The final state to hold their pageants this weekend will be Illinois, which has split theirs into Teen and Miss over the same weekend. Unusually both state finals will be held on Monday with Miss IL Teen USA finals at 2pm and Miss IL USA at 7pm. Both prelims & finals will be webcast live at www.pageantvision.com but be prepared to fork out double what you might for both states because of Miss & Teen being split! Contestant photos can be found here, and expect official headshots & gown portraits the first day of the pageant as well.
Miss numbers this year are significantly higher than last year (87 compared to 62) and closer to that which Illinois had under their previous directors D&D (but still a way off the 150 they had one year!). The 2014 pageant was clearly a transition year and as Vanbros doesn't often have so many girls competing in their pageants I wasn't surprised the numbers were lower - but very happy to see them higher again this year. It also appears that the quality of the competition is a lot higher than last year which is another bonus! Another interesting feature I spotted... last year just over a fifth of the Miss contestants had competed in a Miss USA or Teen USA state pageant before, this year it appears a lot more from 2014 and before have come back; the return rate is now closer to one third but only a few of those are girls who competed in 2015. Teen numbers have unfortunately gone the other way, from 69 last year to 46.
In the Miss division three of last year's runners-up are back: 1RU Gina Melchiorri (also 3RU in IA in 2013 & 14), 2RU Gemma Berto, and 4RU Gabriella Roth. There are also two runners-up from 2013 back after skipping 2015; Jasmine Guy, 3RU and Zeina Malak, 4RU. Zeina has competed only the once, but Jasmine was also a semi-finalist in 2014 and actually started competing in 2010. Amanda Signorelli, a semi-finalist in IL last year, 3rd runner-up in Missouri in 2013 and a past Nevada Teen runner-up is also competing again. New to the competition is Awien Kuanyin-Agoth who represented South Sudan at Miss World 2014.
2015 second runner-up Caroline Campbell is the only returning RU in the Teen competition, with only one other semi-finalist from last year back as well. Apart from a scattering of other non-finalists from 2014 & 2015, this is largely an all-new group of girls.
Click "read more" below the photos to view the full list of contestants with notes of past placements.
Miss numbers this year are significantly higher than last year (87 compared to 62) and closer to that which Illinois had under their previous directors D&D (but still a way off the 150 they had one year!). The 2014 pageant was clearly a transition year and as Vanbros doesn't often have so many girls competing in their pageants I wasn't surprised the numbers were lower - but very happy to see them higher again this year. It also appears that the quality of the competition is a lot higher than last year which is another bonus! Another interesting feature I spotted... last year just over a fifth of the Miss contestants had competed in a Miss USA or Teen USA state pageant before, this year it appears a lot more from 2014 and before have come back; the return rate is now closer to one third but only a few of those are girls who competed in 2015. Teen numbers have unfortunately gone the other way, from 69 last year to 46.
In the Miss division three of last year's runners-up are back: 1RU Gina Melchiorri (also 3RU in IA in 2013 & 14), 2RU Gemma Berto, and 4RU Gabriella Roth. There are also two runners-up from 2013 back after skipping 2015; Jasmine Guy, 3RU and Zeina Malak, 4RU. Zeina has competed only the once, but Jasmine was also a semi-finalist in 2014 and actually started competing in 2010. Amanda Signorelli, a semi-finalist in IL last year, 3rd runner-up in Missouri in 2013 and a past Nevada Teen runner-up is also competing again. New to the competition is Awien Kuanyin-Agoth who represented South Sudan at Miss World 2014.
2015 second runner-up Caroline Campbell is the only returning RU in the Teen competition, with only one other semi-finalist from last year back as well. Apart from a scattering of other non-finalists from 2014 & 2015, this is largely an all-new group of girls.
Click "read more" below the photos to view the full list of contestants with notes of past placements.
