Miss Hawaii crowned Miss USA today

Discover What Makes You Feel Beautiful | Empowering Women (wmyfb.org)

Noelia Voight cried when she was crowned the most beautiful in competition in 2023.

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Miss USA Noelia Voight was silenced and quit.

Today (Wednesday, May 15, 2024), Miss Hawaii Savannah Gankiewicz was crowned the new Miss USA.

Gankiewicz took over as beauty queen after former Miss USA 2023 Noelia Voigt announced she was resigning on May 6, 2024.

Gankiewicz is a model and entrepreneur, and she is opening a boutique hotel in Bali in 2025.

Noelia Voigt was crowned Miss USA in Sept. 2023 in a moment full of celebratory tears and confetti, but on May 6, Voigt stepped down, citing [that she was being silenced, which is being called an issue of] her mental health and spearheading a slew of high-profile resignations within the Miss USA organization.

On May 9, the organization announced Miss Hawaii Savannah Gankiewicz will be taking over as Miss USA for the remainder of Voigt's tenure.

Miss USA Savannah G.

Gankiewicz, 28, will be crowned in a ceremony in Hawaii on today, marking the official start of her reign.

• Gankiewicz was the first runner-up in the 2023 Miss USA pageant, and she won the costume contest.
• Gankiewicz competed in the Miss USA pageant after being crowned Miss Hawaii in January 2023.
• She was first runner-up in the competition, coming in just behind Voigt.
• She also won best interview in the pageant and best costume in the state costume contest.
• Beauty Queen Voight quits her 'Miss USA' crown

Banyan Tree Girl

Savannah "Banyan Tree Girl" Gankiewicz of Hawaii (© courtesy of Miss USA).

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I am a burning hot Maui banyan tree.

For her costume, Gankiewicz wore a sparkly jumpsuit to honor a 150-year-old banyan tree that was burned during last year's [very suspicious] Maui wildfires.

A headpiece covered in greenery attached to the ensemble, and swaths of yellow fabric and handpieces designed to look like flames made her look like moving fire.

"This experience has enabled me to have a newfound appreciation and respect for the competition, as I've firsthand been through a transformative journey and experienced amazing growth," Gankiewicz wrote on Instagram of her experience in the pageant.

"I cannot wait to embark on my next journey as I close this chapter."

The Miss Hawaii winner took over as Miss USA after Noelia Voigt resigned as queen

Voigt announced her resignation via Instagram [where she encoded her message "I AM SILENCED"], pointing to her [cover story of] mental health as the reason she was stepping back.

• Meet Miss USA: Noelia Voigt will compete at Miss Universe on Saturday.
• Voigt, who began competing in pageants at 16, won Miss USA while representing Utah.
• The new Miss Universe will be crowned by R'Bonney Gabriel, the ninth American to win the pageant.
• Voigt, 24, is a seasoned pageant queen who began competing when she was 16. But her road to Miss USA wasn't an easy one. Miss USA 2023 Noelia Voigt had hopes of becoming the 10th American woman to win Miss Universe.

More: Meet Miss Hawaii Savannah Gankiewicz, crowned Miss USA following Noelia Voigt's resignation (Business Insider via MSN)

• We didn't know these 20 facts about early human life
• Business Insider via MSN.com, May 15, 2024; Crystal Q., Ananda (Dharma Buddhist Meditation), Ashley Wells (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Beauty queen quits her 'Miss USA' crown

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Like beautiful Prince Siddhartha doing the unthinkable, renouncing his place of privilege and influence, to strive for something better, Miss USA is rejecting the title, dumping the throne, and tossing off the crown. Why? She says "I am silenced." So we are not likely to hear the real reason. What reason is she giving up what other competitors would kill for? It must not have been all it's cracked up to be.

Who me? I beat everybody else on this stage?

Miss USA Noelia Voigt, 24, has announced she is relinquishing her Miss USA crown and throne to preserve her mental health.

The beauty pageant winner, who was awarded the prestigious title Sept. 29, 2023, in Reno Tahoe, announced her decision to step down today (May 6, 2024) on Instagram, which is encoded with message "I am silenced." (See below).

Noelia Voigt, crowned Miss USA 2023 in 2023, has decided to step down (© Jason Bean/RGJ).

“My journey as Miss USA has been incredibly meaningful, representing Utah with pride, and later the USA at Miss Universe (held in November),”

Voigt said in the lengthy statement posted to her account. “Sadly, I have made the very tough decision to resign from the title of Miss USA 2023.” USA TODAY has reached out to the pageant for comment.

"I AM SILENCED" (Noelia Voight on IG)

“Never could I have imagined the journey that my childhood dream would take me on,” Voigt, 24, continued.

“Constant and consistent hard work and dedication all lead me to where I am today, and I hope that the last seven years of competing in pageantry and sharing my journey with you all is something that inspires you to never give up on your dreams, whatever they may be.

• Miss USA Noelia Voigt makes 'tough decision' to step down. Read her full statement
• Joe Biden and Mike Johnson on funding Ukraine and Israel
• Erin Jensen, USA TODAY, May 6, 2024; Ananda (Dharma Buddhist Meditation), Ashley Wells, CC Liu (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

The Buddha on Beauty: "Miss Universe"

Miss Venezuela Stefania Fernandez (left) is crowned Miss Universe 2009 by 2008 Miss Universe Dayana Mendoza, another Venezuelan, at Atlantis, Paradise Island Bahamas, on August 23, 2009 (AFP/Timothy A. Clary). Latin Beauty Wins "Miss Universe" Again / PHOTOS

Five Desirable Things

(AN V, 43)

Once the Buddha addressed the multi-millionaire householder Anathapindika:

"There are, O householder, five things that are wished for, loved, and agreeable yet rarely gained in the world:

1. beauty
2. long life
3. happiness
4. fame
5. rebirth in heaven

"But of these five, I do not teach that they are to be obtained by prayer or by vows. If one could obtain them in that way, who would not obtain them?

"A noble disciple, householder, who wishes to have beauty should follow a path of life that is conducive to beauty. [The ancient commentary to this sutra explains that this means a path of meritorious conduct by practicing generosity, virtue, and meditation; the cause of beauty is non-anger]. By following such a path, one will obtain beauty [here and now or even hereafter], be it divine or human. It is not befitting that one should pray for beauty, or make vows, or take delight in doing so.

"A noble disciple, householder, who likewise wishes to have long life, happiness, fame, and rebirth in heaven should follow a path of life that is conducive to long life, happiness, fame, and rebirth in heaven. By following such a path one will obtain them [even without wishing]. It is not befitting that one should pray for them, or make vows, or take delight in doing so."