Predictions For Miss Usa 2019
The Miss Universe Pageant is almost here. The 2019 edition of the famed pageant is scheduled to go down in Atlanta on Sunday, December 8th. Last year’s champion, Catriona Gray of the Philippines, will cede her crown to a new winner.
Predictions For Miss Usa 2019 Winner
Gray entered last year’s pageant as a +6600 underdog, so there is surely plenty of betting value to be had if you think you can accurately peg this year’s winner. Entertainment betting sites have fresh odds posted regarding which nation will produce this year’s Miss Universe. There are also a number of props available at any number of online betting sites, such as:
Let’s dive into the odds and try to come up with some value, shall we?
Miss USA 2019 Predictions Part 2. Yesterday we talked about the contestants from the “A” states, so today we are covering the “C” and “D” states! Erica Dann is Miss California USA. Erica works for Google – that’s pretty cool! Her bio states, “This 27-year-old holds a Masters in International. The 2019 MISS USA Competition and the 2019 MISS TEEN USA Competition is heading to Reno Tahoe! Miss USA airs LIVE Thursday, May 2nd at 8 pm on FOX while Miss Teen USA streams LIVE April 28th on www.missteenusa.com. Miss USA 2019 Pre-pageant Predictions.
Winner’s Region
- Americas/Caribbean (+130)
- Asia/Africa/Pacific (+170)
- Europe (+200)
As mentioned, last year’s winner came from the Philippines. That actually marked the second win for the Philippines in the competition in the last 4 years, as Pia Wurtzbach brought home the title back in 2015. South Africa (2017), France (2016), Colombia (2014) and Venezuela (2013) have also produced Miss Universe winners within the last handful of years. The last American to win the competition was Olivia Culpo back in 2012.
The United States has produced 8 pageant winners, which is the most of any country. Venezuela, interesting enough, is next with 7, followed by Puerto Rico (5), the Philippines (4) and Sweden (3).
As you can see, the Americas have largely dominated Miss America over the years. So, there’s a reason the Americas/Caribbean is the betting favorite here at +130.
If we take an early peek at the odds for each contestant, the early favorite to be named Miss Universe 2019 is actually Jennifer Paweensuda Saetan-Drouin of Thailand at +300. The Philippines (+500) is second-favorite, followed by Brazil (+600), El Salvador (+600), Portugal (+600), Puerto Rico (+600) and the United States (+600).
While Asia/Africa/Pacific makes for a very worthwhile betting option at +170 with the top 2 odds-on favorites, I’ll take my chances with the volume of contestants from the Americas. The Americas’ track record at the event speaks for itself, and there is still upside in the +130 odds.
The Pick: Americas/Caribbean (+130)
Will Steve Harvey Announce the Wrong Winner?
- Yes (+5000)
You probably won’t find a bigger Steve Harvey fan than yours truly. Anytime I’m scrolling through the TV guide and find Family Feud, I’m there. Steve is a guy that wears plenty of hats. He’s a decorated stand-up comedian, but he has also enjoyed his fair share of hosting gigs over the years.
Miss Universe has cycled through several hosts in its history, including Bob Barker, Alan Thicke, Billy Bush and Daisy Fuentes. Harvey has been steering the ship since Fox purchased the broadcast rights back in 2015.
Harvey’s tenure hosting the show has been largely uneventful, but he did make plenty of headlines for a notable gaffe in his very first year on the job. Harvey choked in the show’s most crucial moment, as he mistakenly announced that Miss Colombia (Ariadna Gutierrez) as the winner. Gutierrez was actually the runner-up, so Harvey had to awkwardly take the crown and bouquet from her and give it to the actual winner, Miss Philippines (Wurtzbach).
Since then, surely Harvey has taken extra time to make sure that he reads the runner-up and winner in the correct order. As fun as it would be to see another gloriously awkward moment again this year, it’s hard to fathom it actually happening.
The Pick: There aren’t betting odds on “no,” unfortunately.
