Preliminary competition Prior to the final competition, the delegates compete in the preliminary competition, which involves private interviews with the judges and a presentation show where they compete in swimsuit and evening gown. It was held on May 11, 2017 on the official Miss USA YouTube channel and was hosted by Entertainment reporter and
Miss Wisconsin USA 2009
Alex Wehrley and Deshauna Barber.
Judges •
Halima Aden – Somali-American model and first woman to compete in a Miss USA state pageant wearing a hijab and burkini • Maura McGreevy – IMG corporate community •
Carole Gist –
Miss USA 1990 •
Nancy Lublin – CEO of Crisis Text Line •
Brook Lee –
Miss USA 1997 and
Miss Universe 1997 • Nick Light – Vice president of
Sony Music and
Warner Bros. Records • Vanessa Gringer – Director of business development at IMG
Finals For the first time since
2003, the number of finalists decreased to 10 from 15 in the previous year. The top 10 finalists compete in both swimsuit and evening gown, while the top 5 are in a qualifying question, and the final 3 are subjected in the final question round and a final runway, the winner is decided by a panel of judges.
Judges •
Halima Aden – Somali-American model and first woman to compete in a Miss USA state pageant wearing a hijab and burkini •
Carson Kressley – TV personality, style expert, fashion designer and author •
Brook Lee –
Miss USA 1997 and
Miss Universe 1997 •
Nancy Lublin – Founder of Dress for Success •
Jeannie Mai – Style expert, philanthropist, and co-host of
The Real •
Janet Mock – Author, television host and advocate ==Contestants==