Miss Missouri USA 2016 and Miss Missouri Teen USA 2016 will be crowned this weekend at Lindenwood University in St Charles.  The new Missouri winners will be the second pair of new Vanbros titleholders for 2016.  Contestants are posted on the Warriors for Ross site here - in Illinois earlier in the month, people's choice voting contributed more than $15,000 towards this worthy charity!  Contestant numbers are up in both - between Miss and Teen there are over 120 contestants this year.

In the Miss division the only returning runner-up is Miss MO Teen USA 2011 and 2015 second runner-up Sydnee Stottlemyre.  I loved last year's top five so I'm disappointed more aren't back!  2015 Teen 3RU Kennedy Thomas and 4RU Hannah Beilman are competing in Miss this year for the first time, as is 2014 Illinois Teen runner-up Madison Langley and 2011 Illinois Teen runner-up Shenell Randall (there are two other Beilman's competing this year, Olivia and Samantha... sisters?).  Lexy Kadey, third runner-up at Miss Colorado USA last year, and Teen runner-up in 2013, has returned to the state where she first competed as a Teen. Lexy is utilising her Lindenwood scholarship, and I'd interested to see how many other contestants are too.  Also competing is Samantha Shackleford, 3RU at Miss MO Teen USA 2007 who last competed in Miss in 2011.  There are two MO 2015 semi-finalists back: Tori Kruse (who has competed in Iowa previously) and Alexandria Spry.

In Teen, first runner-up Dallas Ezard​​, daughter of Miss Missouri USA 1993 Stephanie Nunn Ezard, is competing again; she was also a semi-finalist in 2012.  None of the other semi-finalists are back!   There are a few returning non-finalists, including one who had competed in Colorado until this year (again, Lindenwood scholarship?), but for the most part this is an entirely fresh group of contestants.

Click "read more" or scroll below to view the full list of contestants.

A huge congratulations are in order for Susie Leica, the new Miss Michigan USA 2016 and Unjaneé Wells, Miss Michigan Teen USA 2016!  This is the first time in a long time that I have correctly predicted both winners, even if I forgot to vote for the "Road to" contest on USB (mega bummer).  Susie was third runner-up in 2011 and a semi-finalist in 2012 but had not competed since then.  Unjaneé was second runner-up in 2015 and fourth runner-up in 2014 - she is the first returning runner-up to win since Ruby King in 2013, and only the third returning RU to win in a decade!  This is the first year since 2004 that both the Miss and Teen winners in Michigan are returning runners-up!  ​

Bar one, in both devisions every single contestant who made the top five this year had competed previously.  In Miss, first runner-up went to 2014 semi-finalist Krista Ferguson.  Second runner-up was Samantha Skowronek, who last competed as a Teen in 2009 alongside fourth runner-up Sarah Gerberding who has now been a runner-up four times.  Third runner-up was Elizabeth Johnson who dropped back one spot from last year.  Amongst the semi-finalists, Mari Doan got back amongst the top fifteen after two years as a non-finalist in Iowa.  Kaiya Montague also avenged her non-finalist spot from last year, and 2015 Teen runner-up Stephanie Stavrou showed that age was no barrier to making the top fifteen.

The Teen first and second runner-up spots went to 2015 semi-finalists Aria Hutchinson and Emily Finn respectively.  Third runner-up was the only newcomer amongst the top fives, Alexis Fagan-Williams.  Fourth runner-up was 2015 non-finalist Tiffney Cicotte.  All but three of the rest of the top fifteen were newbies.

Miss Michigan USA 2016: Susie Leica (SF 12, 3RU 11)
1RU: Krista Ferguson (SF 14)
2RU: Samantha Skowronek (SF MI TUSA 09)
3RU: Elizabeth Johnson (2RU 15)
4RU: Sarah Gerberding (1RU 15, SF 13, 1RU MI TUSA 10, 1RU MI TUSA 09) 

Semi-finalists:
Lenora Camaj 
Victoria Davis  (NF 14, SF MI TUSA 13)
Mari Doan  (NF IA USA 15, NF IA USA 14, SF IA USA 13)
Ashley Jones
Alyse Madej  (SF 13)
Kaiya Montague  (NF 15, SF 14, SF 13)
Camila Nicholson
Karlen Pitts  (NF MI TUSA 15)
Stephanie Stavrou (3RU MI TUSA 15)
Stephanie Waters (SF 14)

Congeniality: Lindsey Oprisiu
Photogenic: Amanda Beard

Miss Michigan Teen USA 2016: Unjaneé Wells (2RU 15, 4RU 14)
1RU: Aria Hutchinson  (SF 15)
2RU: Emily Finn (SF 15)
3RU: Alexis Fagan-Williams
4RU: Tiffney Cicotte  (NF 15)

Semi-finalists:
Madelyn Christensen
Jasmine Cunmulaj 
Jennifer Holubowicz
Chrisitna Loukopoulos
Alexis Lubecki 
Keri Martin
Ashley Sierminski 
Elizabeth Smaza (SF 15)
Sydney Smith (NF 15, SF 14)
Zoe Stenholm (SF 15)

Congeniality: Alannah Philips
Photogenic: Alexis Lubecki

Miss Florida Teen USA 2016 will be held in two weekends' time and contestant photos are already up.  There are 57 Teens in the competition this year, similar numbers to last year.

Returning from the 2015 top five are second runner-up Brooke Garrison and fourth runner-up Grace Smith.  There are six semi-finalists back: Daniela Albrecht, Bobbie Grace Barber, Jessica Brinson, Carolyn Munson, Chelsea Novoa, Tiffany Rivera.

Click "read more" or scroll below to view the full list of contestants.

Miss Michigan USA & Teen USA 2016 will be crowned this weekend and we finally have contestant photos!  Click here to see the pics - and scroll down for a text version of the complete contestant roster.  Miss contestant numbers have dropped from 84 last year to 70 this year but I think the high percentage of returning contestants is a great reflection on the quality of programme Melissa and her team run.  Teen has gone from 46 to 37.

Most notably 2015 first runner-up Sarah Gerberding is back.  Last year's 2015 was a tough one because it put Sarah, at that point a two-time Teen runner-up (consecutively, as well!) next to Rashontae Wawrzyniak, a three-time Miss runner-up including 1RU in 2014.  As we know Rashontae took the title - all the way to top ten at Miss USA! - but I am so glad to see Sarah competing again this year!  In addition to Sarah, 2015 Miss runners-up Elizabeth Johnson (2RU) and Laura Esqueda (4RU) and 2015 Teen 3RU Stephanie Stavrou are all competing for Miss MI USA (there are seven 2015 Teens in the Miss competition this year!).

Another whose inclusion has excited me is Susie Leica.  Susie was a runner-up in 2011 and a semi-finalist in 2012 but has not competed since.  I absolutely loved her both years (was shocked she didn't make top five her second year) but assumed we wouldn't be seeing her on the stage again... glad she's having another crack at it.  Similarly, I'm very happy to see Carla Francavilla, who was also a semi-finalist in 2012 but has not come back since then.  Competing for the first time in Michigan is Mari Doan, a former Iowa contestant who has now completed her medical degree (beauty AND brains!) and is now a resident physician in Warren. 

In the Teen division, 2015 second runner-up & 2014 fourth runner-up Unjanee' Wells is the only runner-up competing again.  There are quite a few semi-finalists from last year back, and a lot of very promising looking newbies.

2016 contestants marked with asterisks below: