FAVORITES: Miss USA 2022 final Top 16 favorites

Today someone's life is about to change as the Miss USA 2022 pageant culminates tonight at the Grand Sierra Resort and Casino in Reno, Nevada.

Fifty-one contestants from across the country have worked diligently to get to the Miss USA final stage but only one of them will become the successor of Elle Smith of Kentucky and represent the USA at the 71st Miss Universe 2022 this January in New Orleans, Louisiana.

An esteemed panel of judges determines who enters the Top 16. Fifteen will be selected based on their interviews, preliminary swimsuit and evening gown competition, and one spot is reserved for a contestant with the highest fan votes on missusa.com.

Who will be the next Miss USA? As we did not have access to their interviews, our list of favorites is based entirely on the contestants' preliminary swimsuit and evening gown performances.

Meet our final favorites (in alphabetical order):


Top 16

California - Tiffany Johnson

District of Columbia - Faith Porter

Florida - Taylor Fulford

Georgia - Holly Haynes

Illinois - Angel Reyes

Kansas - Elyse Noe

New Jersey - Alexandra Lakhman

New Mexico - Suzanne Perez

North Carolina - Morgan Romano

Ohio - Sir'Quora Carroll

Pennsylvania - Billie LaRaé Owens

Rhode Island - Elaine Collado

Tennessee - Emily Suttle

Texas - R'Bonney Gabriel

Vermont - Kelsey Golonka

Washington - Mazzy Eckel

Special mentions:

Connecticut, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nebraska, Nevada, Oklahoma, Wisconsin

Special awards:

Miss Photogenic - Nebraska, Natalie Pieper

Best in Swimsuit - Texas, R'Bonney Gabriel

Best in Evening Gown - North Carolina, Morgan Romano

Don't miss the Miss USA 2022 final show tonight from 5 p.m. PST exclusively on FYI and Hulu.

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