Ladies and gentlemen, meet your new Miss Teen USA.
Out of 51 beautiful contestants, Miss Texas Teen Karlie Hay wowed the judges like nobody else with her brains, talent and beauty Saturday night at the annual beauty pageant held inside The Venetian in Las Vegas.
While there were plenty of reasons to celebrate in the final moments of the telecast streamed live online, Karlie and all the finalists went through quite a weekend before a winner was crowned. In fact, Miss Texas' toughest task may have come during the Q&A portion. Musician and judge Savannah Keyes wanted to know what the future president should tackle with teens first.
"Peer pressure, hands down," Karlie said in front of a sold-out crowd before addressing drinking, drugs and partying. "The next president needs to confront this issue and tell teens that you need to be yourself and be a leader and of course the next Miss Teen USA needs to be a leader."
"This decision reflects an important cultural shift we’re all celebrating that empowers women who lead active, purposeful lives and encourage those in their communities to do the same," she wrote. Our hope is that this decision will help all of Miss Teen USA's fans recognize these young women for the strong, inspiring individuals they are."
“If they are looking to expand this is a very shrewd move. It’s consistent with the overall brand and message the new owners are talking about,” says pageant coach Valerie Hayes. “I think that it will cause more parents to be open to their daughters competing in a state or local Teen Miss USA pageant, because its been a concern of parents in the past.”
The pageant’s shift from swimsuits to activewear is also a smart business move, chasing the rise of athleisure fashion, says former Miss Virginia Nancy Redd. “Teens are spending .1 percent of their life in a bathing suit and 50 percent in athleisure. The pageant is following the trend of who can sponsor them.”
Reaction to the decision was overwhelmingly positive.
“This is a great step in the right direction of women embracing their physical strength, as opposed to their appearance,” says Redd, who won Miss America’s swimsuit competition in 2003. “This is focusing on what bodies can do, not just what they look like.”
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