Miss USA 1989

Miss USA 1989 was the 38th Miss USA pageant, televised live from the Mobile Civic Center Theatre in Mobile, Alabama on February 28, 1989. At the conclusion of the final competition, Gretchen Polhemus of Texas was crowned by outgoing titleholder Courtney Gibbs. She was the fifth consecutive Miss Texas USA to win the pageant.

Miss USA 1989
Date	February 28, 1989
Presenters	Dick Clark Angie Dickinson Laura Harring
Entertainment	Tommy Tune
Venue	Mobile Civic Center Theatre, Mobile, Alabama
Broadcaster	CBS, WKRG
Entrants	51
Placements	10
Winner	Gretchen Polhemus Texas
Congeniality	Kimberly Nicewonder (Virginia)
Best State Costume	Kelly Holub (Illinois)
Photogenic	Elizabeth Primm (Louisiana)
← 1988 1990 →

This was the first Miss USA pageant hosted by Dick Clark (The Miss Universe Pageant was hosted by John Forsythe that year), with color commentary by Angie Dickinson. This pageant was held in Alabama for the first and so far only time.

Results

Map showing placements by state

Placements

Final Results	Contestant
Miss USA 1989	Texas – Gretchen Polhemus
1st Runner-Up	Oklahoma – Jill Scheffert
2nd Runner-Up	New Jersey – Debra Lee Husti
3rd Runner-Up	Louisiana – Elizabeth Primm
4th Runner-Up	Georgia – Michelle Nemeth
Top 10	California – Christina Faust Colorado – Debbie James Pennsylvania – Denise Epps Arizona – LeeAnne Locken Illinois – Kelly Holub

Special awards

Award	Contestant
Miss Congeniality	Virginia – Kimberly Nicewonder
Miss Photogenic	Louisiana – Elizabeth Primm
Best State Costume	Illinois – Kelly Holub

Final competition

State Preliminary Average Interview Swimsuit Evening Gown Semifinal Average Texas 9.084 (1) 9.425 (1) 9.535 (1) 9.601 (1) 9.520 (1) Oklahoma 8.662 (3) 8.880 (2) 8.762 (5) 9.214 (2) 8.952 (2) New Jersey 8.510 (7) 8.626 (5) 8.712 (6) 9.165 (3) 8.834 (3) Georgia 8.407 (9) 8.821 (3) 8.473 (7) 9.032 (4) 8.775 (4) Louisiana 8.829 (2) 8.600 (6) 8.820 (4) 8.710 (7) 8.710 (5) California 8.659 (4) 8.313 (8) 8.977 (2) 8.774 (6) 8.688 (6) Colorado 8.388 (10) 8.638 (4) 8.432 (9) 8.786 (5) 8.618 (7) Pennsylvania 8.580 (5) 8.534 (7) 8.467 (8) 8.613 (10) 8.538 (8) Arizona 8.529 (6) 7.792 (10) 8.833 (3) 8.703 (8) 8.442 (9) Illinois 8.501 (8) 7.988 (9) 8.432 (9) 8.681 (9) 8.367 (10)

Winner   First runner-up   Second runner-up   Third runner-up   Fourth runner-up   Top 10 semifinalist (#) Rank in each round of competition

Preliminary Swimsuit

state	score	state	score	state	score	score	state	state	score	state	score
Oklahoma	8.887	Maine	8.205	New York	7.912	Connecticut	7.773	Washington	7.587	Rhode Island	6.840
Texas	8.872	Maryland	8.204	Arkansas	7.885	Michigan	7.723	District of Columbia	7.573
Louisiana	8.715	Iowa	8.185	Alabama	7.883	Missouri	7.716	Tennessee	7.516
Pennsylvania	8.704	Kentucky	8.184	South Dakota	7.881	Idaho	7.694	North Dakota	7.504
Arizona	8.696	Colorado	8.115	Massachusetts	7.877	West Virginia	7.681	Hawaii	7.486
Illinois	8.491	Wyoming	8.040	Montana	7.874	South Carolina	7.675	Delaware	7.340
California	8.428	Nebraska	8.023	Wisconsin	7.844	Minnesota	7.674	Nevada	7.177
Virginia	8.384	Mississippi	7.967	Florida	7.821	Ohio	7.647	New Mexico	7.152
North Carolina	8.324	New Jersey	7.924	Alaska	7.803	Vermont	7.612	Utah	7.050
Georgia	8.223	New Hampshire	7.915	Kansas	7.781	Oregon	7.592	Indiana	6.961

Judges

The following celebrities were invited to judge the competition:^[1]

• Jude Deveraux – Author
• Bonnie Kay – Modeling manager
• Dick Rutan – Pilot of the Voyager aircraft
• Jeana Yeager – Pilot of the Voyager aircraft
• Stella Stevens – Actress
• Roscoe Tanner – Tennis player
• Linda Shelton – Aerobics instructor
• Lillian Glass – Author
• Richard Anderson – Actor
• Cecilia Bolocco – Miss Universe 1987 from Chile
• Jennifer Chandler – Olympic diver

Delegates

The Miss USA 1989 delegates were:^[2]

• Alabama - Sherri Mooney
• Alaska - Tina Geraci
• Arizona - LeeAnne Locken
• Arkansas - Paige Yandell
• California - Christina Faust
• Colorado - Debbie James
• Connecticut - Lisa Vendetti
• Delaware - Terri Spruill
• District of Columbia - Somaly Sieng
• Florida - Jennifer Parker
• Georgia - Michelle Nemeth
• Hawaii - Julie Larson
• Idaho - Kelli Bean
• Illinois - Kelly Holub
• Indiana - Gwen Rochelle Volpe
• Iowa - Marcy Requist
• Kansas - Nancy Burris
• Kentucky - Veronica Hensley
• Louisiana - Elizabeth Primm
• Maine - Kirsten Blakemore
• Maryland - Jackie Carroll
• Massachusetts - Kimberley Wallace
• Michigan - Karyn Finucan
• Minnesota - Julie Knutson
• Mississippi - Laura Durrett
• Missouri - Rhonda Hoglan
• Montana - Tammy Reiter
• Nebraska - Rene Harter
• Nevada - Janu Tornell
• New Hampshire - Fayleen Chwalek
• New Jersey - Deborah Lee Husti
• New Mexico - Traci Brubaker
• New York - Jennifer Fisher
• North Carolina - Jacqueline Padgett
• North Dakota - Cara Christofferson
• Ohio - Lisa Thompson
• Oklahoma - Jill Rene Scheffert
• Oregon - Jennifer Blaska
• Pennsylvania - Denise Epps
• Rhode Island - Debra Damiano
• South Carolina - Angela Shuler
• South Dakota - Nanette Endres
• Tennessee - Kimberly Payne
• Texas - Gretchen Polhemus
• Utah - Zanetta van Zyverden
• Vermont - Stacey Palmer
• Virginia - Kimberly Nicewonder
• Washington - Chiann Fan Gibson
• West Virginia - Kathy Eicher
• Wisconsin - Sherri Leigh Baxter
• Wyoming - Chandra Anderson