Miss USA 2016 Prelims Recap + TOP 15 & TOP 5 PREDICTIONS

HELLO HELLO!! Last night, June 1st, was the preliminary competition for Miss USA 2016!!! In my opinion, Miss USA is the mother land of all pageants and every year the Miss USA competition is like the super bowl to me! As you can imagine, I was extremely extremely excited for last night's show because it officially kicks off this years Miss USA competition.
I went into the preliminary competition with a few favorites in mind, but I did not have a strong favorite. However after watching the preliminary competition, I was faced with a new problem, which was trying to cut down all  my favorites to only 15! Keep reading if you would like to see the contestants that had surprised me and contestants that disappointed.

*** All photos used in this blog post are credited to @roadtomissusa on IG!***

First off.. favorites from SWIMSUIT:

ALABAMA: Loved seeing a familiar face(she was a former Miss Teen USA contestant) and thought that she gave off a fun and peppy vibe! 

ARKANSAS: She did great and I thought that she radiated a lot of confidence in her walk. 

CALIFORNIA: I really liked her overall presence and thought that she did good but not spectacular. 

COLORADO: One word and that is SLAY! This girl is so incredibly fierce and she is definitely at the top of my list! 

CONNECTICUT: I really liked Connecticut! She had a very solid walk and was the only one that rocked this specific swim suit style. 

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA: One of my favorite walks of the night! Loved the energy that District of Columbia gave off. 

FLORIDA: WOW at Florida!! She is so incredibly toned and simply radiated confidence as she strutted across the stage. 

HAWAII: HANDS DOWN AMAZING!! Hawaii has a killer body and it definitely shows under the bright lights on stage.

IDAHO: Idaho definitely surprised me! Did not think much of her before prelims but she did amazing! I will definitely be keeping an eye out for her during finals.

NEW HAMPSHIRE: New Hampshire was another one of those contestants that surprised me! She made it all seem so effortless and looked like a natural on stage. 

NEW JERSEY: SLAY SLAY SLAY! New Jersey its so fierce and she was someone that I had kept on eye on even before prelims. She definitely did not disappoint! 

NORTH CAROLINA: This contestant actually did not have any time to prepare for Miss USA: the original Miss North Carolina got extremely sick when she came to Vegas for the competition and this contestant had to immediately fly in and take her place. I thought she did AMAZING despite having no preparation time and completely rocked it! 

WISCONSIN: Wisconsin was one of my favorites before preliminary night as well and this girl knows how to own the stage. She has amazing stage presence and was extremely captivating! 

Miss Universe 2015 Recap

***DISCLAIMER: Everything listed down below is based off my own experience and opinion!***

I was in Vegas for the past few days and attended the Miss Universe 2015 pageant last night, and I truly only have four words to describe the whole night:

WHAT IN THE WORLD?! 

For starters, that was probably THE MOST epic night in pageant history. Miss Universe 2015 was the first pageant that I had ever watched live, and it definitely is going to be one that I will never forget! 

I was super excited to attend the pageant- like OVER THE MOON ABOUT TO FAINT excited. I went with my mom and we sat near the right side of the audience. It was not the best view, but we were still able to see everything clearly. We sat near the Philippines' support group, and let me just tell you that they were absolutely CRAZY throughout the entire night in the best way possible. Every time Pia's(Miss Philippines) face would show up on screen, or have her name called, or when she made an appearance, the entire fan group would jump up and scream as if they were in a football stadium! It was absolutely insane and keep in mind that the supporters of Miss Philippines bought out the entire back section, and the whole group was decorated with signs/posters while chanting her name numerous times throughout the night. There is definitely no question in saying that she had the largest cheering squad!

