ROAD TO MISS USA 2023 // UTAH IS MISS USA 2023

[Queen of the Clouds]

Okay, so where do I begin. First let me address some things about state-hopping because there seems to be confusion. No, I don't like state-hopping, I think it is disrespectful and cheating through a loophole. When it comes to Shanna's states, let's not pretend as if there is not a state-hopping problem. Local Nevadan women have been shut out from winning their state title in all but one year for more than a decade, that is a problem. It is also even more a problem when past Shanna titleholders have said that her state pageants are rigged for the girls that she personally invites to compete (aka, the state-hoppers), so this is not nearly as innocent as just a girl deciding to move to Utah and compete there. But that is not even the point. Yeah, I loved Alyssa Campanella and yeah I liked Nevada this year, I am capable of liking state-hoppers. But there are deep differences between what they did and what Noelia did. State-hopping to a state like California, where half its residents probably migrated there from different states, is not a big deal. It's the most-populous state in the country, girls state-hop OUT of California because it's too hard to win a title there for most. I don't care Alyssa went to California because if anything she made things harder for herself by doing that, she wasn't looking for an easy ticket to Miss USA she was just looking for a better prize package/director than New Jersey offered at the time, and her risky gamble ended up paying off. Josie also state-hopped on what should have been her last year of age eligibility after she lost in her home state, and while I'd rather she just let things end naturally, I understand why she did it. Noelia is 23 years old, had only competed in the Miss USA system twice before deciding to state-hop, and went to a state that is known nationally for being a quasi-nation state for its own people (the Mormons). I don't respect that, wait your turn and stop stealing opportunities from the women of Utah because you don't have patience.

I am also not going to expand on this next point because this is not my story to tell (unless someone else wants to tell it), but there are unsavory things floating around the US pageantry world about Noelia which made me sour on her from the moment I heard them several months ago, and which is partially why I have been vocal against her since. Yes, I know I'm torturing you by leaving that teaser in and I'm sorry, but I'm not going to spill what happened when I was asked to not.

Moving on from that, I started out kind of optimistic about this Laylah Rose era of Miss USA, but I don't really know if I am anymore? The production quality for prelims was great, but I think that it's kind of the assumption that whatever the production level of prelims is should be increased for finals, and this did not happen. I felt like I was just watching prelims again and the fact someone on YouTube duped everyone by livestreaming prelims and pretending it's finals shows that. I still think the production quality was better than what we got from the FYI era, but it was still not FOX era and this didn't really look like a show aired nationally on American broadcast television to me. The format was also terrible. I don't know who told Laylah that a 20-5 cut was a good idea, because it was not. That is a tremendous cut and there is no reason for it. I quite frankly do not want to watch 20 girls in evening gown, especially given this batch was not even strong. The Q&A round was also really underwhelming and borderline unprofessional. Giving every girl the same question is not interesting; yes, it increases the fairness (but more on that soon), but the difficulty of the question was really low and they basically just asked every girl to sum up their resume. This is the kind of question you ask the Top 3 after they all passed their more difficult question round and it's already been proven that they can think on the spot. I'm sure every single girl was asked a question along the exact same line as this one during their interviews and already had something near-memorized. I feel like directors feel bad for the girls and don't want them to embarrass themselves in Q&A, but why would you want a titleholder who was capable of embarrassing themselves in Q&A? With questions like this, you'll never know, and we know Miss Universe doesn't hit them with kid gloves when it comes to speaking. And regarding fairness, did nobody else notice that each girl waiting to answer held her own headphones? That is beyond unprofessional. There should be four assistants on stage holding those headphones for them, you think ANY of those girls said to themselves "I'm going to be very honest and make sure I can't hear the question whatsoever before it's my turn" ? Of course not, you know they all cheated and held those headphones mad lightly so they heard the question when it was first asked and then spent the rest of the time coming up with an answer. It's not a coincidence Utah, Hawaii, and Pennsylvania gave the best answers.

Now for the actual results. I think the Top 20 was MOSTLY coherent. There were a few sneaks in there (New Jersey and Alabama mainly for me) and New Mexico is perhaps the most disastrous fan vote result I've ever seen. She was honestly #51 out of 51 contestants in this batch, I'm sorry. The fan vote honestly should not even exist, it's just a "which girl has the family and friends with the most disposable income," there are not enough obsessed fans to actually spend their money and vote a "fan favorite" into semifinals, it's just a money making scheme for the organization that the richest girl benefits off of. Of course, I have to mention the shocking El Tocuyo Rachelle. I think we all imagined a scenario where this was going to happen after prelims, but I didn't think she'd clap entirely, just like a shock non-Top 5. She also could have bombed her interview and we'll never know that, but alas, it is what it is. She didn't have the winners glow anymore after prelims even if I wanted to pretend that she did. I will give credit where credit is due and say that these swimsuits were amazing, I really loved them. Perhaps the best Miss USA swimsuits there have been in a long time. I would have preferred there were no one-piece options, but the only girl who had one was New Mexico and we all knew she was dead in the water.

