THE PREDICTIONS (August 1, 2024)

Here come the predictions for Miss Teen USA 2024!
Here's also a link to the preliminaries.

Boy, those were some prelims, huh? West Virginia fell in a hole in the stage during active wear but recovered nicely! Is she about to pull a Miriam Quiambao and parlay that fall into a runner-up placement?? Also, Connecticut and Colorado were out of order in active wear so Connecticut's script was never read but Colorado's was read twice!
E! News’ host and red carpet correspondent Justin Sylvester will serve as Miss Teen USA host for the second time alongside The Bachelorette’s Rachel Lindsay who will join him for the evening, while the judges panel will include actress Francia Raísa, Dancing With the Stars pro-dancer Rylee Arnold, influencer Alyssa Carson, Miss Teen USA 2019-Kaliegh Garris and model Shree Saini-Miss World USA 2021 and 1st runner up to Miss World 2021 who was originally supposed to judge last year but she came back for this year. Morgan Romano-Miss USA 2022 will serve as color commentator.

After watching preliminaries and digging through social media, reviewing bios, videos and pictures, I have now come up with my final predictions for Miss Teen USA 2024 and they are as follows!


TOM'S FINAL PREDICTIONS FOR MISS TEEN USA 2024

Winner = Mississippi-Addison (Addie) Carver

Addie, your daddy is smiling from Heaven!
At age 16, Addie has an emotional story about losing her father at age 13. She is also a dancer and dance teacher who obviously moves gracefully on stage. Mississippi hasn't won the crown since 1987 but I think they have a real shot this year with Addie. Isn't this gown just breathtakingly angelic? It's easily one of the best gowns of the competition and Addie has all the right moves so I'd love to see her pull off the win.

1st Runner Up = Nevada-Courtney Clark

Her face is too perfect and I find often at Miss Teen USA, the winner tends to have a look that is a bit off but I wouldn't be mad if photogenic Courtney took it all. This bold red rose gown is so unique and she carries it so well. At 18, stunning Courtney won her state title on her first try and is currently excelling as an elementary school teacher’s assistant and is passionate about creating education programs catered to children with learning disabilities. Nevada hasn't managed to get past the 2nd runner up position at Miss Teen USA which they have done four times. Can Courtney take it all for the Silver state?

2nd Runner Up = North Dakota-Jaycee Parker

Jaycee is another one with excellent facial beauty as she is incredibly photogenic and her gown was amazing and she just has the right overall look so she definitely could take her state's first Miss Teen USA crown after getting two very notable 1st runners-up, Audra Mari and Caitlyn Vogel who both happened to place as 1st runner up at Miss Teen USA and Miss USA during their respective years of competition. Aged 17, Jaycee is a two-time runner-up at Miss Alabama Teen USA to winners that didn't place at Miss Teen USA before the hop to North Dakota. Jaycee aspires to join the air force working as a nurse.

3rd Runner Up=Maine-Abbey Hafer

This hot pink, off-shoulder, flowy gown is another one of my unique favorites in the competition and Abbey has been a professional model and actress since age 7 and she is also quite sporty. She is currently only 15 but her experience makes her one to watch and she has that youthful look that bodes well at Miss Teen USA so could she get Maine's first Miss Teen USA crown? Their highest placement was as 1st runner up in 1995 thanks to Katie Aselton.

4th Runner Up=Illinois-Arianna Thompson

Arianna certainly had a vivacious presentation in the preliminaries with her bouncy ponytail and gorgeous lavender gown with the long, flowy arm-pieces was one of the highlights of the competition. I question if the judges might think if it's too much. She's got a great message with her organization called “Taking Up Space,” encouraging women to embrace their unique identities and not succumb to the restrictive norms imposed by society. Illinois won their only Miss Teen USA crown in 1984.

SEMIFINALISTS:

Arkansas-Siyona Karkera

One of the few delegates of Indian descent, Siyona is a professional model who aspires to be a nurse, serves as a tutor and mental health advocate and she won her state title on her first try. Siyona seems to bring that exotic flavor to the mix and Arkansas hasn't placed since 2020 so could Siyona bring them back in a big way? She wore this same abundantly bow-filled gown when she won her state title. Arkansas won their only Miss Teen USA crown in 2008 thanks to Stevi Perry.

