Miss USA 1988

Miss USA 1988
Courtney Gibbs, wearing Miss USA 1988 crown
DateMarch 1, 1988
Presenters
VenueEl Paso Convention And Performing Art Center (Abraham Chavez Theater), El Paso, Texas
BroadcasterCBS, KDBC-TV
Entrants51
Placements10
WinnerCourtney Gibbs
Texas
CongenialityElva Anderson (District of Columbia)
Best State CostumeLagracella Omran (Nevada)
PhotogenicRowanne Brewer (Maryland)
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Miss USA 1988 was the 37th Miss USA pageant, televised live from the El Paso Civic Center in El Paso, Texas on March 1, 1988. At the conclusion of the final competition, Courtney Gibbs of Texas was crowned Miss USA, becoming the fourth consecutive winner from Texas.[1]

Miss USA 1988 opening titles

The pageant was hosted by Growing Pains star Alan Thicke, the first time in twenty years that Bob Barker did not host, and the pageant commentator was Tracy Scoggins.[2] Barker, an animal rights activist, refused to be involved because one of the winner's prizes was a fur coat.[3] There had been controversy surrounding the fur coats since the previous year, and Barker claimed he had asked pageant officials not to give away coats for years but that he had been ignored.[4] Other animal rights activists threatened to picket the pageant in protest at its fur policy and disrupted a pre-pageant press conference.[5][6] In an unrelated attack, Scoggins was attacked in an elevator following pageant rehearsals. The attacker was charged with attempted sexual assault.[7]

This was the first time that the pageant was held in Texas and the only time it was ever held in El Paso. El Paso had hosted the Miss Teen USA 1987 pageant the previous year, and it was announced in November 1987 that the city would likely host Miss USA 1988.[8]

  1. ^ "Miss Texas, Again, Wins Miss USA Crown". The Associated Press. 1988-03-01.
  2. ^ United Press International (1988-02-21). "El Paso hosts a blemished USA contest". Houston Chronicle. p. 32.
  3. ^ "Barker resigns in pageant furor". USA Today. 1988-01-12.
  4. ^ "Host Bob Barker Pulls Out of Miss Universe Pageant in Fur Controversy". Associated Press. 1988-01-12.
  5. ^ United Press International (1988-02-12). "Animal lovers planning protest of Miss USA pageant fur coat prize". Houston Chronicle. p. 10.
  6. ^ Lewis, Holden (1988-02-26). "Animal-Rights Activist Disrupts Miss USA News Conference". Associated Press.
  7. ^ Lewis, Holden (1988-02-26). "Miss USA Pageant Host Assaulted in Elevator". Associated Press.
  8. ^ Associated Press (1987-11-06). "El Paso is considered top contender for Miss USA pageant". The Dallas Morning News. p. 31A.