Crystle Stewart Crowned Miss USA 2008

Twenty-six-year-old Crystle Stewart, an entrepreneur from Texas was named Miss USA on Friday, winning over 50 other beauty queens for the coveted crown. Crystle, of Missouri City (a suburb of Houston), Texas, runs a party-planning and motivational speaking company, as well as modeling professionally. She says she wants to dedicate her life to international philanthropy. "I want to talk to people about how to set a goal and achieve it," she told The Associated Press after the show. "Because I just achieved my goal." Ms. Stewart won the Miss Texas USA 2008 title in a state pageant held in Laredo, Texas on July 1, 2007 after competing against 121 other contestants.

Contestants from all 50 states and the District of Columbia had been in Las Vegas for nearly three weeks, rehearsing and hyping the 57th annual pageant. The pageant featured music from Rihanna. Miss USA contestants are scored in three categories: swimsuit, evening gown and interview and unlike the rival Miss America, Miss USA contestants are not asked to perform a talent. Ms. Stewart said she was eager to travel and spread her message of self-improvement to young women. She noted she was one of only a handful of Black woman crowned Miss USA in the pageant’s 57-year history. "I think the United States is coming together," she said, citing the historic presidential candidacies of Senators Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. She declined to name her preference. Ms. Stewart will compete in the Miss Universe pageant in Nha Trang, Vietnam in July. She also becomes a spokeswoman for breast and ovarian cancer awareness and other causes, while traveling to promote the organization. Crystle Stewart holds a degree in consumer science and merchandising from the University of Houston.