Will Donald Trump Tweet About Miss Universe?
- Yes (-300)
- No (+300)
Donald Trump may be President of the United States, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have time to watch television. In fact, he probably watches more TV than most non-presidents in the US. Trump actually owned the Miss Universe Pageant from 1996 until 2015 when he sold it to WME/IMG. At the time of the sale, The Miss Universe Organization had an estimated value between $5 million and $25 million.
There are at least 3 things we know President Trump likes: Twitter, himself, and women. This prop bet combines all 3 in perfect fashion. Trump has no filter when it comes to firing off his thoughts via his favorite social media platform, and he has tweeted about the Miss Universe Pageant on a number of occasions. He went on a Twitter rant back in 2016 about a former Miss Universe, and in 2013 he sent out this tweet that looks awfully interesting considering what we know now:
Do you think Putin will be going to The Miss Universe Pageant in November in Moscow – if so, will he become my new best friend?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 19, 2013
If you want upside, betting the “no” side of this prop at +300 is where you want to go. That said, I would never bet against Trump tweeting about anything, especially something like Miss Universe. We know he’ll be watching.
The Pick: Yes (-300)
Winner’s Age
- Over 23.5 (-110)
- Under 23.5 (-110)
More than half of the field for the 2019 Miss Universe Pageant check in under 23.5 years of age. 51 of the 92 contestants in the field are younger than 23.5. That said, 5 of the last 8 winners have been older than 23.5 at the time they were crowned Miss Universe.
Because picking the winner is essentially a crapshoot, I would just use the math to my advantage if betting on this one. There is a greater chance that the winner will be under 23.5 just because there are more of them in the pool. So, bet the under at –110.
The Pick: Under 23.5 (-110)
Winner’s Height
- Over 5’9″ (-110)
- Under 5’9″ (-110)
Gray, who won last year, checked in at 5’10”, making her the tallest Miss Universe title-winner since Gabriela Isler of Venezuela in 2013. Just 3 of the 66 winners to this point have registered at 6’0″ or taller, with Amelia Vega (Dominican Republic) being the last in 2003.
5 of the last 11 winners have been over 5’9″. Before last year, though, each of the previous 4 winners were measured at 5’9″ or shorter.
While the field of contestants for the 2019 pageant has been released, information regarding the height of each woman in the field is difficult to come by. Unlike with age, we have no real way of knowing how many of the participants are over or under the 5’9″ threshold.
So, we’re having to guess on this one. I would lean toward taking the under on 5’9″, just because most of the recent winners have been on the shorter side of things.
Predictions For Miss Usa 2019 Rankings
The Pick: Under 5’9″ (-110)
Who Will Win the 2019 Miss Universe Pageant?
- Thailand (+300)
- Philippines (+500)
- Brazil (+600)
- El Salvador (+600)
- Portugal (+600)
- Puerto Rico (+600)
- United States (+600)
- Colombia (+700)
- Australia (+800)
- Chile (+800)
- Iceland (+800)
- Venezuela (+800)
- Bolivia (+900)
- Costa Rica (+900)
- France (+900)
There are 92 contestants with betting odds, but the countries listed above are those with odds better than +1000. Last year’s winner was an incredible long shot, but we are no longer getting Miss Philippines at such a favorable price.
This year’s Miss Philippines, Gazini Ganados, has the second-best odds at +500. Surely this has everything to do with the Philippines (+500) accounting for 2 of the last 4 champions. The last country to produce back-to-back Miss Universe winners was Venezuela (Dayana Mendoza and Stefania Fernandez) in 2008 and 2009. Russia and Panama split the title in 2002, which is the only year in which co-champions have been named.
The USA (+600) is represented by Cheslie Kryst, who won the Miss USA Pageant representing North Carolina back in May.
Let’s not overlook Venezuela (+800), which has accounted for 3 of the last 11 winners. Because this is a guessing game, I don’t necessarily think you can go wrong with any of the above options. For all we know, Miss Nepal (+7500) will come out of the woodwork to upend the rest of the field.