I started losing a bit of hope when the Top 5 came. It wasn't a bad Top 5, but I felt like they cut a lot of the standouts and instead went for more mid-tier girls. Like Wisconsin and Pennsylvania? They were cute, I liked them, but Illinois, Maryland, Nevada, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, even Washington and DC caught my attention more than they did. Still it's definitely nowhere near the sneaks that IMG era (aka, Paula era) got away with, so I can't really complain. In Top 5, I'm sorry but Hawaii gave hands-down the best answer. Utah fell into what I describe as "nice voice, less nice answer." She talks with conviction and confidence but the content of her answer was blah and, like I said, she only knows how to talk about being bilingual and half-Venezuelan, literally every interview and question I've ever seen her answer, she has brought it up, and it's the only thing she ever brings up. How is this a brand, and you're Miss USA, not Miss half-Venezuela. I am very proud to have immigrant parents but if I was competing for a national title in the US, I'm not going to constantly shout out what country my family is from because I am not competing to be Miss Estonia I am competing to be Miss USA. That is something I have always been slightly irritated by in pageantry, and I feel like these girls are desperate to find their "thing" because they aren't the lawyer, they aren't the soldier, they aren't the woman in STEM, so they just make their personal heritage their entire brand. This is not going to carry her far at Miss Universe unless she diversifies (ironically) in some way. Unfortunately though, the minute I heard Utah's answer I knew she would win because as much as I dislike these kinds of answers, they are the kind of answers that win pageants, and especially when paired with her type of speaking voice. Besides the winner, I thought the progression of the runners-up made complete sense, just would have given Hawaii the crown instead. After Chelsea Hardin I didn't think I'd get another Hawaii 1RU heartbreak again so soon, but here we are.

I do not plan on following Noelia's reign because I honestly (if you couldn't tell by me not running the Miss USA threads anymore) do not follow Miss USA much anymore. But I recommend you all to come join us on the Road to Miss France, which is the best pageant in the world!

[itsrowdy801]

Okay, so where do I begin. First let me address some things about state-hopping because there seems to be confusion. No, I don't like state-hopping, I think it is disrespectful and cheating through a loophole. When it comes to Shanna's states, let's not pretend as if there is not a state-hopping problem. Local Nevadan women have been shut out from winning their state title in all but one year for more than a decade, that is a problem. It is also even more a problem when past Shanna titleholders have said that her state pageants are rigged for the girls that she personally invites to compete (aka, the state-hoppers), so this is not nearly as innocent as just a girl deciding to move to Utah and compete there. But that is not even the point. Yeah, I loved Alyssa Campanella and yeah I liked Nevada this year, I am capable of liking state-hoppers. But there are deep differences between what they did and what Noelia did. State-hopping to a state like California, where half its residents probably migrated there from different states, is not a big deal. It's the most-populous state in the country, girls state-hop OUT of California because it's too hard to win a title there for most. I don't care Alyssa went to California because if anything she made things harder for herself by doing that, she wasn't looking for an easy ticket to Miss USA she was just looking for a better prize package/director than New Jersey offered at the time, and her risky gamble ended up paying off. Josie also state-hopped on what should have been her last year of age eligibility after she lost in her home state, and while I'd rather she just let things end naturally, I understand why she did it. Noelia is 23 years old, had only competed in the Miss USA system twice before deciding to state-hop, and went to a state that is known nationally for being a quasi-nation state for its own people (the Mormons). I don't respect that, wait your turn and stop stealing opportunities from the women of Utah because you don't have patience.

I am also not going to expand on this next point because this is not my story to tell (unless someone else wants to tell it), but there are unsavory things floating around the US pageantry world about Noelia which made me sour on her from the moment I heard them several months ago, and which is partially why I have not been vocal against her since. Yes, I know I'm torturing you by leaving that teaser in and I'm sorry, but I'm not going to spill what happened when I was asked to not.

Moving on from that, I started out kind of optimistic about this Laylah Rose era of Miss USA, but I don't really know if I am anymore? The production quality for prelims was great, but I think that it's kind of the assumption that whatever the production level of prelims is should be increased for finals, and this did not happen. I felt like I was just watching prelims again and the fact someone on YouTube duped everyone by livestreaming prelims and pretending it's finals shows that. I still think the production quality was better than what we got from the FYI era, but it was still not FOX era and this didn't really look like a show aired nationally on American broadcast television to me. The format was also terrible. I don't know who told Laylah that a 20-5 cut was a good idea, because it was not. That is a tremendous cut and there is no reason for it. I quite frankly do not want to watch 20 girls in evening gown, especially given this batch was not even strong. The Q&A round was also really underwhelming and borderline unprofessional. Giving every girl the same question is not interesting; yes, it increases the fairness (but more on that soon), but the difficulty of the question was really low and they basically just asked every girl to sum up their resume. This is the kind of question you ask the Top 3 after they all passed their more difficult question round and it's already been proven that they can think on the spot. I'm sure every single girl was asked a question along the exact same line as this one during their interviews and already had something near-memorized. I feel like directors feel bad for the girls and don't want them to embarrass themselves in Q&A, but why would you want a titleholder who was capable of embarrassing themselves in Q&A? With questions like this, you'll never know, and we know Miss Universe doesn't hit them with kid gloves when it comes to speaking. And regarding fairness, did nobody else notice that each girl waiting to answer held her own headphones? That is beyond unprofessional. There should be four assistants on stage holding those headphones for them, you think ANY of those girls said to themselves "I'm going to be very honest and make sure I can't hear the question whatsoever before it's my turn" ? Of course not, you know they all cheated and held those headphones mad lightly so they heard the question when it was first asked and then spent the rest of the time coming up with an answer. It's not a coincidence Utah, Hawaii, and Pennsylvania gave the best answers.

