Miss USA 1980
Date	May 15, 1980
Presenters	Bob Barker Helen O'Connell Jayne Kennedy
Entertainment	Donny Osmond
Venue	Gulf Coast Convention Center, Biloxi, Mississippi
Broadcaster	CBS WJTV
Entrants	51
Placements	12
Winner	Shawn Weatherly South Carolina
Congeniality	Robbin English Montana
Photogenic	Jineane Ford Arizona Kim Thomas Ohio
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Miss USA 1980 was the 29th Miss USA pageant, televised live on May 15 from the Gulf Coast Convention Center in Biloxi, Mississippi on CBS.

The pageant was won by Shawn Weatherly of South Carolina, who was crowned by outgoing titleholder Mary Therese Friel of New York. Weatherly would later win the Miss Universe 1980 pageant, and first runner-up Jineane Ford of Arizona inherited the Miss USA title for the remainder of the year. Weatherly later became an actress, featured in the television series Baywatch.

Results

Placements

∞ Weatherly won Miss Universe 1980. Due to protocol, Weatherly resigns her title as Miss USA 1980. 1st runner-up, Jineane Ford, replaces her as Miss USA.

Semifinal scores

State Preliminary Average Interview Swimsuit Evening Gown Semifinal Average  Nebraska 8.450 (5) 7.938 (10) 7.489 (11) 7.832 (8) 7.753 (10)  Arizona 8.317 (8) 8.950 (4) 8.670 (4) 8.701 (2) 8.774 (2)  South Carolina 9.086 (1) 9.082 (1) 9.097 (1) 9.567 (1) 9.249 (1)  Minnesota 8.083 (12) 7.858 (11) 7.031 (12) 7.518 (12) 7.469 (12)  Texas 8.503 (4) 7.417 (12) 8.008 (9) 7.703 (10) 7.709 (11)  Florida 8.924 (3) 9.029 (2) 8.953 (2) 8.313 (4) 8.765 (3)  Alabama 8.334 (7) 8.822 (5) 8.775 (3) 8.268 (5) 8.621 (4)  New Mexico 8.998 (2) 8.804 (6) 8.438 (5) 7.968 (7) 8.403 (6)  Maryland 8.344 (6) 8.498 (7) 8.167 (8) 8.176 (6) 8.280 (7)  New Hampshire 8.104 (11) 8.029 (9) 7.826 (10) 7.625 (11) 7.827 (9)  Kentucky 8.247 (9) 8.989 (3) 8.347 (6) 8.457 (3) 8.598 (5)  New York 8.119 (10) 8.477 (8) 8.217 (7) 7.828 (9) 8.174 (8)

Legend   Winner   First Runner-up   Second Runner-up   Third Runner-up   Fourth Runner-up   Top 12 Semifinalist (#) Rank in each round of competition

Preliminary swimsuit scores

The following is the contestants average scores in the Preliminary swimsuit competition.

Special awards

Historical significance

• South Carolina wins competition for the second time. Incidentally, Weatherly  went on to become the fifth woman from the USA to win the Miss Universe title in 1980.
• Arizona earns the 1st runner-up position for the second time. The last time it placed this was in 1965. Besides it became the 20th state who wins the Miss USA title for the first time. She finished as 1st runner-up, but succeeded as Miss USA 1980 after Shawn Weatherly became Miss Universe.
• Florida earns the 2nd runner-up position for the third time. The last time it placed this was in 1967.
• Alabama earns the 3rd runner-up position for the first time.
• Kentucky earns the 4th runner-up position for the third time. The last time it placed this was in 1971.
• States that placed in semifinals the previous year were Arizona, New York and Texas.
• Texas placed for the sixth consecutive year.
• Arizona and New York made their second consecutive placement.
• Florida and New Mexico last placed in 1978.
• Minnesota last placed in 1977.
• South Carolina last placed in 1976.
• Alabama and Kentucky last placed in 1975.
• Maryland and Nebraska last placed in 1973.
• New Hampshire last placed in 1962.
• Massachusetts breaks an ongoing streak of placements since 1978.
• Hawaii and Virginia break an ongoing streak of placements since 1977.
• California breaks an ongoing streak of placements since 1957.

Delegates

The Miss USA 1980 delegates were:

Judges

• Judi Andersen
• Gerald Fitzgerald
• Anita Gillette
• Peter Max
• Bob Kane
• Richard Kline
• Joan Prather
• Rosie Vela
• Adam West