Miss America 1981

Miss America 1981
Miss America 1981
	Susan Powell, Miss America 1981
Date	September 6, 1980
Presenters	Ron Ely
Venue	Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City, New Jersey
Broadcaster	NBC
Winner	Susan Powell; Oklahoma
	← 1980 1982 →

Miss America 1981, the 54th Miss America pageant, was held at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey on September 6, 1980 on NBC Network. It was the first time Ron Ely hosted, replacing Bert Parks who had hosted for 25 years.^[1] It was also historic as two black women, Lencola Sullivan of Arkansas and Doris Hayes of Washington, made the finals for the first time.^[1]

The winner, Susan Powell of Oklahoma, later became co-host of the series Home Matters on the Discovery Channel.

Results

Placements

Placement	Contestant
Miss America 1981	Oklahoma – Susan Powell^[1]
1st Runner-Up	Alabama – Paige Phillips^[1]
2nd Runner-Up	Mississippi – Donna Pope^[1] New Jersey – Therese Hanley^[1]
4th Runner-Up	Arkansas – Lencola Sullivan^[1]
Top 10	Connecticut – Jeanne Caruso New York – Cheryl Flanagan Ohio – Kathy Vernon Texas – Terri Eoff Washington – Doris Hayes

Order of announcements

Preliminary awards

Awards	Contestant
Lifestyle and Fitness	Arkansas - Lencola Sullivan Minnesota - Debra Goodwin Mississippi - Donna Pope
Talent	Alabama - Paige Phillips New York - Cheryl Flanagan Oklahoma - Susan Powell (tie) Washington - Doris Hayes (tie)

Other awards

Awards	Contestant
Non-finalist Talent	Colorado - Kimberly Christiansen Illinois - Blythe Sawyer Maryland - Lisa Marie Daskal Massachusetts - Amy Linder Minnesota - Debra Goodwin Montana - Lilly Cruise Nebraska - Paula Louise Mitchell North Carolina - Janet Black Oregon - Teresa Richardson Vermont - Carole Spolar

Delegates

State	Name	Hometown	Age	Talent	Placement	Awards	Notes
Alabama	Paige Phillips	Leeds	17	Vocal/Ventriloquism to "Rock-a-Bye Your Baby with a Dixie Melody" by Al Jolson	1st runner-up	Preliminary Talent
Alaska	Sandra Lashbrook	Eagle River
Arizona	Brenda Strong	Tempe					Actress in Desperate Housewives
Arkansas	Lencola Sullivan	Morrilton	21	Vocal, "St. Louis Blues", composed by W.C. Handy	4th runner-up	Preliminary Swimsuit	First African-American contestant to place as a runner-up at Miss America^{[citation needed]}
California	Robin Brooks	Elverta
Colorado	Kimberly Christiansen	Arvada				Non-finalist Talent
Connecticut	Jeanne Caruso	Trumbull	21	Vocal/piano, Original song, "A Song for Tomorrow"	Top 10		divorced Joe Theismann
Delaware	Andra Lee Dickerson	Newark
Florida	Caroline Dungan	Bradenton
Georgia	Lynn Smith	Savannah
Hawaii	Kanoelehua Cook	Aiea
Idaho	Leslie Taylor	Burley
Illinois	Blythe Sawyer	Naperville				Non-finalist Talent
Indiana	Teri Kardatzke	Anderson
Iowa	Jane Patton	Council Bluffs
Kansas	K. Leann Folsom	Wichita
Kentucky	Daphne Cochran	Louisville
Louisiana	Martha "Missy" Crews	Baton Rouge
Maine	Valerie Crooker	Brunswick					Miss Maine USA 1979
Maryland	Lisa Marie Daskal	Cumberland				Non-finalist Talent
Massachusetts	Amy Linder	Lowell				Non-finalist Talent
Michigan	Heidi Hepler	Livonia
Minnesota	Debra Goodwin	Austin				Preliminary Swimsuit, Non-finalist Talent
Mississippi	Donna Pope	McNeil	24	Ballet on pointe to Overture from "Oklahoma!"	2nd runner-up (tie)	Preliminary Swimsuit
Missouri	Carla LaFevre	Harrisonville
Montana	Lilly Cruise	Miles City				Non-finalist Talent
Nebraska	Paula Louise Mitchell	Norfolk				Non-finalist Talent
Nevada	Phyllis Hamlin	Reno
New Hampshire	Diane McGarry	Manchester
New Jersey	Therese Hanley	Jersey City		"Starting Here, Starting Now" by Barbra Streisand	2nd runner-up (tie)
New Mexico	Teresa Elizabeth Anderson	Hobbs
New York	Cheryl Flanagan	Rochester	18	Tap dance to Overture from "That's Entertainment, Part II"	Top 10	Preliminary Talent
North Carolina	Janet Black	Kannapolis				Non-finalist Talent	Top 5 at Maid of Cotton 1980
North Dakota	Karen Moe	Minot
Ohio	Kathy Vernon	Youngstown	24	Vocal, "I Have Dreamed" from The King and I	Top 10
Oklahoma	Susan Powell	Elk City	21	Operatic vocal, "Lucy's Aria" from Gian Carlo Menotti's opera "The Telephone"	Miss America 1981	Preliminary Talent (tie)
Oregon	Teresa Richardson	Forest Grove				Non-finalist Talent
Pennsylvania	Anita Ellen Patton	Lebanon
Rhode Island	Dawn Potter	Pascoag
South Carolina	Donna Jewell	Columbia
South Dakota	Carol Barnett	Sioux Falls
Tennessee	Sarah Leonard	Jonesborough
Texas	Terri Eoff	Lubbock	19	Dramatic Monologue from "A Bad Play for an Old Lady" by Elizabeth Lovett	Top 10
Utah	Jean Bullard	Provo
Vermont	Carole Spolar	St. Albans				Non-finalist Talent
Virginia	Holly Jereme	Roanoke
Washington	Doris Hayes	Tacoma	20	Vocal, "Our Love Is Here to Stay" by George Gershwin	Top 10	Preliminary Talent (tie)	First African-American preliminary winner^{[citation needed]}
West Virginia	Pamela Ellen Paugh	Charleston					Aunt of JonBenét Ramsey, Sister of Miss West Virginia 1977
Wisconsin	Dana Spychalla	Appleton
Wyoming	Susan Pennington	Casper