Now for the actual results. I think the Top 20 was MOSTLY coherent. There were a few sneaks in there (New Jersey and Alabama mainly for me) and New Mexico is perhaps the most disastrous fan vote result I've ever seen. She was honestly #51 out of 51 contestants in this batch, I'm sorry. The fan vote honestly should not even exist, it's just a "which girl has the family and friends with the most disposable income," there are not enough obsessed fans to actually spend their money and vote a "fan favorite" into semifinals, it's just a money making scheme for the organization that the richest girl benefits off of. Of course, I have to mention the shocking El Tocuyo Rachelle. I think we all imagined a scenario where this was going to happen after prelims, but I didn't think she'd clap entirely, just like a shock non-Top 5. She also could have bombed her interview and we'll never know that, but alas, it is what it is. She didn't have the winners glow anymore after prelims even if I wanted to pretend that she did. I will give credit where credit is due and say that these swimsuits were amazing, I really loved them. Perhaps the best Miss USA swimsuits there have been in a long time. I would have preferred there were no one-piece options, but the only girl who had one was New Mexico and we all knew she was dead in the water.

I started losing a bit of hope when the Top 5 came. It wasn't a bad Top 5, but I felt like they cut a lot of the standouts and instead went for more mid-tier girls. Like Wisconsin and Pennsylvania? They were cute, I liked them, but Illinois, Maryland, Nevada, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, even Washington and DC caught my attention more than they did. Still it's definitely nowhere near the sneaks that IMG era (aka, Paula era) got away with, so I can't really complain. In Top 5, I'm sorry but Hawaii gave hands-down the best answer. Utah fell into what I describe as "nice voice, less nice answer." She talks with conviction and confidence but the content of her answer was blah and, like I said, she only knows how to talk about being bilingual and half-Venezuelan, literally every interview and question I've ever seen her answer, she has brought it up, and it's the only thing she ever brings up. How is this a brand, and you're Miss USA, not Miss half-Venezuela. I am very proud to have immigrant parents but if I was competing for a national title in the US, I'm not going to constantly shout out what country my family is from because I am not competing to be Miss Estonia I am competing to be Miss USA. That is something I have always been slightly irritated by in pageantry, and I feel like these girls are desperate to find their "thing" because they aren't the lawyer, they aren't the soldier, they aren't the woman in STEM, so they just make their personal heritage their entire brand. This is not going to carry her far at Miss Universe unless she diversifies (ironically) in some way. Unfortunately though, the minute I heard Utah's answer I knew she would win because as much as I dislike these kinds of answers, they are the kind of answers that win pageants, and especially when paired with her type of speaking voice. Besides the winner, I thought the progression of the runners-up made complete sense, just would have given Hawaii the crown instead. After Chelsea Hardin I didn't think I'd get another Hawaii 1RU heartbreak again so soon, but here we are.

I do not plan on following Noelia's reign because I honestly (if you couldn't tell by me not running the Miss USA threads anymore) do not follow Miss USA much anymore. But I recommend you all to come join us on the Road to Miss France, which is the best pageant in the world!

This is a fabulous write-up, and "you're Miss USA, not Miss half-Venezuela" may be my favorite line of all from it. It's always bothered me when contestants of a certain heritage make their state costume based on said heritage with little to no tie-in to the state across their chest, like Massachusetts 2021 or North Dakota this year, and I think this runs in a similar vein. Just being of a certain heritage is not a platform, it's just a fact. If Noelia had much substance beyond that fact and occasionally mentioned her heritage I don't think I'd have a problem with it at all, but she doesn't so all she has left to lean back on is "VIVA VENEZUELA!" everytime she opens her mouth. And if that's the case, she should have competed there if she wanted to carpetbag.

I think this is my wake-up call when it comes to statehopping. My selfish ass has forgiven it when its other people's states, but what with my state waiting 63 years for a title and it goes to a girl from fucking Sarasota, I don't like that. Especially with max ages being removed, there's no excuse for it anymore. Compete where you live. I will be much less forgiving of it going forward.

Anyway, I can't be bothered to come up with an official thread at this point, if anyone else wants to go ahead.

[Queen of the Clouds]

I'm watching How to Fix a Pageant now and will publish a summary when I'm done for anyone interested!

[Kiwi]

Look, well said girl. I give it up to you. I mean I don't know about the secret stuff about Noelia, but she did move her ass to SLC. I still respect the f out of your contributions.

There's also something to be said about getting to Miss USA when you're at your prime. And some girls lose a lot of their freshness when they've been in the system too long.
Utah now has a Miss USA. And Noelia won when she's at her peak. So this wait another year crap is kinda BS to me.

We'll see how she levels up for Universe but she served what she needed to BE Miss USA.

I think the perfect format is 20 (swim) to 12 (gown) to 6 (Q&A) to 3 (final question/statement). As for the Laylah Rose era, I'll give her slack this first year because there has been a big improvement and she had to pull this together quickly. The judges were respectable. Next year I'm expecting performers back and girls back on stage though.

[itsrowdy801]

Look, well said girl. I give it up to you. I mean I don't know about the secret stuff about Noelia, but she did move her ass to SLC. I still respect the f out of your contributions.

There's also something to be said about getting to Miss USA when you're at your prime. And some girls lose a lot of their freshness when they've been in the system too long.
Utah now has a Miss USA. And Noelia won when she's at her peak. So this wait another year crap is kinda BS to me.

We'll see how she levels up for Universe but she served what she needed to BE Miss USA.