ALSO, I totally had a die-hard fan girl moment when I found out that Olivia Culpo was going to be a judge during the final show! I have been a huge huge fan of hers ever since she won Miss USA back in 2012 and then Miss Universe later that year. She was definitely my favorite Miss Universe EVER and I am still a huge fan of hers to this day! I actually saw her there in the theater and she was standing just a few feet away from me. Unfortunately, the security guards did not let people enter the judging area so I could not go and take a picture with her. A few other favorites of mine that I saw there were Nia Sanchez(Miss USA 2014, Miss Universe 2014 first runner up) and Tegan Martin(Miss Australia 2014, Top 15 at Miss Universe 2014). Again, I have kept up with Nia and Tegan through social media after their reigns and was so excited to see them in person! They were both less than 10 feet away from me, but the show was just about to start and the security guards were ushering them to their seats. I really wanted to see Emma Wo(Miss Hawaii 2014) there as well because she was one of my favorites from the Miss USA class of 2014! Unfortunately, I did not see her in the crowd of people. :( 

Olivia Culpo, former Miss USA 2012 and Miss Universe 2012, at the Miss Universe 2015 competition as a judge! SHE IS THE ULTIMATE QUEEN AND I ALMOST PASSED OUT WHEN I SAW HER. #SLAY 

As for the pageant itself, I thought that this year's selection of the top 15, top 5,  and top 3 was one of the strongest that I have ever seen in a Miss Universe competition. All of my favorite contestants made it to the top 15, which I was extremely happy and pleased about. 

TOP 15 OVERVIEW+COMMENTS 

Here is the list of the top 15(along with my opinions) if you missed it:

1. Brazil (absolutely stunning, but I did not feel any type of connection with her while in the crowd. I think that she would have made it out farther into the competition if she connected better with the judges and audience)

2. Australia (one of my favorites from the start; very deserving of making the top 5! She has the best smile out of all the contestants and seems incredible humble and sweet in interviews.)

3. Indonesia (definitely was surprised! I thought Vietnam would have made it instead of her, but she was beautiful nonetheless)

4. Dominican Republic (one word: FIERCE. absolutely killed and OWNED the stage during her walks. I think that she over-did it a little bit and believe that it prevented her from making top 5)

5. Philippines (another one of my favorites from the start. Right when she walked on stage, I knew she was going to be either the winner or first runner up! Very confident in herself yet humble and definitely showed that she had brains as well as beauty in her on stage question.)

6. France (looks very sweet and kind, loved her national costume which was dedicated to the victims in the Paris attack. She definitely belonged in the top 5 but was definitely overshadowed by the other strong contestants, which explains why she did not make top 3)

7.USA (Call it bias, but USA was definitely among my top choices for the crown! I thought she had a flawless performance(except for the part where she ran out of time in her answer), but other than that I was not able to find a single flaw! Was not surprised when she made top 3)

8. Curacao (DEFINITELY THE BLACK HORSE THIS YEAR! Honestly, I did not even know who she was before last night yet she absolutely rocked the runway! I'm glad the judges put her in the top 15 and it was a good surprise)

9. Belgium (I liked her, but was a little surprised to see her make top 15 since there were so many other strong contenders this year! She did well though)

10. Japan (Truthfully, I think she only made top 15 because of her unique and touching story. I did not like her dress AT ALL and thought her on stage presence was average)

11. Venezuela (As usual, Miss Venezuela was beautiful! Venezuela always has the most beautiful girls and this years definitely did not disappoint. I loved her on stage walk and presence and definitely could have easily made top 5 if the other contestants were not so strong.)

12. South Africa (EH. I thought she was pretty but I did not feel anything special from her! She was simply just average in my opinion.)

13. Colombia(WOW!!! Right off the bat, she reminded me of Sofia Vergara! She also looks a little bit like Miss Universe 2014, Paulina Vega. She was so incredible fierce and confident on the runway, and was not one bit surprised to see her face in top 3)

14. Mexico(I'm sorry, but I did not like Mexico at all.  She seemed as if she did not want to be there at all and did not own the stage like the other top 15 contestants did. She did not smile during most of the time during her swimsuit walk, probably trying to pull off the sexy,smoldering look, but it definitely backfired and made her look bored. Definitely the weakest one in my opinion)

15. Thailand(one of my favorites! I was shocked when she was not called to be in top 5 because I thought she did an amazing job on stage! I also absolutely LOVED LOVED LOVED her gown; she looked so effortless and elegant. )

WHEW. Well, there was my quick and summarized review of the top 15! The night went by quickly, and I thought the MUO did a good job of keeping the show running smoothly.(until the view end....of course.) I thought that the guest performers(Charlie Puth, The Band Perry, Seal) all did a spectacular job and I really enjoyed watching them perform! They seemed to have connected well with the contestants while they were on stage. 

