Miss USA 2023

Miss USA 2023
All times in this article are Pacific Time Zone (UTC-7)
Miss USA 2023 was the 72nd Miss USA pageant, held at the Grand Sierra Resort in Reno, Nevada, on September 29, 2023.
At the end of the event, Morgan Romano of North Carolina crowned Noelia Voigt of Utah as Miss USA 2023. This is Utah's third Miss USA title and first win in sixty-three years.
The competition was hosted by Keltie Knight and Adrienne Bailon-Houghton, while Jordan Kimball and Miss USA 2022 Morgan Romano served as correspondents. This was the first edition of the pageant to be held under the directorship of fashion designer Laylah Rose, and was streamed on The CW website and mobile application. 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. This will be the third time that the pageant is held in Reno, and a second consecutive year holding the pageant 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 had been crowned Miss USA 2019 in the same venue and had died by suicide in January 2022.
On October 7, the license for Miss USA and its sister pageant Miss Teen USA were suspended and returned to the Miss Universe Organization due to allegations of rigging in the previous competition. 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 edition of the pageant, the Miss Universe Organization announced that it would accept married women and mothers to compete in the pageant. 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 the organization would be forgoing the age limit beginning in 2024, especially for its related national pageants. Adult women 29 years old and above will also be qualified for participation. Previously, contestants had to be between the ages of 18 and 28 by the start of those 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 Idaho, held on September 11, 2022, and the last state pageant was New York, held on August 6, 2023. Maine becomes 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 Zambia winner.
Results
Placements
§ – Voted into Top 20 through the online vote.
Special awards
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
Contestants
Fifty-one contestants competed for the title.
Notes
References
External links
2023
2023 beauty pageants
2023 in Nevada
Beauty pageants in the United States
September 2023 events in the United States