The United States has the best track record of any country in the event, and it doesn’t hurt that the pageant will take place in Atlanta. Here’s hoping Miss USA enjoys some home-country advantage and brings the title back home.
The Pick: United States (+600)
It's a second win for the Constitution state! Connecticut has captured a second Miss Teen USA crown (succeeding Logan West's win in 2012) thanks to Kaliegh Garris whose unique look with the curly disco-diva afro that she sported helped her stand out in a big way and bring her to the top 5 where she gave an excellent answer to her final question that was clearly the best of that top 5. It should also be noted that this is the first set of black-to-black wins at Miss Teen USA as Kaliegh Garris' 2019 Miss Teen USA win succeeds that of 2018 Miss Teen USA, Kansas' Hailey Colborn. Previous black Miss Teen USA winners were: New Hampshire's Janel Bishop in 1991, Delaware's Ashley Coleman in 1999, Missouri's Marissa Whitley in 2001, Maryland's Kamie Crawford in 2010 and Connecticut's Logan West in 2012. This completes the trifecta of the MUO pageants. The first black-to-black Miss Universe winners were: Trinidad & Tobago’s Wendy Fitzwilliam in 1998 and Botswana’s Mpule Kwelagobe in 1999. The first black-to-black Miss USA winners were: Tennessee’s Rachel Smith in 2007 and Texas’ Crystle Stewart in 2008. Kaliegh is a phenomenal young woman who attends two schools as she is a dual-enrolled student at Joseph A. Foran High School and the Educational Center for the Arts where she majors in theater. She dances competitively in multiple forms including: Tap, Jazz, Ballet and Contemporary dance and has started an awareness program focused on educating others about people with disabilities called 'We Are People 1st' inspired by her older sister who has multiple disabilities.
A lot of people were surprised to learn that the preliminaries for Miss Teen USA were being held on the same day as finals which made predicting that much more difficult so, to not make it a scramble, I posted my 2019 Miss Teen USA predictions prior to preliminaries which was extra difficult as I really had to go off of bios, headshots, some online pics and overall impression juggling other people's impressions as well bearing in mind that the IMG era is supposedly about accomplishments first but there were some very accomplished delegates that were left out as others placed…
The hosts for this year's pageant were: Nia Sanchez-Miss USA 2014 and Tim Tialdo who did a commendable job. Tim Tialdo has a podcast where he interviews pageant titleholders past and present so it is good to have people involved who are passionate about pageantry as they normally do a better job. The all-female judges/members of selection committee were: Katherine Haik-Miss Teen USA 2015, Kristen Walthers-Remington-Miss Nevada Teen USA 1999 and top 10 semifinalist at Miss Teen USA 1999, MJ Acosta, Ivette Fernandez-Miss Alaska USA 2001, Shannon Keel and Kristin Collin.
