I will post my full commentary on Miss Teen USA 2022 on October 10.

THE PREDICTIONS (October 1, 2022)

Here come the predictions for Miss Teen USA 2022! The preliminary judges for both Miss Teen USA and Miss USA preliminaries were: Keylee Sue Sanders-Hemlich (Miss Teen USA 1995), Bob Hartnagel, Tanya Memme (Miss World Canada 1993), Allan Aponte and Kaliegh Garris (Miss Teen USA 2019). Repeating last year, you may have noticed that some of the delegates were out of order and the reason for that was an incentive to sell ad pages in the program book was to pick the order of where you competed in the preliminaries and Mississippi chose to be shown last in preliminaries.

After reviewing preliminaries, bios, videos and pictures, I have now come up with my final predictions for Miss Teen USA 2022 and they are as follows!


TOM'S FINAL PREDICTIONS FOR MISS TEEN USA 2022

Winner = Florida-Alyssa Khan

Alyssa has been my winner since she won her state title and that hasn't changed. Is the Sunshine state that only made the top 5 for the first time last year about to be the first state to win Miss Teen USA two years in a row??? I certainly hope so! Alyssa loves math so she currently studies finance at the University of Central Florida and graduated with honors in the top 10 percent of her high school class.

1st Runner Up = Arizona-MayaDenise Gaskin

I just like MayaDenise. I think she has charm and a great overall look and body and having competed in the Outstanding Teen and Collegiate America systems tells me that she has strong experience and interview skills so she is one to watch. She currently studies at the University of Arizona's School of Journalism and is trained in dance. Arizona has never won the crown but their best placement was when Danielle Demski placed 4th in 1999.

2nd Runner Up = Georgia-Courtney Smith

Courtney may only be 16 but she was a total pro in preliminaries and has quickly become a favorite. This gown really lit up the stage. She has also acted in various film and TV roles and aims to study political science and journalism. Georgia has never won the Miss Teen USA crown in spite of placing as a runner-up many times so is it time for the Peach state?

3rd Runner Up = Oklahoma-Haleigh Hurst

Haleigh is styled very well with a great overall look and she has experience placing as a runner-up at Texas Teen USA prior to the statehop to Oklahoma. She is active in social media being a blogger and is also an Honors student at the University of Oklahoma majoring in Public Relations and Political Science with a minor in International Studies. She plans to attend law school in Washington, D.C. and obtain her Juris Doctorate in Constitutional Law. Oklahoma has won the crown once back in 1986 thanks to Allison Brown.

4th Runner Up = Missouri-Shae Smith

Shae was also Miss Missouri's Outstanding Teen 2019 and 4th Runner Up at Miss America's Outstanding Teen so I'm sure she has the interview skills to back up the beauty. Missouri has captured the crown twice in 2001 and 2017 so Shae get another for the Show-Me State?

SEMIFINALISTS:

Mississippi-McKenzie Cole

She chose to go last in the preliminaries which was very bold and she is also only 16 but she gave an eye-catching performance and McKenzie is quite stunning so she is absolutely one to watch. I was getting a bit of an Aishwarya Rai vibe when watching her in gown. Mississippi last won the crown back in 1987 thanks to Kristi Addis.

Idaho-Jenna Beckstrom

Jenna seems to be really loving living out this dream experience of competing for Miss Teen USA and you can see it in her face. She has a great body and overall look and even her hair tosses were fun too so I think she will do very well. Idaho has claimed the crown back in 1989 thanks to Brandi Sherwood who would later become Miss USA 1997.

North Carolina-Gabby Ortega

Gabby has been a favorite since she won her state title too and she gave a formidable performance in preliminaries so look for Gabby to be in the mix. Surprisingly, the Tarheel state has never won the crown but they were 1st runner up three times (1987, 2006 and 2016).

Tennessee-McKinley Farese

Tennessee's competitors are normally very strong and McKinley is no exception. Tennessee has captured the crown twice (1997 and 2009) so will McKinley do it again for the Volunteer state?

Nebraska-Faron Medhi

Faron is half-Indian on her father's side and she really impressed me in preliminaries. Her gown performance was one of the standouts even if not many teen contestants wear black but she made it work. She is studying biology with aims to go into medicine and was an honor student in high school. Nebraska has never won the crown but their best placement was 3rd runner up in 2020.