Iowa-Grace Smithey

I was hoping for a slightly better gown than this but Grace seems to have it all at age 19. She is the founder of “Lead by Learning." She is also a children’s book author and public speaker and plays five instruments! Iowa won their only Miss Teen USA crown in 1992 thanks to Jamie Solinger so could gracious Grace be Iowa's next teen queen?

Tennessee-Townsend Blackwell

Did I read that correctly that at age 16, Townsend is an executive producer of an Amazon/Roku Channel? That's quite the achievement. This gown is also incredible. It seems like recent years have been getting away from white gowns when they were normally so popular and successful at Miss Teen USA. Tennessee has an amazing track record at Miss Teen USA winning the crown twice (1997 and 2009) and two of their teens would go on to win Miss USA (2000 and 2007) and this year's delegate should continue Tennessee's strong placement trend.

Ohio-Mackenzie Gibson

Mackenzie comes from a military family and she also wants to join the army and become a blackhawk pilot. Apart from that, Mackenzie comes across as very sweet and her look is distinctly refreshing. It also helps that she was runner-up to last year's Ohio delegate, Carolina Sola who made top 5 so will Mackenzie do the same thing and possibly get another crown for Ohio since Allie Laforce's win in 2005?

New Mexico-Fernanda Gonzalez

A 3-time runner-up at Miss Texas Teen USA (two of whom placed top 5 at Miss Teen USA in their respective years), Fernanda is 19 and is pursuing a Bachelor's degree in Business from New Mexico State University. I think Fernanda has a very appealing look and competing in Texas is no joke so I know this girl is ready so I am looking for her to be a top contender.

Texas-Dallyn Pesek

When I saw this gown, I immediately thought of Kirby Lindley-Miss Texas Teen USA 2017 who wore a similar color scheme for her gown that year at Miss Teen USA. Dallyn is 17 and won Miss Texas Teen USA on her first try which is no easy feat so that's reason enough to put her in my list! She also plays 5 sports and is a cheerleading captain. Texas boasts 3 Miss Teen USA crowns and placed last year among the top 5 so will Dallyn repeat this success?

California-Paige Gonor

I think the slit's a bit high on this gown for Teen but Paige is quite strong overall. Since Miss Teen USA went off the air in 2008, California has only missed the semifinals twice (2012 and 2019) and they have claimed the crown twice (1994 and 2013). She is an 18-year-old honor roll student that is set to attend the University of San Diego this fall, with a major in Communications and aspiring to be a sports broadcaster.

Florida-Kennedie Clinton

Kennedie is tall and charming at age 18. I'm curious though as to why she only made the semifinals at the state level in 2022 and 2023 but she looks like a contender to me. She is pursuing a degree in animal science at Auburn University. Florida claimed their only Miss Teen USA crown in 2021 thanks to Breanna Myles.

Georgia-Ava Colindres

Ava gets diversity points for being Afro-Latino-Asian American. Ava also has aspirations to be a marine biologist and even swims with whale sharks at the Georgia Aquarium. Georgia has never won the crown but they did place as 1st runner up three times (1991, 1994 and 2009) so can Ava do it for the Peach state?

South Carolina-Jules Grass

South Carolina has a good track record and this delegate is no exception. She is an honors graduate from D.W. Daniel High School, earned over $100,000 in scholarships through dual enrollment and AP credits and will attend Clemson University in the fall of 2024 majoring in sports communications with aspirations of becoming an ESPN anchor. South Carolina has claimed two Miss Teen USA crowns (1998 and 2014) and regularly places.

North Carolina-Kaylee Stavlas

North Carolina normally sends strong delegates and Kaylee seems well-achieved as she is the founder of NEX GEN CEO and teaches business and financial literacy. She is a 17-year-old from Raleigh dedicated to social impact entrepreneurship and community service. North Carolina has never won the crown but they have placed as 1st runner up three times (1987, 2006 and 2016) so is it time for the Tarheel state?

Utah-Sofia Forrest-Turner

This is an interesting match-up as Sofia was 2nd runner up to this year's representative of Nevada before hopping to Utah to win that state title and the two ladies are both considered top contenders for the Miss Teen USA crown so will Sofia at age 18 and her ability to speak French and Mandarin Chinese impress the judges all the way to Utah's first Miss Teen USA crown?