In terms of my predictions, I picked 7 of the top 15 plus 2 alternates (Nevada and Tennessee). The 6 ladies I missed were: North Dakota, Mississippi, Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Wyoming. I had my suspicions about North Dakota but kept her out when I saw some body shots of her state pageant. I liked Mississippi's headshot initially but then saw some previous headshots where she didn't look like the same person. Wyoming had a great gown at her state pageant that reminded me of that of Iris Mittenaere's at Miss Universe 2016 but I thought the judges wouldn't take a liking to her but I do think she will probably be Miss Wyoming USA in the near future. Kansas, Nebraska and Oklahoma were all off my radar. Sometimes I think IMG might be a bit overly pro-midwest. I posted my predictions prior to watching preliminaries which were held on the same day as finals for the first time ever which made this quite the scramble but at least they did webcast the preliminaries this year, unlike last year. After preliminaries, I did have the impression that Tennessee would place and that New Hampshire and Minnesota wouldn't and that turned out to be an accurate assessment so I guess I did need to watch preliminaries after all to predict better but there were some complete headscratchers in this top 15 that I never would have picked. Surprises are always to be expected but it really did feel like some of these names were picked out of a hat. The Congeniality award returned this year though and that award went to Minnesota who was among my original picks. I originally had Connecticut in my top 5 but lowered her to my highest semifinalist position only because she is majoring in Theatre and I thought aspirations in entertainment were frowned upon in this era of pageantry. What happened to my 8 ladies that didn’t place? Well, we don’t see interviews so that often throws a wrench into making accurate predictions. First up was District of Columbia who was a great overall candidate and her headshot screamed top 5 to me so I was surprised that she didn’t place as she looks like she has it all and is accomplished as she attends Towson University majoring in Psychology aiming to be a school psychologist to help eliminate the stigma linked to mental illness and has a story of surviving a mentally abusive relationship and for fun, she is a Disney fanatic. Even though DC has enjoyed success recently at Miss USA, Miss Teen USA is a very different story as they have only placed thrice (1987, 2000 and 2001) and they have never made the top 5 at Miss Teen USA even if they won the Miss USA crown 4 times. Next was Missouri who was among the younger delegates at age 15, but she has some significant achievements as an honors student who create a nonprofit society, STEM Girl Inc. which provides scholarship for girls aged 12-18 in Missouri. She advocates for STEM awareness and goes to schools discussing this. She has many awards and is clearly a bright girl so I was surprised that she didn’t get the call but other Midwest girls were chosen. Next was Texas, the most successful state at both Miss USA and Miss Teen USA but Texas was shockingly shut-out at both pageants for 2019. That hasn’t happened since 2010 which is the only other winner that Texas didn’t place at either pageant since Miss Teen USA’s inception in 1983. Texas also crowned their first African-American Teen winner and she was strong in interviews and accomplished finishing third in her high school class of over 500 students and earned a Capstone Academic Scholarship at Howard University and likes to educate youth on political involvement and its importance. She did talk about liking shopping in her bio which I wouldn’t have encouraged so I wonder if that’s what did it. New Jersey was a formidable candidate and very accomplished as she is pursuing a degree in medicine with a double major in biology and exercise science at Montclair State University with a goal to be a sports cardiologist in the NFL. She was awarded a provisional patent from the US Patent and Trademark Office for one of her inventions and has numerous accolades to her name. She even started a non-profit organization called 'Athletes with Asthma' speaking to students about exercise-induced asthma attacks so I have no idea how she didn’t place. Washington was really great in interviews and is supremely confident so I thought she would get the call. I liked that she dared to be different in her hot pink gown with the circular shoulder sleeves which was like a throwback to the 80s. She was also very accomplished as she is associated student body president and a National Honor Society vice president, an official science scholar and a Tri-M Music Honor Society member. She takes eight advanced placement courses and holds a 3.85 GPA. Lily is also a cheerleader of nine years and created a nonprofit at the age of 15 called the Smize Foundation inspiring high school students to be involved with their local food banks. She also aspires to attend medical school and become a neurosurgeon. New Hampshire did give the impression that she might not place after the preliminary gown competition but she certainly was accomplished. As a freshman at the University of South Carolina double majoring in finance and risk management with a minor in aerospace. She is a member of the Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps with aspirations to work in the Air Force so I thought that could have been the rare unique achievement to put her over the edge. California’s 6-year streak in the semifinals was broken this year and I actually just included her in the last minute because I thought the streak would continue and her accomplishments were decent. Finally, Minnesota would win the Congeniality award and I thought she had a look they would embrace and good enough accomplishments but it was not to be and I probably would have called this had I watched preliminaries prior to making predictions this year. I really looked for accomplishments this year but as mentioned in my Miss USA commentary, it felt like the winner was zeroed in on and perhaps the accomplished threats to said winner seemed to be substituted by some others so there may have been some strategy to selecting this top 15.