Nevada-Janae McIntosh

She won her state title on her first try and she won the Congeniality Award so Janae has that natural charm that should get into the semifinals as she is a strong overall candidate. Nevada has never won the crown but has placed as 2nd runner up four times (1998, 2004, 2017 and 2019)

Indiana-KK Kokonaing

This girl really stands out in a refreshingly unique way and I get the impression that she will get noticed in a big way. She is of Burmese descent is a published children's literature illustrator and aims to become a neuroscientist. Indiana has never won the crown but their best placement was 1st runner up in 1993 thanks to Kelly Lloyd.

Colorado-Chloé Fisher

Chloé is quite the stunner and smart as well as she completed her necessary high school credits at age 16 and aims to study nursing while modelling part-time. Colorado won the crown once back in 2007 thanks to Hilary Cruz so will Chloé get them a second crown?

California-Cassidy Hill

Cassidy majors in Computer Science and she also stands out with the short hair and her overall look. California has claimed the crown twice (1994 and 2013) so is Cassidy about to get them another one?

Minnesota-Ava Ernst

They say yellow is the color of joy and Ava certainly seems joyful. She is also an achiever and looks like she has what it takes to do well in this competition. Minnesota has never won the crown but their best placement was 4th runner up in 2013. How will Ava do?

Kansas-Gracie Hendrickson

She was Miss Kansas' Outstanding Teen 2021 and won her state pageant on her first try so methinks this is a smart one that will do well in interview and she gave a decent performance overall so she gets the last spot in my top 16 predictions.

ALTERNATES:

Utah-Maizy Abbott

Maizy is yet another honors student but she has the unique ambition of becoming a pilot. This Barbie-pink gown was a standout and she is an overall great candidate with a strong chance of placing but this is another case of I don't know who to take out of my list to fit her in. Utah has never won the crown but their best placement was 2nd runner up in 1995.

Louisiana-Ainsley Ross

This is a tall contestant at 6 feet tall but she may read more Miss than Teen and I don't know that her interview will be that strong either so I have put her as an alternate.

Virginia-Hannah Grau

Hannah moved down my list after seeing this gown. I think the ruffles are a bit much but she does have the looks to place so we'll see what happens.

Ohio-Kylan Darnell

Another hard cut to make but she was only a semifinalist for the two years prior to her win of her state title so that's what caused me to place her as an alternate.

Connecticut-Mya Xeller

She has a great overall look with the dimples but what did it was that the skirt of her gown looked too crumply. Another hard cut to make.

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

Texas-Chanel Williams

She's representing the most successful state of Texas but I just don't see it after preliminaries.

Alabama-AnnaLee Story

She came across as a bit overly proud in preliminaries and going first may have made her easy to forget so I ended up placing her here but she could be up there.

North Dakota-Berkley Lundeen

She could be up there but I had to make cuts and she was runner up at the state level last year to a delegate that went unplaced so that's why I placed her here. Apparently, she's the cousin of Caitlyn Vogel who was runner up at Miss Teen USA 2019 and Miss USA 2021.

South Carolina-Katie Ward

South Carolina is usually really competitive but I just don't consider this one of the stronger delegates.

Maryland-Soniya Krishan

Maryland is usually a competitive state so she must have something but I just wasn't getting a strong enough impression.



So there you have it! Another year with another list so let's see how it goes this time around and we'll find out who I got right or who I missed entirely!

Watch the webcast for Miss Teen USA 2022 at 7 p.m. Pacific Standard Time on October 1 at the paid missusa.tv website.


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PREPARE FOR PRELIMINARIES! (September 18, 2022)

Breanna Myles, Miss Teen USA 2021

Who will succeed Florida's Breanna Myles and be the teen queen for 2022?

This will be the second Miss Teen USA pageant under the directorship of Crystle Stewart-Miss USA 2008 as Miss USA and Miss Teen USA have branched away from being under the umbrella of the Miss Universe Organization effective 2021 after the official announcement was made on Good Morning America on December 31, 2020.
I should let you know in advance that I already have my mind made up for my pick for winner for this one: Florida's Alyssa Khan.

I absolutely adore Alyssa and it is very possible that the Sunshine state who just won the crown last year after making the top 5 for the first time in Miss Teen USA history could also pull off the first back-to-back win for a state. No state has won successive Miss Teen USA crowns but Tennessee came close in 1998 when Bridgett Jordan was 1st runner up the year after Shelly Moore won the Miss Teen USA 1997 crown.

Preliminaries are on September 30, then the big day for the Miss Teen USA 2022 crowning is October 1 and the pageant will be held for the fifth time as a concurrent event only a few days prior to the Miss USA 2022 competition in Reno, Nevada.





I will post my final predictions for Miss Teen USA 2022 on the morning of October 1 after analyzing preliminaries streamed on the pageant vision website on September 30 and we will find out later that day, who wins the crown!