SWIM: 

As for the swimsuit, I was definitely NOT a fan of the styles that they had picked out for the girls. Many of the styles did not do the amazing bodies of the girls any justice! 

Philippines had a striped black and white bandeau swimsuit that was not flattering on her AT ALL. She was rather big on the top and the stripes on the bikini did not help, but instead accentuated her chest area. The bandeau did not support it at all either, causing her to have a very bouncy walk that made it a little uncomfortable to watch.

Philippines

I also did not like Japan's swimsuit. It had a weird, thick black band on top of the floral swimsuit bottom that was not flattering at all. 

Japan

The other swimsuit styles were not very impressive to me as well, but those two in particular I did not like one bit!! I hope MUO will choose better and more flattering styles in the future for the girls. 

There were obviously many other beautiful swimsuit looks throughout the night due to all of killer bodies that the girls had! A few of my FAVORITES from the swim suit competition includes USA, Venezuela, Australia, and Brazil.

USA: 

Venezuela: 

Australia: 

Brazil: 

EVENING GOWN: 

WOW, JUST WOW!! Evening gown has always been my favorite part in every pageant and this year's gown choices did not disappoint! There were many beautiful gowns that I saw, but here are my favorites: 

USA:

What a QUEEN!!! I almost CRIED right when she stepped on stage in this gown! It was so beautiful, and the cape made her look effortless yet chic. I did not like her preliminary gown that much so I was definitely nervous to see what kind of gown she would be wearing during the finals, but she did not disappoint! I love this and she rocked it perfectly! However, I do wish that she had kept on the cape throughout the night because the dress itself looked kind of plain without it. 

Colombia: 

This gown fit her like a glove! It was very sleek and simple, yet still managed to stand out on stage. The beading of this dress sparkled on stage and it was such an amazing color! This picture definitely does not do it justice and I will upload a better one once more pictures are released. 

Thailand: 

I will admit that I did not notice Thailand that much until she walked out in her evening gown! It literally left me speechless and she looked AH-MAZING. I loved the confidence in her walk and she looked as if she could conquer the universe in this gown!

France: 

This gown really stood out to me because of the stunning velvet material! It definitely made a statement in a sea of sequins and sparkles. I love how classy it looks; it has no crazy details, and you can never go wrong with a classic red ball gown! 

ONSTAGE QUESTION: 

As for the onstage question, I was a big fan of all the questions that were given to the girls! I thought that they were all extremely appropriate and current with all the news happening in today's media. The girls then answered all of the questions flawlessly with confidence and poise!

TOP 5:

FRANCE 
USA
PHILIPPINES
COLOMBIA
AUSTRALIA 

Truthfully, I could've easily seen any of these 5 girls in the top 3. They all answered their questions well and it was really up to the judges' opinions at that point to see who would make it into the top 3. For me personally I was okay with any of them making it in because I thought that they were all deserving of a spot in the top 3. I thought that this was one of the closest call that I've ever seen in a top 5 selection before and turns out many other people agree with me! This years group was truly phenomenal.

TOP 3: 

USA
PHILIPPINES
COLOMBIA 

Like I mentioned earlier before, I could easily see any of the 5 ladies in the top 3! I was glad that the judges chose USA(obviously), and at this point I started to kind of map out the results in my head. I thought that Colombia would be 2nd runner up, with either USA or Philippines as the new Miss Universe. 