2016 MISS Contestants (as mentioned above) • Gina Melchiorri, Gemma Berto, Gabriella Roth, Jasmine Guy, Zena Malak, Amanda Signorelli, Awien Kuanyin-Agoth | 2016 TEEN Contestant • Caroline Campbell
Contestants with asterisks next to their name are competing in 2016.
 Miss IL USA 2015 - Gemma Berto* (3RU), Gina Melchiorri* (1RU), Renee Wronecki (Miss IL USA), Ashley Reid (2RU), Gabriella Roth* (4RU) (click to view full size) |  Miss IL USA 2013 - Zena Malak* (4RU), Kyara Garza (1RU), Stacie Juris (Miss IL USA), Alexandra Wilson* (2RU), Jasmine Guy (3RU) (click to view full size) |
 Miss MO USA 2013 - Carolyn Cianciolo (4RU), Paige Hill (1RU), Ellie Holtman (Miss MO USA), Amanda Signorelli* (3RU), Breanna Huellinghorst (2RU) (click to view full size) |  Miss IL Teen USA 2015 - Julia Szumny (3RU), Kaitlyn Baughman (1RU), Megan Riesner (Miss IL Teen USA), Caroline Campbell* (2RU), Madison Mueller (4RU) |
Contestants
MISS IL USA 2016 (87)
MISS IL TEEN USA 2016 (46)
- Helen Alex • Darien
- Vickie Apostolopoulos • Barrington
- Jazz-Min Arceneaux • Bolingbrook
- Emily Argo • Washington Strong
- Kristen Batte • Macon County
- Pamela Bazan • Lake Villa
- McKenzie Behrends • Tremont
- Shani Belshaw • Western Illinois (NF 14)
- Julia Benson • Fighting Illini
- Gemma Berto • Glenview (3RU 15, SF 14, NF 13)
- Giavanna Bettinardi • Lemont
- Allysa Blaylock • Madison County
- Amber Bond • Normal (NF 15)
- Beautyful Brown • Glencoe
- Carrington Bruton • City of Champions (NF 11-14)
- Brittney Burks • Native Violet
- Nicole Capone • Greater Chicago
- Elaina Cokinos • Elsah (SF & Photogenic MD TUSA 14)
- Grayse Cook • Henry
- Ciara Corley • Centreville (NF 14)
- Alexis Dames • Channahon (NF IL TUSA 14)
- Donna Davis • Kane County
- Caitlin del Rosario • Montgomery
- Courtney Ecton • Chicago
- Sadira Fauntleroy • Aurora
- Daniela Fernandez • Warbound
- Emily Fiedler • Lisle (NF 15)
- Taylor Foster • Granite City
- Hannah Fronczak • Streeterville
- Tiffany Gabriel • Orland Park
- Marcela Gillen • Peoria County
- Natalia Globa • Chicagoland
- Hannah Gowdy • Heart of the South (SF 14, SF IL TUSA 13)
- Jasmine Guy • Norwood Park (SF 14, 3RU 13, SF 11, SF 10)
- Taylor Hardy • Mississippi Valley
- Jenna Harner • Southern Illinois
- Krstina Harvel • Lions
- Wandjell Harvey-Robinson • The Prairie State
- Kaylea Heideman • Iroquois County
- Amanda Henry • Lake Forest
- Maya Hufman • Island Lake
- Deimante Jakelaityte • Evergreen Park
- Jayde Johnson • Windy City
- Courtney Jurick • Lakeshore
- Ashley Kamins • Bloomington
- Taara King • Jewel of the Midwest
- Trisha Kopchik • City of Lights (NF IL TUSA 09)
- Paw Ku • City of Diversity
- Awien Kuanyin-Agoth • Cook County (Miss South Sudan World 2014)
- Jessica Kunamalla • Naperville
- Kathryn Lanute • Sugar Grove
- Melissa LaValle • North Shore
- Samantha Lewis • Tri State
- Brooke Major • Bourbonnais
- Zena Malak • Carol Stream (4RU & Photogenic 13)