I think the perfect format is 20 (swim) to 12 (gown) to 6 (Q&A) to 3 (final question/statement). As for the Laylah Rose era, I'll give her slack this first year because there has been a big improvement and she had to pull this together quickly. The judges were respectable. Next year I'm expecting performers back and girls back on stage though.

Babe we have a Miss USA with an asterisk. Agree on the format though, a 20 to 5 cut is insane and i would take pretty much any format over that

[kurtij]

I JUST KNOW THAT THERE ARE BETTER OPTIONS.

[itsrowdy801]

I take it back the 2021 format was worse but still.

Just do 16 to 10 to 5, maybe another cut to 3 if you want I don't have a preference, and then crown.

[Kiwi]

Also, the you're Miss USA not Miss half-Venezuela is kinda ugly to me, sorry. It's a little xenophobic. The US especially prides itself on diversity so being half-Venezuelan is a point of personal pride. Yes these talking points get tiring, but it does help more girls of diverse backgrounds see themselves in those competing.

You have to work with what you have. Not every Miss USA is going to be a doctor, or a girl from STEM. It's not my favourite type of answer (and indeed I marked her as 3RU for it) but just because she emphaises her culture doesn't mean she's not worthy of being Miss USA. In fact, she used it as a talking point to connect with all different types of people she will be representing. Especially in contrast to Miss PA's answer, which was worded so clumsily that it lost her a fighting chance for the crown.

[Queen of the Clouds]

Look, well said girl. I give it up to you. I mean I don't know about the secret stuff about Noelia, but she did move her ass to SLC. I still respect the f out of your contributions.

There's also something to be said about getting to Miss USA when you're at your prime. And some girls lose a lot of their freshness when they've been in the system too long.
Utah now has a Miss USA. And Noelia won when she's at her peak. So this wait another year crap is kinda BS to me.

We'll see how she levels up for Universe but she served what she needed to BE Miss USA.

I think the perfect format is 20 (swim) to 12 (gown) to 6 (Q&A) to 3 (final question/statement). As for the Laylah Rose era, I'll give her slack this first year because there has been a big improvement and she had to pull this together quickly. The judges were respectable. Next year I'm expecting performers back and girls back on stage though.

What I will just say is how do we know this is Noelia's peak? She's not winning Miss Universe 2023, maybe she would have won Miss Universe 2024? We don't know a girl's full potential until she starts going downhill, this may have been the worst year for her win and next year would have been the best. It's just all speculation. Plus, Noelia is only 23 and there's like a 95% chance she would have won Alabama 2024, and I don't see her losing her freshness at age 24 unless she did something stupid like pump herself full of filler and botox.

I agree with you on the rest of your points though.

[Kiwi]

Look, well said girl. I give it up to you. I mean I don't know about the secret stuff about Noelia, but she did move her ass to SLC. I still respect the f out of your contributions.

There's also something to be said about getting to Miss USA when you're at your prime. And some girls lose a lot of their freshness when they've been in the system too long.
Utah now has a Miss USA. And Noelia won when she's at her peak. So this wait another year crap is kinda BS to me.

We'll see how she levels up for Universe but she served what she needed to BE Miss USA.

I think the perfect format is 20 (swim) to 12 (gown) to 6 (Q&A) to 3 (final question/statement). As for the Laylah Rose era, I'll give her slack this first year because there has been a big improvement and she had to pull this together quickly. The judges were respectable. Next year I'm expecting performers back and girls back on stage though.

Babe we have a Miss USA with an asterisk. Agree on the format though, a 20 to 5 cut is insane and i would take pretty much any format over that

She's an American! She's Miss USA. She qualified. Where's the asterisk?

You're saying Nia and Alyssa have asterisks as well then! I bet you won't have this same energy if it had been Josie. Be real.

[Queen of the Clouds]

Also, the you're Miss USA not Miss half-Venezuela is kinda ugly to me, sorry. It's a little xenophobic. The US especially prides itself on diversity so being half-Venezuelan is a point of personal pride. Yes these talking points get tiring, but it does help more girls of diverse backgrounds see themselves in those competing.

You have to work with what you have. Not every Miss USA is going to be a doctor, or a girl from STEM. It's not my favourite type of answer (and indeed I marked her as 3RU for it) but just because she emphaises her culture doesn't mean she's not worthy of being Miss USA. In fact, she used it as a talking point to connect with all different types of people she will be representing. Especially in contrast to Miss PA's answer, which was worded so clumsily that it lost her a fighting chance for the crown.

Girl my parents are immigrants, it's not xenophobic. If I went around competing at Miss USA and making my brand "I'm the Eastern European girl" I hope you would laugh me off the stage.

If you can't win in the "impressive career" mold, then develop an interesting advocacy, publish a children's book, start a nonprofit, it's not that hard to come up with something other than "I'm Venezuelan." That's what most of these girls try to do anyways. All I can really remember from Noelia is just being half-Venezuelan and bilingual, I don't know why you'd want to be known for what your parents are rather than the actions that you do.

[Kiwi]

Look, well said girl. I give it up to you. I mean I don't know about the secret stuff about Noelia, but she did move her ass to SLC. I still respect the f out of your contributions.

There's also something to be said about getting to Miss USA when you're at your prime. And some girls lose a lot of their freshness when they've been in the system too long.
Utah now has a Miss USA. And Noelia won when she's at her peak. So this wait another year crap is kinda BS to me.

We'll see how she levels up for Universe but she served what she needed to BE Miss USA.

