The 2,400-seat Miami theater lit up like a Coldplay concert when the QR code dropped at the Miss USA pageant. A sea of phones — held up by supportive parents, partners, and past pageant queens — trained their cameras on the massive barcode being projected from center stage, ready to vote for their favored contestant.
Twelve minutes on the clock: The countdown was on.
Fingers tapped rapidly as the audience used their free vote or purchased more in bundles — $50 for 50, $250 for 250, $500 for 500 — alongside viewers at home. The top 20 contestants’ headshots shifted around the leaderboard as the votes tallied live on the pageant’s website…
