Miss USA 2023
Miss USA 2023 was the 72nd Miss USA pageant, held at the Grand Sierra Resort in Reno, Nevada, on September 29, 2023. All times in this article are Pacific Time Zone
Morgan Romano of North Carolina crowned Noelia Voigt of Utah as her successor at the end of the event. This is Utah's third Miss USA title and first win in sixty-three years. Voigt resigned from the title on May 6, 2024, due to mental health. Savannah Gankiewicz of Hawaii was later announced as her successor on May 9, 2024.
The competition was hosted by Keltie Knight and Adrienne Bailon-Houghton, with Jordan Kimball and Miss USA 2022 Morgan Romano as correspondents. This was the first pageant to be held under the directorship of fashion designer Laylah Rose, and aired on The CW. It was also the last edition with an upper age limit of twenty-eight years.
Background
Location
On July 14, 2022, it was reported that the competition would be held in Reno, Nevada, with the city securing a three-year deal to host the pageant from 2022 to 2024. It was the third time that the pageant was held in Reno, and the second consecutive year in the city, following Miss USA 2019 and 2022. Then-Miss USA organization president Crystle Stewart said the location was chosen to honor Cheslie Kryst, who won Miss USA 2019 in the same venue and had died by suicide in January 2022.On October 7, due to allegations of rigging at Miss USA 2022, the franchise for the pageant and its sister pageant Miss Teen USA were suspended and returned to the Miss Universe Organization. In August 2023, it was announced that Crystle Stewart had stepped down as president of the Miss USA Organization. She was replaced by fashion designer Laylah Rose.
Selection of contestants
Starting with this competition, the Miss Universe organization announced that married women and mothers could compete. The ruling was first used in the first five editions of the pageant before being revised in 1957.In September 2023, Miss USA 2022 winner R'Bonney Gabriel announced that from 2024, there would be no maximum age limit, especially for related national pageants. Previously, contestants had to be between the ages of 18 and 28 by the start of pageants.
Delegates from the fifty states and the District of Columbia are selected in state pageants which began in September 2022 and scheduled to conclude in August 2023, as the state pageant schedule can become very dense between the last state pageant held from 2022. The first state pageant was Miss Idaho USA, held on September 11, 2022, and the last state pageant was New York USA, held on August 6, 2023. Miss Maine USA became the first married Miss USA state titleholder in sixty-six years after getting married in April 2023. Nine state titleholders were former Miss Teen USA state winners, two were former Miss World America state winners, another was a former Miss America's Outstanding Teen state titleholder, three are former Miss America state titleholders, and one is former Miss Supranational Zambian winner.
Pageant
Format
The Miss USA Organization introduced several specific changes to the format for this edition. The number of semi-finalists was increased to twenty from sixteen of the previous year. The results of the preliminary competition — which consisted of the swimsuit competition, the evening gown competition, and the closed-door interview determined the first nineteen semi-finalists who advanced at the first cut. The internet voting was also used, with fans being able to vote for another delegate to advance into the semifinals. The twenty semi-finalists competed in both the swimsuit and evening gown competitions and were to be narrowed down to five afterwards. The five finalists competed in the question and answer round, and the final speech portion, after which Miss USA 2023 and her runners-up were announced.Selection committee
- Nicole Miller – Fashion designer
- Vivica A. Fox – Actress
- Emina Cunmulaj Nazarian – Model
- Patrick Starrr – Beauty entrepreneur
- Luann de Lesseps – Television personality