"It's a kind of chemistry,"said Liz Barclay, 49, a professional contestant from Annapolis, Md. "I may enter a contest with a simple and a complex recipe because you don't often know," she added.
Lazarev came out on top in the popular vote, while the professional juries placed the contestant from Australia (a minor European nation, for the purposes of this contest) in first.
To Ms. Seaney's amazement, a contestant from Texas did not know the right question.
A contestant from last year's pageant, Emmerline Nelson, 17, danced in a hot-pink romper.
"There's no chef whipping up spa cuisine," Ed Brantley, a contestant from last season, said glumly.
An older contestant, from a small town, with less than pop star looks.
He said a contestant from the show could have a similar influence.
The Chinese champion was just 14 years old; the youngest contestant (from South Korea) was merely 10.
Another Miss USA contestant from 2001 who spoke to the Guardian did not recall Trump showing inappropriate behavior.
Every two weeks, through a telephone voting process, the viewing public ejects one contestant from the house.
With a bittersweet performance of the Fleetwood Mac song "Rhiannon," Ms. Benami, 23, an "American Idol" contestant from Knoxville, Tenn., bid farewell to the competition on Wednesday night.
