American personal stylist; Ty Hunter, American model and Miss Minnesota USA 2014; Haley Kalil, American model; Alton Mason, Lebanese jeweler, businessman, and CEO of Mouawa; Pascal Mouawad and English actor and television presenter; Oliver Trevena.
Let's look at the final question posed to the Top 8 finalists for the title of Miss USA 2021, as well as their exceptionally well-defined responses.
Florida’s Ashley Carino was the first one to answer the question, which was, “As a rising professional, what are you doing to be financially literate?” Ashley confidently answered that for her it is all about educating herself with the information about what you need to do and how to do it regardless of the subject. “Just educating myself, knowing what I need to do, and how to do it, that’s what €I’m doing right now,” she added.
Layilah Nasser of Maryland was the second finalist to answer the question and was asked, “What are you doing to help promote positive mental health among your own network of peers?” Nasser answered, “As a girls scout troupe leader, one of my greatest values is teaching my girls to take care of themselves, being able to pour positivity but also being able to see their passions shine through in different ways. I think one of the biggest things we need to focus on during the challenging times and during the pandemic is mental health.” She also shared that for her she focuses on meditation but thinks that it is important for everyone to find their different ways to channel themselves through challenging times.
Sydni Bennett representing Illinois, was the third finalist, who was asked, “Is gender equity solely a women’s issue? Why or Why not?” Syndi answered the question confidently as she said, “I do not believe it is. I believe that everybody has a role in this world and everybody should have their own place. I believe that we all are equal in our own skin, in our own bodies and we should represent it.”
South Carolina’s Marley Stokes was up next for the jury question and was asked, “Anxiety seems to be at an all-time high. What is your best advice on how to deal with today’s increasing pressures?” Madison answered, “Breathe, that’s all I have been doing tonight. Stay true to yourself, believe in yourself and breathe.”
Answering next was Victoria Hinojosa of Texas who was asked, “What changes would you like to see to increase racial equality?” Victoria shared, “One of the things that I have done as Miss Texas and as an elementary school activity that I call, ‘What would you like to be?’, where I do a coloring activity with kids and help them understand the importance of being kind and excepting one another. So all their bumblebees are different, but just because they are different, doesn’t mean they are not beautiful. I think impressing this at such and young age is the foundation and going forward I know they will carry this with them.”
Kentucky’s Elle Smith was the next finalist and was asked, “Sustainability is becoming more and more important in professional landscapes. How can we encourage business to be more environmentally conscious?” Elle confidently answered, “I think we have to look at it at from a macro level and also a micro level. So at a macro level, companies need to switch to green energy, but then at the micro level we all know how to reduce, reuse, recycle and those are the things we can implement in our daily lives.”
Facing the judges next was North Carolina’s Madison Bryant who was asked, “How is Miss USA the same and how she is different compared to 70 years ago?” Confidently answering, Bryant said, “In many ways Miss USA is evolving to promote a powerhouse woman and nothing says powerhouse woman like a woman that can do everything at one time and look completely polished, like for myself I’m a full-time student, I’m working in the hospital for clinical and I’m representing North Carolina all the time but the only reason I’m capable of doing that is because I have a whole team standing behind me and that is willing to fight for me, but this is not to say that former Miss USAs didn’t do this as well.”
Last but certainly not the least, Caitlyn Vogel of North Dakota was the finalist to answer in the end as she was asked, “If you could give advice to a potential politician on topics that are important to your generation, what would you tell them?” Caitlyn confidently answered, “I think something very important is unity, we are based off a bipartisanship government and we’ve lost the heart of that. It was established to as a means of compromise and instead we’re using it as a means of division. So, I definitely think that’s something we need to focus on.”