| Miss USA 1981 | |
|---|---|
| Date | May 21, 1981 |
| Presenters | Bob Barker |
| Venue | Gulf Coast Convention Center, Biloxi, Mississippi |
| Broadcaster | CBS, WJTV |
| Entrants | 51 |
| Placements | 12 |
| Winner | Kim Seelbrede Ohio |
| Congeniality | Cynthia Kerby California |
| Photogenic | Cynthia Kerby California |
Miss USA 1981 was the 30th Miss USA pageant, televised live on May 21, 1981 from the Gulf Coast Convention Center in Biloxi, Mississippi on CBS.
The pageant was won by Kim Seelbrede of Ohio, who was crowned by outgoing titleholder Jineane Ford of Arizona. Seelbrede was the second woman from Ohio to win the Miss USA title, and went on to place as a semi-finalist in Miss Universe 1981.
The 1981 pageant featured only 50 delegates after Deborah Fountain of New York was disqualified during the preliminary judging after being found to have padded her swimsuit.[1] The final question that was asked by each of the Top Five delegates was "Your sister or best friend has been chosen for the Miss USA 1982 and she came to you for advice what would you tell her?"
This year marked the first year since 1957 a runner-up of Miss USA was sent to Miss World, this would continue until 1991 when the Miss World Organization stop accepting Runner-Ups from Miss USA, due to MUO refusing to make a public announcement during the pageant. Between 1958-1980, a separate pageant determined the US representatives at Miss World.