I think the perfect format is 20 (swim) to 12 (gown) to 6 (Q&A) to 3 (final question/statement). As for the Laylah Rose era, I'll give her slack this first year because there has been a big improvement and she had to pull this together quickly. The judges were respectable. Next year I'm expecting performers back and girls back on stage though.

What I will just say is how do we know this is Noelia's peak? She's not winning Miss Universe 2023, maybe she would have won Miss Universe 2024? We don't know a girl's full potential until she starts going downhill, this may have been the worst year for her win and next year would have been the best. It's just all speculation. Plus, Noelia is only 23 and there's like a 95% chance she would have won Alabama 2024, and I don't see her losing her freshness at age 24 unless she did something stupid like pump herself full of filler and botox.

I agree with you on the rest of your points though.

Exactly! And who's to say what her peak is? Say she wins AL in two years in she doesn't have the spark does she have now. She won Miss USA now. So it clearly worked out for her! Being in the same pageant system and losing for years could turn girls into ultra pageant patties. She seized her moment and she won Miss USA now! So she clearly made the right decision.

And a lot of Misses probably don't expect to be Miss Universe. Most want to win Miss USA and then focus on Universe depending on how hungry they are. The USA girls almost always compete harder for their national title.

[itsrowdy801]

Look, well said girl. I give it up to you. I mean I don't know about the secret stuff about Noelia, but she did move her ass to SLC. I still respect the f out of your contributions.

There's also something to be said about getting to Miss USA when you're at your prime. And some girls lose a lot of their freshness when they've been in the system too long.
Utah now has a Miss USA. And Noelia won when she's at her peak. So this wait another year crap is kinda BS to me.

We'll see how she levels up for Universe but she served what she needed to BE Miss USA.

I think the perfect format is 20 (swim) to 12 (gown) to 6 (Q&A) to 3 (final question/statement). As for the Laylah Rose era, I'll give her slack this first year because there has been a big improvement and she had to pull this together quickly. The judges were respectable. Next year I'm expecting performers back and girls back on stage though.

Babe we have a Miss USA with an asterisk. Agree on the format though, a 20 to 5 cut is insane and i would take pretty much any format over that

She's an American! She's Miss USA. She qualified. Where's the asterisk?

You're saying Nia and Alyssa have asterisks as well then! I bet you won't have this same energy if it had been Josie. Be real.

Yes, she's American, but she's not really a Utahn.

And I get it, I wasn't born in Utah either, but I have lived here on-and-off since my teen years and this is my state. She moved here to compete, and I do respect that she bothered to actually move here unlike some people, but it doesn't feel the same. And I am more sympathetic to statehoppers like Josie who were about to age out, but it's moot going forward since that's not a factor anymore. And Noelia had a lot more years to win in Florida or Alabama, rather than just jump to the first state director who dangled a carrot.

[Kiwi]

Also, the you're Miss USA not Miss half-Venezuela is kinda ugly to me, sorry. It's a little xenophobic. The US especially prides itself on diversity so being half-Venezuelan is a point of personal pride. Yes these talking points get tiring, but it does help more girls of diverse backgrounds see themselves in those competing.

You have to work with what you have. Not every Miss USA is going to be a doctor, or a girl from STEM. It's not my favourite type of answer (and indeed I marked her as 3RU for it) but just because she emphaises her culture doesn't mean she's not worthy of being Miss USA. In fact, she used it as a talking point to connect with all different types of people she will be representing. Especially in contrast to Miss PA's answer, which was worded so clumsily that it lost her a fighting chance for the crown.

Girl my parents are immigrants, it's not xenophobic. If I went around competing at Miss USA and making my brand "I'm the Eastern European girl" I hope you would laugh me off the stage.

If you can't win in the "impressive career" mold, then develop an interesting advocacy, publish a children's book, start a nonprofit, it's not that hard to come up with something other than "I'm Venezuelan." That's what most of these girls try to do anyways. All I can really remember from Noelia is just being half-Venezuelan and bilingual, I don't know why you'd want to be known for what your parents are rather than the actions that you do.

The tone IS xenophobic. Being part of an immigrant family doesn't preclude you from having xenophobic thoughts/actions. In fact there are HEAPS of immigrants who get to first world countries and pull the ladder up after them now that they've got theirs. That's not what you're doing. But miss me with that sentiment.

It depends on your story. You as an Estonian-American might be laughed because you largely don't get the same treatment as other immigrants of colour. You are more likely to be seen as a white woman first and foremost. Whereas other immigrant are seen as "other" first. That's why it's such a big talking point to be proud of your heritage. So you inspire confidence and acceptance of your own identity in the face of a white surpemacist society. So it is a valid angle to have and your devaluation for it is extremely telling of your privilege.

[Queen of the Clouds]

Also, the you're Miss USA not Miss half-Venezuela is kinda ugly to me, sorry. It's a little xenophobic. The US especially prides itself on diversity so being half-Venezuelan is a point of personal pride. Yes these talking points get tiring, but it does help more girls of diverse backgrounds see themselves in those competing.

You have to work with what you have. Not every Miss USA is going to be a doctor, or a girl from STEM. It's not my favourite type of answer (and indeed I marked her as 3RU for it) but just because she emphaises her culture doesn't mean she's not worthy of being Miss USA. In fact, she used it as a talking point to connect with all different types of people she will be representing. Especially in contrast to Miss PA's answer, which was worded so clumsily that it lost her a fighting chance for the crown.

