Miss USA 2006 was the 55th Miss USA pageant, held at the Royal Farms Arena in Baltimore, Maryland on April 21, 2006. Fifty-one state titleholders competed for the title, which was won by Tara Conner of Kentucky. Conner was crowned by outgoing titleholder Chelsea Cooley of North Carolina. This was the second consecutive year that the pageant was held in Baltimore, although the venue changed from the Hippodrome Theater to the larger 1st Mariner Arena. Delegates arrived in the city on 2 April 2006, and were involved in three weeks of events, appearances and preliminary competitions before the final competition. This included a trip to New York City to attend a book launch for The Miss Universe Guide to Beauty and make media appearances on Regis and Kathy, The Early Show and Total Request Live. The pageant hosts were Nancy O'Dell (who had hosted the pageant in 2004 and 2005) and Drew Lachey. For the first time Queer Eye for the Straight Guy star Carson Kressley provided commentary. Special guest performers were the East Village Opera Company. The finals were broadcast by NBC, with 7.77 million viewers, the second-lowest viewership ever recorded. The winner represented the United States at Miss Universe 2006 on July 23, 2006, in Los Angeles where she placed 4th Runner-up.

Results

Placements

Awards

Contestants

The Miss USA 2006 delegates were:

Judges

There were two sets of judges: one for the preliminary competition (held on April 14), and another for the final night of competition (April 21). The latter judges decided who won the Miss USA title.

Preliminary judges

Finals judges

Pre-pageant specials

A pre-pageant special edition of Deal or No Deal aired on April 12 on NBC. It included Miss USA 2005 Chelsea Cooley and twenty-six contestants, who replaced the show's models as briefcase-holders: Haleigh Stidham (AL), Kimberly Forsyth (AR), Tamiko Nash (CA), Jeannine Phillips (CT), Ashlee Greenwell (DE), Cristin Duren (FL), Catherine Warren (IL), Bridget Bobel (IN), Tara Conner (KY), Christina Cuenca (LA), Katee Stearns (ME), Tiffany Kelly (MA), Danelle Gay (MI), Dottie Cannon, (MN), Kristi Capel (MO), Lauren Scyphers (NV), Jessica Boyington (NJ), Onawa Lacy (NM), Samantha Holvey (NC), Kimberly Krueger (ND), Tanya Lehman (PA), Leeann Tingley (RI), Lacie Lybrand (SC), Soben Huon (UT), Amber Copley (VA), Jessica Wedge (WV). Allison Machado (OR) was the alternate.