MEMPHIS – The first Miss USA pageant held at Graceland crowned a winner from Elvis’ home state: Miss Mississippi Asya Branch, a 22-year-old University of Memphis marketing major.
Written content by John Beifuss,Memphis Commercial Appeal via USA Today
In addition to having studied in Memphis, Branch was the contestant whose hometown is closest to the host city: She hails from Booneville, Mississippi, about 114 miles southeast of Memphis — and about 30 miles north of Tupelo, Mississippi, where Elvis was born. (Miss Tennessee, Justice Enlow, lives near Nashville, while Miss Arkansas, Haley Pontius, is from Houston, Arkansas, which is west of Little Rock.)
The first Black winner of the Miss Mississippi USA competition, Branch also became the first woman from Mississippi to win Miss USA.
Socially distanced with an intentionally sparse crowd, the pageant was held Monday night at the Soundstage at Graceland, a concert and event venue located within the “Elvis Presley’s Memphis” complex of exhibit spaces, restaurants and gift shops located across the street from the Presley mansion. Broadcast live on the FYI cable channel, the pageant concluded a week of Miss Universe Organization activities at Graceland, including Friday’s preliminary competitions and Saturday night’s Miss Teen USA pageant, won by Ki’ilani Arruda of Hawaii.
In a stark if elegant adaptation to the realities of the COVID-19 pandemic, the contestants onstage during each pageant sometimes wore sparkly masks designed by Sherri Hill, the fashion designer who also created the events’ evening gowns. The women did not wear masks when parading before the judges, but were masked when gathered for the parts of the shows that required all 51 competitors (representing the states and the District of Columbia). Read more from USA Today.
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