I was in the audience at the Miss Teen USA finals on Thursday night. The competition was hosted by Hale, who won "Big Brother" shortly after competing at Miss USA 2021.

Before reading out the top 20, Hale took a moment to organize the cards that held the results.

"I'm not trying to do a Steve Harvey today, give me a second," she quipped as the audience burst out laughing.

Harvey famously announced the wrong name at the Miss Universe 2015 pageant, first announcing Miss Colombia Ariadna Gutiérrez as the winner before revealing it was actually Miss Philippines Pia Wurtzbach who had won the crown.

Hale announced an extensive prize package for the new Miss Teen USA, which included a feature in Teen Vogue, a paid modeling contract, a part in a feature film, and $25,000 in cold hard cash.

But Hale also had a surprise for the Miss Teen USA contestants. For the first time in its history, the pageant was offering a scholarship prize. All 51 Miss Teen USA contestants were offered a full four-year scholarship to Mississippi State, which Miss Teen USA 2024 Addie Carver currently attends.

Miss Teen USA 2025 winner Mailyn Marsh, who represented Missouri, told me on Friday night that she plans to take the scholarship.

"I'm really passionate about education, so the opportunity to go to Mississippi State on a full ride is incredible," Marsh said. "I don't think I've shut up about it since I found out."

I was sitting across the aisle from the mothers of Marsh and Miss Minnesota Teen Maisie Adams, who were in the top two. The mothers held back tears and grasped hands across their row as they waited to hear which of their daughters would be named the next Miss Teen USA.

I asked Marsh if the mothers had known each other beforehand, and she said they hadn't met until the competition.

"It just speaks volumes to the sisterhood that Miss USA has and the impact and friendships made," she said.

Multiple state directors resigned or left the organization while Laylah Rose was in charge of Miss USA, but they were never replaced. That meant eight states could not hold pageants to crown their 2025 titleholders.

In September, Brodeur announced that the organization was holding its first-ever open casting call to fill the eight missing states. He announced the winners on September 29.

Although they only had three weeks to prepare, four contestants from the Miss USA open casting call placed in the top 20: Miss Idaho Jenny Crawford, Miss New Hampshire MonaLesa Brackett, Miss Oregon Chantea McIntyre, and Miss Vermont Victoria Chuah.

McIntyre also placed in the top five and was named second runner-up.

Both Miss Teen USA and Miss USA adopted a previous feature of the Miss Universe competition, where the hosts ask each of the top 20 contestants a question after calling their name.

The questions during Miss USA and Miss Teen USA came from a list of fun facts the women provided before the show and were meant to showcase their personalities.

These brought out some great moments, like Miss Idaho Jenny Crawford shocking the audience when she revealed she had never had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, and Miss Texas Taylor Davis revealing she was addicted to WWE as a kid. The audience also loved when Miss New Jersey Ivy Harrington ended her story about eating an entire pizza with a quote from her mother: "That girl can eat."

I thought this was a great change from Miss USA's format in the past two years, where finalists didn't speak onstage until the final question round. I felt like I got to know the women right away.

The contestants who didn't make it to the top 20 were still given a chance to walk in their swimsuits and evening gowns before the finalists appeared. They also got a standing ovation after the top 20 was announced, something I can't recall seeing at past pageants I've attended.

A lot of time and money go into competing for Miss USA, so I thought it was a sweet touch that this year's pageant tried to give all the contestants some extra time in the spotlight.

This was the first year that Miss USA had a top 20 with women over the age of 28 since they became eligible to compete in 2024.

Miss Oregon Chantea McIntyre and Miss Idaho Jenny Crawford were also the first mothers to place in the competition.

Miss New Hampshire MonaLesa Brackett was the first woman to compete in a hijab and burkini during the pageant, while fourth runner-up Miss Nevada Mary Sickler became the first woman with a public alopecia diagnosis to make it to the Miss USA stage.

Hosts Olivia Jordan and Emmanuel Acho announced that this year's prizes for the winner of Miss USA included a paid modeling contract with designer Johnathan Kayne, appearances at Cannes Film Festival and various red carpet events, $75,000 in cash, and a brand-new Jaguar car.

They valued the total prize package at over $250,000.

It's tradition for the reigning Miss USA to crown her successor and take her final walk, but Cooper announced via Instagram on Friday that she would not be attending the pageant. Instead, Miss USA 2025 winner Audrey Eckert was crowned by the current Miss Universe, Victoria Kjær Theilvig.

Cooper's name is mentioned in an ongoing lawsuit between JKN Universe, the company owned by Miss Universe CEO Anne Jakrajutatip, and former Miss USA CEO Laylah Rose's company, VVV Global Ent. JKN alleged that VVV did not pay Cooper her $100,000 Miss USA salary.

"As I close this chapter, I do so with the knowledge that I finished what I started with integrity and my self-worth held high, just like the crown I was honored to wear," Cooper wrote in her statement.

The Miss USA pageant honored Cooper's reign onstage with a performance from the Brooklyn Duo. They played an instrumental version of "Shallow" while a slideshow of pictures from Cooper's time as Miss USA played in the background.

Chelsi Smith won Miss USA and Miss Universe in 1995. She died from liver cancer at the age of 45 in 2018.

During the 2025 pageant, host Olivia Jordan — a former Miss USA herself — said Smith had won the Miss Congeniality award for "nearly every single pageant she competed in," including Miss Texas and Miss USA.

Miss Delaware Tetra Shockley won this year's Miss Congeniality award. The 44-year-old also made history as the oldest woman to compete at Miss USA.

As confetti filled the theater, I spotted Eckert's dad running to the stage. He fist-pumped the air in victory while yelling, "Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!"

When I told Eckert about the moment later that night, she laughed and said her dad had done the same thing when she won the Miss Nebraska state pageant.

Spirits were high as the contestants hung out onstage after the crowning, catching up with their families and posing for pictures.

Eckert's family chanted "Big Red!" — for the University of Nebraska, Eckert's alma mater — as they walked toward the stage to greet her.

I later overheard them excitedly say, "We're going to Thailand!" — where Eckert will represent the USA at the Miss Universe 2025 pageant — and discuss tips on expediting their passports.

I also spotted many happy tears, although one pageant queen tried to hold them back.

"I can't cry," she told her family. "This makeup is too expensive."