Miss USA 2000

Miss USA 2000 was the 49th Miss USA pageant, held at The Grand Palace, in Branson, Missouri on February 4, 2000. At the conclusion of the final competition,

Miss USA 2000
Date	February 4, 2000
Presenters	Carson Daly Ali Landry Julie Moran
Entertainment	Christina Aguilera Lou Bega Brian McKnight Mark Wills
Venue	Grand Palace, Branson, Missouri
Broadcaster	CBS, KOLR
Winner	Lynnette Cole Tennessee
Congeniality	Michelle Kaplan Hawaii
Photogenic	Paige Swenson Minnesota
← 1999 2001 →

At the end of the event, Kimberly Pressler of New York crowned Lynnette Cole of Tennessee as Miss USA 2000.^[1] It is the first victory of Tennessee in the pageant's history. Cole later competed at Miss Universe and was one of the five finalists.

Contestants from 51 states and cities competed in this year's pageant. Carson Daly hosted the event for the only time, and color commentary was added for the third time by Miss USA 1996 Ali Landry and Julie Moran. Entertainment was provided by Christina Aguilera, Lou Bega, Brian McKnight and Mark Wills.

Results

Placements

Map showing placements by state

Placement	Contestant
Miss USA 2000	Tennessee – Lynnette Cole
1st runner-up	New Hampshire – Bridget Jane Vezina
2nd runner-up	Alabama – Jina Mitchell
Top 5	Georgia – Patti Dunn Kansas – Tiffany Meyer
Top 10	Colorado – Tiani Jones Iowa – Jensie Grigsby Michigan – Jill Dobson New York – Carrie Tucker South Carolina – Lisa Rabon

Special awards

Award	Contestant
Miss Congeniality	Hawaii – Michelle Kaplan
Miss Photogenic	Minnesota – Paige Swenson
Style Award	Florida – Kristen Ludecke
Best in Swimsuit	Tennessee – Lynnette Cole

Final competition scores

State Interview Swimsuit Evening Gown Average Finalists Tennessee 9.81 (1) 9.64 (1) 9.78 (2) 9.74 (1) 9.66 (1) New Hampshire 9.58 (2) 9.32 (6) 9.27 (6) 9.39 (5) 9.40 (3) Alabama 9.54 (3) 9.51 (4) 9.93 (1) 9.66 (2) 9.45 (2) Kansas 9.36 (6) 9.53 (2) 9.63 (3) 9.51 (3) 9.36 (4) Georgia 9.29 (7) 9.52 (3) 9.41 (4) 9.40 (4) 9.14 (5) Colorado 9.21 (8) 9.26 (7) 9.33 (5) 9.27 (6) Michigan 9.44 (5) 9.07 (8) 9.24 (8) 9.25 (7) New York 9.47 (4) 9.06 (9) 8.93 (10) 9.16(8) South Carolina 8.74 (10) 9.39 (5) 9.24 (7) 9.12 (9) Iowa 9.10 (9) 8.95 (10) 9.02 (9) 9.02 (10)

Winner    First Runner-Up    Second Runner-Up    Top 5 Finalist (#) Ranking in the competition

Contestants

51 contestants competed for the title.^[2]

State/City	Contestant	Age[a]	Hometown	Notes
Alabama	Jina Mitchell	22	Trussville
Alaska	Laurie Ann Miller	21	Palmer	Previously Miss Alaska Teen USA 1997
Arizona	Heather Keckler	26	Scottsdale	Previously Miss Arizona Teen USA 1992
Arkansas	Whitney Lea Moore	22	Cabot
California	Rebekah Ann Keller	25	Lakewood	Former Miss California 1997 Fourth runner-up at Miss America 1997
Colorado	Tiani Jones	23	Aurora
Connecticut	Sallie Toussaint	25	Hartford	US representative to Miss World in 1997 Top 10 semi-finalist at Miss World 1997
Delaware	Jennifer Behm[3]	23	Wilmington
District of Columbia	Juel April Casamayor	26	Washington, D.C.
Florida	Kristin Ludecke	23	Eustis	Previously Miss Florida 1995
Georgia	Patti Dunn	24	Duluth
Hawaii	Michelle Kaplan	23	Kona
Idaho	Brooke Jennifer Gambrell	26	Boise	Previously Miss Idaho 1995
Illinois	Constance Renee Stoetzer	26	Abingdon
Indiana	Kristal Michelle Wile	23	Anderson
Iowa	Jensie Grigsby	26	West Des Moines
Kansas	Tiffany Meyer	23		Previously Miss Missouri Teen USA 1994
Kentucky	Jolene Youngster	18	Glasgow
Louisiana	Jennifer Dupont	18	Plaquemine	Previously Miss Louisiana Teen USA 1998 Later became Miss Louisiana 2004
Maine	Jennifer Lyn Hunt	21	Rumford	Previously Miss Maine Teen USA 1994
Maryland	Christie S. Davis	21	Silver Spring
Massachusetts	Rosalie M. Allain	25	Leominster
Michigan	Jillian Susan Dobson	22	Quincy
Minnesota	Paige Swenson	24	Fridley	Previously Miss Minnesota Teen USA 1994
Mississippi	Angie Michelle Carpenter	22	Greenwood	Previously Miss Mississippi Teen USA 1994
Missouri	Denette Roderick	24
Montana	Brandi Bjorklund	20	Bonner
Nebraska	Valarie Cook	22	Omaha
Nevada	Alicia Denyse Carnes	22	Las Vegas	Previously Miss Nevada Teen USA 1995
New Hampshire	Bridget Jane Vezina	19	Manchester
New Jersey	Michelle Graci	21	Jamesburg
New Mexico	Christina I. Ortega	23	Las Cruces
New York	Carrie Tucker	25	Nesconset
North Carolina	Portia Lyndell Johnson	20	Greensboro
North Dakota	Amie Hoffner	18	Minot
Ohio	Cheya R. Watkins	22	Cincinnati	Previously Miss Ohio 1998
Oklahoma	Amanda Rochelle Penix	21	Shawnee	Previously Miss Oklahoma Teen USA 1997
Oregon	Elizabeth Heitmanek	19	Medford
Pennsylvania	Angela Patla	26	Sweet Valley
Rhode Island	Heidi St. Pierre	23	Harrisville
South Carolina	Lisa Rabon	24	Myrtle Beach
South Dakota	Vanessa Short Bull	21	Rapid City	Later Miss South Dakota 2002
Tennessee	Lynnette Marie Cole[4]	21	Columbia	Previously Miss Tennessee Teen USA 1995
Texas	Heather Ogilvie[5]	22	Houston
Utah	Keri Hatfield	22	Bountiful
Vermont	Katie Bolton	22	Colchester
Virginia	Crystal Marie Jones	26	Virginia Beach
Washington	Jamie Marie Kern	22	Des Moines	Contestant on season 1 of Big Brother, finished in fourth place. Co-founder and CEO of It Cosmetics.
West Virginia	Tara Shae Wilson	22	Sistersville
Wisconsin	Samantha Jo Picha	20	Verona
Wyoming	Rebecca Smith	20	Jackson Hole

Notes

1. Ages at the time of the pageant