AND HERE WE ARE. Now is time to FINALLY talk about the massive mistake made by Steve Harvey last night. I just want to quickly say that my mother and I did not like Steve Harvey from the start of the show. He made a comment about how "most of the men in the audience were only there to see the women in swimsuits." I understand that he meant to say this comment as a joke, but it came off sounding extremely degrading to the contestants, and women in general. All of the ladies on the stage last night WORKED THEIR BUTTS OFF to be there, and some even flew across the world to attend this event. They did NOT dedicate so much time and effort to stand there as a materialistic object for the pleasure and enjoyment of men. They are there because they are confident and strong girls who work extremely hard to better themselves every day and work endlessly to fight against gender discrimination to prove to the world that women CAN be both smart and beautiful. After all, that is the Miss Universe motto: Confidently beautiful. However, Steve was completely naive about this and obviously treated this entire message as a joke when he said this degrading and vulgar comment.

As many of you may or may not have seen in the news, he made a HUGE mistake at the end by accidentally announcing the first runner up(Colombia) as the winner. As if this was not bad enough, the former Miss Universe(Paulina Vega) had already crowned Miss Colombia as the new Miss Universe and poor Miss Colombia stood there, crying tears of joy and waving to the crowd with the crown on her head for TWO WHOLE MINUTES! I did find it odd when she did not take her first walk and when the other contestants remained unmoving in the background, since they usually would rush up and congratulate the winner. It was then when Steve walked back out and awkwardly stood next to the beaming Miss Colombia, and announced that he had made a mistake while reading the card. He then showed the card to the audience members and said that the new Miss Universe 2015 was actually Philippines(who was named 1st runner up at first), not Colombia. Everything else happened in a blur as former Miss Universe solemnly walked up to Miss Colombia and removed the crown from her head to place it on Philippines'. By now, the entire audience was OUTRAGED, with fans from Colombia screaming and cursing and with the fans from the Philippines cheering with joy. I cannot even IMAGINE the feeling Miss Colombia was experiencing; it is truly every pageant girl's worst nightmare! I feel sorry for both Miss Colombia(who had her dream ripped away from her) and Miss Philippines(who did not get her proper crowning moment/experience).

Here's a quick timeline of the mind-boggling events that happened last night during the crowning moment.

Miss Colombia proudly waves her country's flag and cries tears of joy as she is crowned Miss Universe 2015. 

Paulina Vega(Miss Universe 2014) comes back on stage after Steve Harvey announces that Colombia is actually the 1st runner up, and that Philippines is the new Miss Universe. 

Chaos erupts as Paulina moves the crown from Colombia's head to Philippines'. 

The new Miss Universe 2015 emotionally waves to the audience. 

SIGH. I am officially done with all of my ranting! Honestly, I could probably go on and on about this, but I think now is a good time to stop. It was definitely a CRAZY night to say the least! Well, that is all for me and PLEASE send me a message regarding your opinions toward this years pageant! Do you think it was planned by Fox to attract attention(which is what many people are saying)? Or, do you think that it was an honest mistake? Which gown was your favorite/least favorite? Who were your favorite contestants? LET ME KNOW! I will talk to you lovelies all very soon! Stay tuned for my Miss California Teen USA experience/recap; that is coming up very soon as well! 

xoxo, 

Kaitlyn 

One Week Countdown

Hello hello! It's been forever since I have updated my blog. I've been extremely busy for the past few weeks and did not have time to sit down and blog! I am leaving for the Miss California Teen USA pageant in just 2 days, so I decided to write about how I prepared for this big event. I most likely will not have time to post during pageant weekend due to the hectic schedule that they have planned for us, but I am definitely planning on writing a full detailed post about my experience there along with many pictures, so stay tuned!

When I was around six or seven years old, I remember walking through the casino of the Planet of Hollywood with my parents. Suddenly, a massive group of girls walked right past us and through the casino, all of them wearing sky high heels and sashes across their chests. The whole casino stopped what they were doing and started to applaud for them. At that time, I had no idea what pageants were, or who these girls were. It wasn't until later that I found out that those girls were the contestants of the Miss Universe pageant that was taking place in Vegas that year. I will never forget that memory and I believe that that was the moment where my interest in pageants had sparked. As I grew older and learned more about pageantry, I fell in love with it and have been watching the Miss USA and Miss Universe pageants religiously. (Not even kidding when I say religiously.) Walking on the Miss California USA stage has been something that I never thought I would do. Every year, around this time, I would turn on my TV and watch the contestants take the stage. This would be the first year in many years where I will not be sitting on the couch wearing my PJ's with popcorn in hand, watching the pageant. Instead, I will be the one on screen competing! Never in a million years would I have thought that I would be able to have the courage and confidence to stand on that stage myself. Being a titleholder and contestant has always simply been a far away dream of mine, and I cannot believe that it is going to become a reality in just a few days!