Girl my parents are immigrants, it's not xenophobic. If I went around competing at Miss USA and making my brand "I'm the Eastern European girl" I hope you would laugh me off the stage.

If you can't win in the "impressive career" mold, then develop an interesting advocacy, publish a children's book, start a nonprofit, it's not that hard to come up with something other than "I'm Venezuelan." That's what most of these girls try to do anyways. All I can really remember from Noelia is just being half-Venezuelan and bilingual, I don't know why you'd want to be known for what your parents are rather than the actions that you do.

The tone IS xenophobic. Being part of an immigrant family doesn't preclude you from having xenophobic thoughts/actions. In fact there are HEAPS of immigrants who get to first world countries and pull the ladder up after them now that they've got theirs. That's not what you're doing. But miss me with that sentiment.

It depends on your story. You as an Estonian-American might be laughed because you largely don't get the same treatment as other immigrants of colour. You are more likely to be seen as a white woman first and foremost. Whereas other immigrant are seen as "other" first. That's why it's such a big talking point to be proud of your heritage. So you inspire confidence and acceptance of your own identity in the face of a white surpemacist society. So it is a valid angle to have and your devaluation for it is extremely telling of your privilege.

Noelia is not a woman of color, so let's not go there. She is a white woman who lives her life as a white woman, as are many Venezuelan women.

Secondly, being proud of your ancestry is not the problem here. It is using your ancestry as your entire brand because you have nothing else interesting to talk about, at a competition where you are trying to represent a different country nonetheless.

Thirdly, miss me with the xenophobia talk as someone who is actively trying to get out of this country and become an immigrant myself.

[Kiwi]

Look, it's clear that we disagree but good luck with the move, girl. I would get out of there too.

[kirby.aravani]

Utah was flawless and effortless throughout the finals, that's the bottom line. I really really like her. Although I really don't care about her being half-Venezuelan. But she did an amazing job. I never had her in my Top 5 until prelims yesterday.

However, I still think Wisconsin should've won!!! She was the most natural and to me, gave the best final answer. Her answer started as very generic about age. Then she really personalized it as being the one of the youngest contestants and started her own campaign at the age of FIFTEEN etc.
I was dead wrong about her, I always thought she was just a Barbie and that's it. That's why I only included her in my Top 16 on prelims. She was the best of the night, she was so ready to compete at Miss Universe.
Based on Q&A round, my predictions were:
1. WI
2. UT
3. HI
4. PA
5. TX

Pennsylvania was a pleasant surprise to me, she was gorgeous this night! Totally deserving to be in the Top 5. I almost thought she could be in the final 2 until she answered the question so generically. Texas, I have no comment bye. Hawaii's answer was great, she made it personal, but was too short imo. I feel like she could elaborate more. Had she elaborated more, I think she could win (judging only by final q&a).

Anyways, congrats to Noelia Voigt! And btw, I wish she never forgets where she's from (Alabama/Florida wherever she's from). I think it's okay to be proud of where we're from. Alyssa Campanella always said she's originally from New Jersey when she won Miss USA as California.

[Kiwi]

Btw, MEGA AGREE on Miss New Mexico. She was easily the worst girl there. Her walk... it's like she thought she was channeling Michelle Colon up there but she doesn't have the THATGIRLability to pull it off.

And Congrats to Dr. Gallia for breaking Washington's near 20 year streak of non-placement! Montana you better field a good delegate soon. It's getting sad. Wyoming you too.

[Queen of the Clouds]

Look, it's clear that we disagree but good luck with the move, girl. I would get out of there too.

My fiancé is from France, so hopefully I will be writing from Paris soon! Thanks for the good luck.

[Opening Ceremony]

I have mixed feelings about this new Laylah Rose era of Miss USA, but I think for the most part we had a good show.

Pros:

- The Top 20 was pretty strong and minus 2-3 WTF placers and one HORRIBLE fan vote winner, all of the girls were deserving.
- The swimsuits were super cute and although I could have done without some tired capes, they all looked great.
- The girls were styled very well and I think none of them stepped on stage and any of us were thinking "WTF did they do to her hair/makeup?"
- The girls had ample time to walk in swimsuit/evening gown and I felt like we got to see their performance skills.

Cons:

- The Top 5 weren't really the standouts to me. I expected Illinois, the Carolinas, Nevada, Virginia, or even DC to be up there.
- The top 20 cut to the top 5 cut was a huge miss. If they did it to speed up the pageant and keep it on time, it worked a little too well because we were already done with all of the competition rounds INCLUDING Q&A by the 1.5 hour mark. Then we had to spend 30 minutes stalling with no real content to fill up the rest of the time before the winner announcement.
- One question round was not enough. I'm not a huge fan of having the winner always being decided through a speaking competition, but this was the most pageant patty question ever and none of the girls even excelled at it. I would have loved to hear questions that challenged the girls a bit more so we know more about their depth.
- The girl who I wanted to win didn't, lol. But Noelia is....fine, I guess. I'm still salty as hell from Huong Ly losing Vietnam, so this disappointment is pretty mild compared to the travesty that happened earlier today.
- I also called out the shadiness of the girls being able to hold their own headphones. No way am I not letting in just a little bit of sound.
- I try to hold my tongue, but New Mexico winning the fan vote is once again the most disastrous result they could have hoped for. Not because of her looks, but because she was so out of her element and gave us the most unprepared, uncoordinated walk I've ever seen on a semifinal stage. And since she won the fan vote, she got put last and closed out each segment terribly.
- The music and sound effects they used for tonight was so cheap-sounding at all times, lol.

