And for the record, Miss USA was 5'5". A lot of the women that we are discussing on here that are super tall are more than likely models in their home countries. While it may not always be fair, it's just the way the fashion industry works. The entire Miss Universe organization (from Universe all the way down to Teen USA) spend most of their year modeling.

Those were metal bangles?! I thought her dress had been caught in a paper shredder and luckily, draped well on her!

I actually didn't mind USA's dress too much, as at least it was tasteful. But I really thought either Japan or Switzerland would win (depending on the blonde factor).

The Ribcage factor was much, much too high!! You just know that the ones who didn't win are sitting in some hotel room, with a year's supply of Hostess snack cakes and Chocolate Martinis all over the place!

Why hate because your body doesn't look like that (joking)...but for real...those girls (some of them) looked good, can't deny them of that. I would have to agree that if pageants aren't your taste, then don't watch - there are definitely other things that could be watched and/or done with your time.

Tara Conner (Miss USA) gown was beautiful in my opinion. It hit her curves perfectly.

I actually liked Miss USA's dress. I thought the top part was gorgeous, but I could do without the accordion-looking bottom.

I kinda new Japan wouldn't win when she didn't answer her question correctly---she just said "I love the energy from the crowd" lol. She was my favorite though. Her and Puerto Rico! lol.

I just watched the project runway (I don't get Bravo so I have to wait to see it on NBC) in which the dress was made, and I honestly think that, from what she had to pick from, she picked the best dress. It did make her look a lot taller than 5'5, which, I think, did help her compete with the women that were very tall in the competition.

As a petite woman myself (my parents just bought me a rocking chair, smaller than a normal-sized chair so my "little feeties wouldn't hang down and not be able to touch the floor" as my mom said), I agree that beauty =/= height. But, life goes on, it's fun to look at the pretty girls prancing around stage.

What did people think of the national costumes? And why did ours end up being a riding outfit?

I was under the impression that she would wear the dress that was desgined for her on Project Runway (kinda purple, sweetheart halter, ruffle bottom), but the picture I saw of her in the pageant evening gown part was a red off-one-shoulder number. I thought the dress on project runway was MUCH prettier.

She wore it for something... I don't remember the order but she had different evening gowns for different stages of the competition... a lot of contestants do that sort of thing. I would imagine that it would keep them fresh in a judge's memory or make them stick out a little if they had several different gowns.

I just watched the Project Runway episode on NBC too (no Bravo :() and I have to agree that she had picked the best pageant dress. I liked a few of the other dresses (such as that beige-light pink flowy dress that they judges also liked) but I think it would have been a weird choice for a pageant. I think the one she picked was the only one that was fancy/elegant/dressy enough to be a pageant dress.

I'm sorry but did I read this right?

http://www.missuniverse.com/mainevent/judges.html

Tom Green was a judge?

Let's not overlook Sean Yazbeck (recent winner of The Apprentice)
and Emmitt Smith (former NFL player & UF alumnus! ;))

I think she is from Kentucky.

Taualumna - if you're going to talk about plus-size inclusion, then why weren't any of the contestants plus-size? Miss USA was petite, but I didn't see any plus-size ladies out there. :(

And Santino!!! :D

I guess I should clarify my dress comment. I thought it was fine until the cameras went down and showed the bottom. Then I just lost it!! To me the bottom just was distracting.....