New Jersey-Julia Livolsi

Julia hails from the state of the resigned formerly reigning Miss Teen USA-UmaSofia Srivastava but Julia is a standout on her own. She is 18 and loves surfing, skiing, and drawing. She aspires to be a news anchor.

Pennsylvania-Elliot Oliphant

At 19, Elliot is majoring in psychology with a minor in criminal justice, while also competing on the women’s volleyball team. She's certainly tall and sporty but took three tries to win her state title and was a runner-up in 2022 and semifinalist in 2023 to a delegate that was 2nd runner up at Miss Teen USA last year so let's see if Elliot can keep Pennsylvania's momentum going.

Arizona-Rachael McLaen

Rachael brings the diversity as she is Samoan-American and is currently in flight school aspiring to follow in her father’s footsteps and pursue a career in aviation and her overall performance was quite strong in preliminaries so I gave her the final spot in my top 20.

ALTERNATES:

Hawaii-Hokuaoka'ale Emma Gilman

Emma is a decent delegate and she could place. This is just where she landed on my list. She is a 19-year-old working in conservation with the Maui Forest Bird Recovery Project.

New York-Valarie Goorahoo

Valarie could be up there as she has the more diverse teen look and has an interesting story about traveling to Trinidad and Tobago and witnessing the mistreatment of women in her culture and wanting to combat that.

Rhode Island-Carissa Tillinghast

She's a decent delegate that studies nursing. I'm not sure if she was enough of a standout but there's possibilities here.

Maryland-Sanjana Yendluri

She is a tall Indian-American economics student at the University of Michigan so she might be able to interview her way in so we'll see.

Kentucky-Karlie Holmen

This is a better version of the gown that Maine's Miss USA delegate wore last year with the mermaid-style train and Karlie actually speaks well and wants to be a veterinarian so she could pull off a placement.

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

Kansas-Brilee Garrett

Brilee could impress in interview as she wants to be an attorney and was accepted into the Early College Academy allowing her to take college classes while in high school so she is one to watch.

Nebraska-Maggie Wadginski

Maggie is quite well-rounded so she could be up there too and she previously competed in the Miss Teen Volunteer system. She created FearlesslyAuthenticTeens.com, attended the FBI Teen Academy and studied at the School of American Ballet in New York City.

Alabama-Ava LeBlanc

Ava's decent but perhaps not enough of a standout especially going first.

West Virginia-Olivia Travis

Will it happen? Will the notorious fall in preliminaries cause Olivia Travis to pull a Miriam Quiambao and parlay that fall into a successful placement? She is a decent candidate overall with a 4.0 GPA so we'll see if she makes it.

Delaware-Kayla Kosmalski

I'm sure the win of a delegate with down syndrome would make major headlines but for fairness, gone are the days of those types of fairytale wins like those of foster child, Charlotte Lopez-Miss Teen USA 1993 and the first deaf Miss America 1995-Heather Whitestone. The ability to do the job may not be present here but we'll see what happens.

In my next tier, I have: District of Columbia, Virginia, Minnesota, Louisiana and Wisconsin

Sidenote: Don't Miss Georgia USA 2024-Emmaline Farmer and Miss Michigan Teen USA 2024-Maddison Kott look like they could be sisters?

Maybe they will be the sister queens if they win their respective titles!

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 Miss Teen USA 2024 at 5 p.m. Pacific Standard Time on August 1 on the CW! Back on the air after 17 years! How teen appropriate!


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PREPARE FOR PRELIMINARIES! (July 21, 2024)

UmaSofia Srivastava-Miss Teen USA 2023 (resigned)

Who will succeed New Jersey's UmaSofia Srivastava (who resigned on May 9, 2024) and be the teen queen for 2024?

This will be the first Miss Teen USA pageant to air on network television on the CW channel since 2007! This is the second year under the directorship of Laylah Rose Loiczly and while last year's Miss Teen USA pageant was streamed in the U.S. on the CW app, Miss Teen USA is back on the air and let's hope it stays there!

Preliminaries are on July 31, then the big day for the Miss Teen USA 2024 crowning is August 1 and the pageant will be held for the seventh time as a concurrent event just prior to the 2024 Miss USA pageant being held on August 4.





I will post my final predictions for Miss Teen USA 2024 on the morning of August 1 after analyzing preliminaries on July 31 and we will find out later that day, who wins the crown!