So it looks like there were more cons than pros, but I think ultimately I wasn't mad at this finale night. It just could have been better.

[keyss]

New Mexico's walk reminded me of the olden days when amputees had legs made out of wood that didn't bend as they walked but kind of dragged behind. Lord, forgive me. But that's what I thought of right away.

And why was the final stage exactly the same as preliminaries? Is it really so hard/expensive to use 2 different pics of a beach and 2 different pics of curtains?

[Neeva]

I predicted a Hawaii/Utah top two, but IMO Hawaii won swimsuit, EG and question rounds over Utah so I am really perplexed over the final result.
I also was confused about Penn making top 5.I hated how much she moved her hands back and forth to play with the fabric in swimsuit and evening gown , it was way TOO over the top. South Carolina was robbed of top 5 placement IMO.


At least NM got rid of that orange blanket she dragged around in preliminarys , what the f**k was that?? To her credit though DC and Arkansas’ walks were just as bad. Arkansas in EG looked like she had to go to the bathroom.
I think getting rid of the fan vote is a good idea.

[itsrowdy801]

So I have liked one of the last four Miss USAs to win outright (not counting Morgan who I adore) and even Elle got a little iffy post-reign for her tone deaf Tiktok comments.

That's a disturbing pattern.

[yellowyam1]

All this because New York clapped ? I wanted Virginia or text to Texas to win but it didn’t happened. Utah deserved her win. She was the star of the night

[Queen of the Clouds]

HOW TO FIX A PAGEANT SUMMARY:

It started out with just background on pageantry and Miss USA that we all already know, like how Crystle came to be director and how pageantry in the US is dead and the history of pageants. There are interviews with the Michigan 2021 (Taylor), Delaware 2022 (Grace), and DC 2022 (Faith) titleholders. They say they first heard that Texas was favored by the national organization on the day that R'Bonney won Miss Texas USA, particularly when Miss USA social media shared her final answer at Miss Texas USA despite not doing that for any other state titleholder. Shortly after that, a meeting was held between state directors the national organization to discuss the accused favoritism towards Texas.

Keylee Sanders (a judge in 2022 and state director from 2005-2013) was interviewed, and said that usually in pageants, every judge is given a list of contestants and are asked whether a) they know any of the contestants, and b) if so, could they remain impartial despite knowing them. She claims that this form was never given to the judges at Miss USA 2022. During competition week, there were also rumors amongst contestants/friends/family/etc. who were present in Reno, that the crown was designated for Texas ahead of time. Faith specifically remembers Texas being very appreciated by Miss USA staff, but didn't know if she would be crowned to avoid a controversy given the meeting with state directors about favoritism towards her after her state crowning. After Texas won, the vast majority of contestants thought there was fishiness, but shit didn't hit the fan until the Cancun video was published. At the resort in Cancun, there was also a medspa, which was another sponsor of the national organization. R'Bonney had been visiting this brand of medspa since prior to winning Texas, was close with its owner, and the owner also later served as a judge for the state costume contest (which Texas won).

During Trump era, there were a number of rules and regulations that directors had to adhere to to avoid conflicts of interests: they could not be coaches, they could not be boutique owners, they could not be hair/makeup artists, etc. This is when they start getting into the Miss Academy conflicts of interest, which we pointed out a whole year before the R'Bonney scandal even happened, so I don't know how this went on without any alarms going off. Miss Academy was the official coaching sponsor, while many of the other sponsors in other areas were also employees/partners of Miss Academy, such as the photographer (who chooses Miss Photogenic) and the creative directors at the national organization were also hair/makeup instructors at Miss Academy. They also got into how the Miss Academy students ended up compromising the bulk of the semifinalists/runners-up at Miss USA. Several state directors felt they were pressured to either send their girls to Miss Academy (thus lining Crystle's pockets) or even franchise their own local Miss Academy in their state (which is what California's director DID do) in order for their girls to place at Miss USA. There was no HR department or any sort of place to launch grievances at the Miss USA organization, so the girls felt like going to the media was the only way they would be listened to.

After the girls spoke to the media, the MUO leadership offered to have a meeting with them, with Amy and Paula. This was when the law firm investigation was announced. After the announcement, the MUO reached out to the judges to ask them to speak with the investigators. The Miss USA Organization reached out to the judges shortly afterwards and asked them to NOT speak with the investigators. Every year in pageantry, prior to the announcement of the results, it is announced that an accounting firm (I'm sure we all remember Ernst & Young) has tabulated the results. Keylee confirms this is because a third-party should handle the ballots and no director/staff member/person associated with the organization should have anything to do with that. However, no accounting firm was announced for Miss USA 2022, and a staff member from the Miss USA office collected the ballots instead from the judges. Journalists reporting on the story could not get any confirmation from Miss USA that there were any accountants present at the competition.

