CNN –
Noelia Voigt of Utah was crowned the new Miss USA Friday night in Reno, Nevada, at the height of the 2023 beauty pageant at the Grand Sierra Resort, broadcast live on the CW Network. Savannah Gankiewicz of Hawaii took first place.
The 23-year-old Voigt beat 50 other state champions in the beauty contest. At the start of the televised competition, the field was narrowed to 20 finalists and, after the required swimsuit and evening wear, was reduced to just five – Voigt, Gankiewicz, Jasmine Daniels of Pennsylvania, Lluvia Alzate of Texas and Alexis Loomans of Wisconsin.
When asked in the final question-and-answer session what she would bring to the Miss Universe Organization as a “brand ambassador” and Miss USA, Voigt touted being a “bilingual Venezuelan-American” and promised that she would will connect with various communities across the United States.
Judges included Vivica A. Fox, former “Real Housewife” Luann de Lesseps and beauty vlogger Patrick Starrr.
The competition aimed to provide “a modern and progressive approach to a 70-year-old tradition,” said Laylah Rose, president and CEO of the Miss USA organization, in a statement released in early September. Following a recent rule change implemented by the Miss Universe Organization, this year’s Miss USA featured the first married state titleholder: Juliana Morehouse-Locklear of Maine. (Morehouse-Locklear, the daughter of a contestant in the 1994 Miss USA pageant, did not make the top 20.)
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Miss USA R’Bonney Gabriel will be crowned Miss Universe 2022 on January 14 in New Orleans.
Voigt succeeds Miss USA 2022, Morgan Romano of North Carolina. Romano herself took over the title from R’Bonney Gabriel of Texas, who was crowned Miss Universe 2022 in January.
Gabriel’s victory at the 2022 Miss USA pageant was marred by claims from some of her fellow contestants that the competition was “rigged” in her favor.
In the weeks following her crowning in October 2022, Miss USA’s parent company, the Miss Universe Organization, launched an investigation and suspended then-Miss USA national director Crystle Stewart – winner of the 2008 Miss USA pageant – and her company, Miss Brands.
Gabriel, Stewart and other officials all denied the allegations. “There was no unfair advantage and nothing was manipulated,” Gabriel told E! News at the time, while Stewart said in a statement: “The last thing I would ever want to do is discredit participants or deny them an equal opportunity to compete fairly.” I would fulfill my dream of leading an organization that empowering these young women, never putting them at risk.”
In August, the pageant announced the end of its partnership with Stewart. In a statement confirming that a “thorough and comprehensive investigation” into the allegations made against the beauty pageant determined them to be false, Miss USA said that “(the Miss Universe Organization) and Crystle “after much discussion and “Deliberations were unable to reach an agreement”. As for Crystle and Miss Brand’s continued commitment… Crystle has decided to use the success she has had with the Miss USA Organization to pursue other entrepreneurial passions.”
On Thursday evening, 16-year-old UmaSofia Srivastava of New Jersey was also crowned Miss Teen USA at the Grand Sierra Resort. Stephanie Skinner, 19, of New York, took first place.