 The pageant is a three day event starting early Friday morning and ending Sunday night. On Friday, all the contestants will be checking in and get interviewed in groups in our swimsuits. We will also be having a private formal interview with the judges as well. On Saturday, we will be having a dress rehearsal in the morning, and preliminaries will be held later that night. During the preliminaries, the judges will judge all the 200 girls(Miss and Teen included) and pick out their top 20. Sunday will be the big day with finals starting at 4 PM. Right in the beginning of the finals, the top 20 will be announced for both Miss and Teen, and only those who made the cut will move on in the competition. I'm definitely going to be needing a lot of coffee this weekend!!

I have been working extremely hard for the past few weeks, and this week especially by practicing my walk, makeup, hair, etc. and finishing up some last minute touches! I have also been dieting and eating healthy to help get my body in the best shape possible. Out of everything we have to do to prepare for the event, I must admit that eliminating carbs and junk food from my diet was the hardest step in preparing for this pageant! It was especially hard during Thanksgiving, with all my favorite foods such as Mac N cheese, mashed potatoes, creamed corn, etc.. However, I am proud of myself for staying away from them and for sticking to my goal of eating clean! I can definitely feel the difference in my workouts now that I have eliminated the unnecessary carbs and junk food out of my diet.  My body is stronger than it has ever been thanks to the help of my wonderful trainer, and I have been able to do workout exercises that I used to never be able to do before.

This all has been a crazy and hectic journey. I am very thankful for my family, friends, sponsors, and simply anyone that has been supporting me! Special thanks to my mom; none of this would have been possible without her constant support and help. She was the one who had encouraged me to follow after this dream and believed in me from the start when no one else did. I feel so blessed to have a mom like her who works nonstop to help me pursue my dreams.

No matter what the results are this weekend, I am forever grateful to have had this opportunity. Like I mentioned earlier before, walking the Miss California USA stage has been a lifelong dream and I am so ecstatic to finally be able to go after it. It has been an incredible adventure and I have been able to do so much for my community and meet so many inspiring people along the way. The things that I have learned and experienced within the past few months are life lessons that I will take with me forever. I will definitely be writing a post after the pageant to share the whole experience and will take as many pictures as possible! Talk to you guys soon.

xoxo,
Kaitlyn

16

WOOHOO my first official post as a 16 year old!! My birthday was actually 8 days ago from the date that this post will be up, but I haven't had the time to sit down and write! On my actual birthday, I spent the whole day working and getting my official head-shots taken for Miss California Teen USA. I didn't really mind the fact that I didn't have time to celebrate on that day; it was fun to get dressed up and have your hair and makeup done for you on your birthday! The actual "celebrations" didn't start until a few days later. I spent the last week of my summer at Newport with my family and friends! I am very thankful to have such a loving and supporting group of people in my life who celebrated with me throughout the week. It made me really reflect and cherish all the things, experiences, and people that I have been blessed with in my life. Below are some pictures from the week; I apologize for some of the low quality photos because I used a fish eye lens which made them a little unclear. However, I decided to include them anyone since I thought they were cute pictures (-:
Thank you to everyone for all the love and birthday wishes!! I really don't know what I did to deserve such an amazing group of people in my life. <3
Talk to you all soon!
xoxo,
Kaitlyn

Trying to take a hip family photo with a selfie stick(it took about 10 tries & my little cousin is still semi blocked :o )

Breakfast w/ a view (ME not the ocean....jk) 

When girls get together, we like to take selfies (-:
sadly the fisheye made it blurry but this is still one of my favorite pictures 

Fun Fact: driving down the PCH is probably one of my top favorite things EVER!! I've been down it so many times & yet it still manages to amaze me every time.