Hopeful young girls from the fifty states in the USA gathered at the Planet Hollywood Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas to be put under strict scrutiny in the spotlight.

21-year-old Alyssa Campanello, who was Miss California, was the winner of the night when she walked away with the title of Miss USA 2011.

Campanello is a self-professed history geek, proving that beauty and brains can, in fact, go hand-in-hand.

The delegates of the Miss USA 2011 pageant were all vying to be crowned this year's Miss USA, and the winner would go on to represent US at the prestigious annual Miss Universe pageant, which is the most publicised beauty pageant with 600 million viewers worldwide.

Click on the photos for more on the Miss USA 2011 hopefuls and to witness the moment where Campanello was crowned Miss USA 2011.