Miss USA 1990

Miss USA 1990 was the 39th Miss USA pageant, televised live from the Century II Convention Center in Wichita, Kansas on March 2, 1990. At the conclusion of the final competition, Carole Gist of Michigan was crowned by outgoing titleholder Gretchen Polhemus of Texas. Carole became the first African American winner ever and the first woman from Michigan to be crowned as Miss USA, ending the streak of "Texas Aces" from 1985.^[1]

Miss USA 1990
Date	March 2, 1990
Presenters	Dick Clark Leeza Gibbons Laura Harring [1]
Venue	Century II Convention Center, Wichita, Kansas
Broadcaster	CBS KWCH
Entrants	51
Placements	12
Winner	Carole Gist Michigan
Congeniality	Janet Tveita (Minnesota)
Photogenic	Stephanie Teneyck (Mississippi)
← 1989 1991 →

For the first time, each judge's score was displayed to the audience, adding transparency to the process.

A major format change in 1990 transformed the Miss USA competition for the next decade: the delegates faced an extra round of elimination on finals night: the top six judges' questions.

Instead of reducing the top twelve to the usual final five, the judges picked an intermediate top six. Those six finalists answered questions from the judges, and the field was then reduced to a final three, who faced the traditional final question, adding unpredictability to the competition after five Texan Miss USA winners from GuyRex Associates, which would lose its Miss Texas USA franchise the next year.

The pageant was hosted by Dick Clark for the second of five times, with color commentary by Leeza Gibbons and Laura Harring, Miss USA 1985.^[1]

This was the first time the pageant was held in Wichita, where it would be staged for the next three years.

Results

Placements

Map showing placements by state

Final Results	Contestant
Miss USA 1990	Michigan – Carole Gist
1st Runner-Up	South Carolina – Gina Tolleson[1]
2nd Runner-Up	New Jersey – Karin Hartz[1]
Top 6	Alaska – Karin Meyer Georgia – Brenda Leithleiter Kentucky – Tiffany Tenfelde[1]
Top 12	District of Columbia – Catherine Staples Illinois – Karla Myers Mississippi – Stephanie Teneyck Ohio – Melissa Proctor Tennessee – Charita Moses Texas – Stephanie Kuehne[1]

Special awards

Award	Contestant
Miss Congeniality	Minnesota – Janet Tveita[1]
Miss Photogenic	Mississippi – Stephanie Teneyck[1]

Judges

• Eileen Fulton^[1]
• Kerry Gordy^[1]
• Rebecca Brandewyne^[1]
• Robin Cousins^[1]
• Barbara Peterson
• Dan Isaacson
• Dr. Irene Kassorla
• Jackie Joyner Kersee^[1]
• Randy Stone
• Judi Sheppard Missett
• Gordon Cooper^[1]