- Tasha Meehan • Lake Zurich (NF IL TUSA 13)
- Gina Melchiorri • Lakeview (1RU 15, 3RU IA USA 14, 3RU IA USA 13)
- Brittany Middlebrooks • South Loop (NF 13, NF 12)
- Brittany Moore • Christian County (SF 15, NF IL TUSA 14)
- Rachel Mytnik • Romeoville (NF IL TUSA 13)
- Jessica New • Metro Chicago
- Ashley Orozco • Plainfield
- Emma Peele • Tinley Park
- Christy Praljak • Gold Coast (SF 15)
- Claudia Price • Silver Creek (NF IL TUSA 15)
- Jacqueline Pytko • Oak Forest
- Jennifer Rich • Franklin County (NF IL TUSA 14)
- Gabriella Roth • Lombard (4RU 15, NF 14)
- Nicole Rutkowski • Streamwood (NF 14)
- Alana Sadkin • Skokie
- Sabrina Scott • DuPage County
- Amanda Signorelli • West Loop (SF 15, 3RU MO USA 13, 3RU NV TUSA 09, NF NV TUSA 07)
- Caitlyn Smith • Mokena
- Amethyst Stephens • Kankakee County
- Lina Survilaite • Hickory Hills
- Katielynn Sutterlin • Boone County
- Courtny Svendsen • Central Illinois
- Abigail Taylor • Nature's Acres
- Jessica Thuma • Northern Illinois
- Emily Travis • Skyline
- Megan Vladic • Antioch
- Jessica West • Kankakee (NF 15, NF 14, NF IL TUSA 13)
- Elizabeth Whitney • Quad Cities
- Gabriela Wilewska • City by the Lake (NF 13)
- Rebekah Williams • Heart of Illinois
- Holly Wysong • Bourbonnais Midas
- Melissa Zeman • Northern Suburbs (SF 10)
MISS IL TEEN USA 2016 (46)
- Natasia Barrett • Lake County
- Chloe Bergmann • Plainfield
- Becca Bernier • La Grange
- Mallory Borcky • Newark
- Jennifer Branch • Oakwood
- Amanda Brockmeier • Naperville
- Caroline Campbell • Heart of the South (2RU 15, SF 13)
- Raegen Cavanaugh • Grundy County
- Vonda Cochran • Murphysboro
- Ashton Curtis • Union County
- Katrina Espano • RightMed HHCS
- Reilly Farren • Champaign County
- Juleigh Furry • Platinum Athletics
- Harleigh Goodman • Glenview
- Amanda Graves • Madison County
- Kelisy Grob • Rend Lake
- Sara Hampsten • Cumberland County
- Jasmine Hawkins • DuPage County (NF 15)
- Faith Johns • Pike County
- Amrita Krishnan • Michigan Shores
- Hannah Kupferschmid • Woodford County
- Sarah Lewis • Midwest
- Iryna Lozovatska • Kendall County
- Ellie McGee • Greater Naperville
- Alexis McVicker • Guard 911
- Katelyn Mernack • BMB Motors (SF 15)
- Briona Mogelberg • Cook County (NF 14)
- Leah Morris • La Salle County
- Serena Napolitano • Wood Dale
- Michelle Norris • Springfield (NF 15)
- Amanda Perez • North Chicago
- Alexis Pikul • New Lenox
- Olivia Pura • Deer Park
- Emma Riley • North Shore
- Kaytlin Schmidt • Columbia
- Cassandra Schofield • Monticello Sage
- Sydney Shanine • South Naperville
- Marlene Slaughter • South Suburban
- Shayla Sullivan • Mokena
- Bradi Thornton • Crystal Lake
- Sara Toth • Orland Park
- Isabella Trojanek • Northern Kane County
- Cindy Valdez-Barrios • Alborada (NF 15)
- Felicia Widen • Tinley Park
- Angelina Zanfardino • Windy City
- Alexandra Zimbrakos • Chicago
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