Now they get into the sexual misconduct. The morning after Miss USA, Taylor got a DM from Max (Crystle's husband and VP of Miss USA), and screenshots are included. Max goes on to tell Taylor that he is staying in the presidential suite all to himself, after which Taylor knew what he wanted from her. Max kept trying to convince Taylor to come up to his suite, but she didn't. Later on in the day, Taylor is in the hotel lobby with her packaged state costume. Max runs up to her and says he will help her carry her costume back to her room. After he set the costume down in her room, he took it upon himself to walk all the way inside and made himself comfortable on her bed. He then got him, pulled her in for a close hug, caressed the back of her hair, and whispered "you're so gorgeous" in her ear while kissing her cheek. She got herself out of the hug and he went to go back and sit down on her bed and continue their conversation. Taylor then told him to leave and he hugged her in the same manner once again before leaving. After this is when the long history of Max making these kinds of advances towards pageant contestants over the past several years came out, including explicit text messages, photos, and videos sent to girls. One anonymous girl that spoke with journalists stated that Crystle was aware of these interactions. Following the incident, Taylor told Paula and the MUO, but she did not hear anything back from them after she first told them. The issue did not come up again until Taylor received the same email everyone else received about Max being no longer associated with the Miss USA Organization in order to focus on "other business ventures."

Fast forward to December 2022. Paula sets up a Zoom call with all of the girls from 2021. They assume this is meant to address the allegations, but it ended up just being damage control for the organization. Clips of the meeting from the girls' iPhone recordings are shown of Paula speaking. Paula also told the girls that the investigation found no foul play but they were still investigating the situation. The call then ended abruptly before any next steps were given, and Faith confirmed all of the contestants were put on mute and not allowed to speak. Many state directors were reached out for comment but refused to go on the record, in fear of losing their jobs.

Next up was the interview with Crystle. Crystle says that when she was selected as Miss USA President, the MUO provided her with very little assistance on how exactly to set the pageant up and run it. Crystle claims she doesn't remember people being concerned that the Miss USA staff favored R'Bonney. According to documents she later provided to the journalists, though, concerns of favoritism were officially raised on September 8, several weeks prior to the pageant. Crystle says she didn't know R'Bonney went to Cancun when it was happening and she didn't go as a Texas titleholder (my note: R'Bonney's defense was she went because it was a Texas sponsor lol), but that in hindsight regulations should have been put in place regarding this sort of thing. She defended the medspa owner being a state costume judge because state costume did not have bearing on the final result and ALL of the state costume judges were sponsors. When asked about the conflict of interest form Keylee said she was not asked to sign, Crystle claimed that all judges did sign them. Crystle also claims they used local accounting firms in Tulsa and Reno for the results tabulation but they forgot include them in the credits for the pageant (lmao), but she could not remember what their names were. After the interview, Crystle's representative said that the accounting firm in Tulsa that was used was Eide Bailly, but the firm refused to confirm or deny its involvement in the pageant when contacted. Crystle says she had no investment in R'Bonney winning but her winning showed that the quality of training she received at Miss Academy was very strong (lmao). When asked about whether she could see Miss Academy was a conflict of interest, Crystle's lawyer interrupted and seemed to try to steer her answer. She then started talking about how the MUO was aware of Miss Academy when they made her president and that Miss Academy would sponsor it. She claims her intent was not to make girls think they needed to train at Miss Academy to succeed and then started (fake) crying. When asked about state directors being pressured to open an academy, Crystle said she had never heard of this before and said "I wanted them to want to open an academy, not that they had to" (or something like that, again, lol). Crystle claims she was first made aware of the allegations against Max after Miss USA 2021, and she removed him from Miss USA leadership because of it. She claims that she did not know about it before then even though the anonymous contestant claims she did. She did not mention whether she and him actually separated, only that it was "difficult" on a personal scale after the allegations came out. She concludes by saying she's glad the contestants used their voices but used them for the wrong reason (gross).

The documentary ends by introducing Anne and there is a guy who explains really well how beauty pageants work, and compares winning Miss Universe to becoming a professional athlete in an analogy that I liked a lot. R'Bonney wins Miss Universe, the investigation concludes, and the MUO buries it. Another reporter makes another good point, saying that they're trying to turn Miss Universe into a full platform of women's empowerment and activism, but after so many years of Miss Universe being something else, the fans don't necessarily want this and the MUO needs to learn how to solve this.

Epilogue. They mention how the partnership between Crystle and the MUO ended in August 2023; the MUO declined to participate in the documentary; Max declined to participate in the documentary and claimed in his response email "no one has ever been harassed or assaulted."

A pageant historian/expert has been coming in every now and then to talk about the history of pageants and general structure. She basically confirmed that any time a pageant is owned/directed by an individual (or couple) they have the power to use their personal opinions to sway the results to a degree.

Closing thoughts from me, I liked it a lot. It was juicy and while I already knew a lot of this, it was nice to get everything presented in a clear format, and it also added new details that I was not aware of. I also liked how it was indisputably pro-pageantry, and not a "pageants are bad and sexist" narrative which is what we often get from the mainstream media in the US. What I would have liked more was to see more criticism of Paula and the MUO and not just Crystle. Paula and the MUO are definitely not painted in a positive light, but there's more stuff out there we know that wasn't mentioned, like how she asked girls to delete screenshots off their phones.

[Queen of the Clouds]

All this because New York clapped ? I wanted Virginia or text to Texas to win but it didn’t happened. Utah deserved her win. She was the star of the night

Girl what are you even talking about. No one is talking about NY

[manoypoe]

Road to Miss USA · Follow

Fun Fact: @noeliavoigt was 1st runner-up at Miss Alabama USA 2022 & 2023. She moved to Utah and ended up winning. — Tonight Miss Alabama made the top 20 but Noelia who was her 1st RU ended up winning the crown. “different day, different judges, different outcome.” and @shannamoakler strikes again! #MissUSA

[manoypoe]

[manoypoe]

[manoypoe]

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