Beauty Pageants

[GeneChing]

New Miss USA crowned, capping tumultuous year of pageant controversy
Story by Oscar Holland, CNN • 1w • 4 min read

Michigan’s Alma Cooper, a US Army officer, was named Miss USA on Sunday, becoming the third person to hold the title this year following the shock resignation of 2023’s winner.

The 22-year-old, who has a Master’s in data science from Stanford University, beat 50 other contestants in a pageant that included swimwear and evening gown competitions. Kentucky’s Connor Perry and Oklahoma’s Danika Christopherson were named first and second runners up, respectively.

“As the daughter of a migrant worker, a proud Afro Latina woman and an officer of the United States Army, I am living the American dream,” she had told judges during a Q&A session at Sunday’s finale. “If there’s anything that my life and my mother have taught me, it’s that your circumstances never define your destiny: You can make success accessible through demanding excellence.”

Cooper was crowned on stage by previous titleholder, Savannah Gankiewicz of Hawaii, who inherited the tiara in May after Utah’s Noelia Voigt stepped down in highly controversial circumstances.

The glitzy televised event capped three months of turbulence for pageant organizers sparked by Voigt’s surprise resignation — and that of then-reigning Miss Teen USA, New Jersey’s UmaSofia Srivastava, just days later. The show featured no explicit references to the controversy, though Gankiewicz described her unexpected three-month stint as Miss USA as “the most unique reign in history.”


Alma Cooper onstage with former Miss USA titleholder Savannah Gankiewicz of Hawaii. - Gilbert Flores/Variety//Getty Images
Announcing her decision via Instagram in May, Voigt attributed her resignation to mental health reasons. But social media users quickly spotted that the first letter of the first 11 sentences of her cryptic post spelled “I am silenced,” sparking rumors of a strict non-disclosure agreement.

Her resignation letter, later obtained by CNN, alleged delays in receiving prizes and a “toxic work environment” that “at best, is poor management and, at worst, is bullying and harassment.” Voigt also claimed to have been sexually harassed during a public appearance due the Miss USA organization’s failure to provide an “effective handler.”

Srivastava, who won the Miss Teen USA competition (a companion event, under the same ownership, for contestants aged 14 to 19), meanwhile attributed her resignation to a clash in “personal values” with the Miss USA organization. Both women’s mothers then appeared on Good Morning America, with Srivastava’s mother, Barbara, saying the beauty queens had been “ill-treated, abused, bullied and cornered,” and that “the job of their dreams turned out to be a nightmare.”

Organizers and the pageants’ parent company, the Miss Universe Organization, did not respond to CNN’s requests for comment at the time of the double resignation. Miss USA president Laylah Rose released a statement at the end of May, reported by the Los Angeles Times, refuting Voigt’s allegations.

New rules, groundbreaking firsts

The evening’s proceedings began with an elimination, as the 51 contestants were narrowed down to a top 20 based on judges’ scores from Saturday’s preliminary competition. The results of a swimwear competition saw the field reduced to 10 ahead of an eveningwear parade.

The final five were then asked the same question: “How can we bridge the gap between different cultures and foster understanding and respect?”


Contestants on stage at the Miss USA finale in Los Angeles, California. - Chelsea Lauren/Shutterstock
The televised finale, which was hosted by Garcelle Beauvais from “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” and E! News presenter Keltie Knight, saw the contest return to California for the first time since 2007.

Judges included shoe designer Jojo Bragais and former Miss USA titleholders Carole Gist and Lu Parker.

Sunday marked the first Miss USA pageant to take place since its owner, the Miss Universe Organization, lifted a longstanding age restriction banning women over 28 from participating. Several finalists benefited from the new rule, including 41-year-old Kristina Johnson of Arizona and contestants from Montana, North Dakota, Maryland and Indiana, who are all in their 30s.

In other firsts, Maryland’s Bailey Anne Kennedy became the first transgender contestant from her state to appear at the finals, and Shavana Clarke of Connecticut arrived as the “first openly lesbian Miss USA state titleholder,” according to organizers.

Sunday’s finale comes three days after Addie Carver of Mississippi was named Miss Teen USA, a title that had remained vacant since Srivastava’s resignation (last year’s first runner-up, Stephanie Skinner, declined to take on the title). Seventeen-year-old Carver is a dance teacher, cheerleader and choreographer who has used her platform to discuss young people’s mental health, telling judges of her own struggles following her father’s death. “As the next Miss Teen USA I want to make it my mission to know that every little girl who is just like me once is never alone,” she said on stage Thursday evening.

Cooper will now go onto compete in the Miss Universe 2024 contest, which will be held in Mexico later this year.

Sounds like a winner...

[GeneChing]

Former model and Miss Switzerland finalist Kristina Joksimovic 'pureed' in blender by husband - reports
Kristina Joksimovic, 38, was found dead in her home in Binningen, near Basel, Switzerland, in February this year. Local outlets report the Federal Supreme Court ruled against the release of Thomas after he admitted to the murder of his wife.

Thursday 12 September 2024 05:18, UK

The former model was found dead in her home near Basel in February this year. Pic: Instagram / Kristina Joksimovic

A former model who was a finalist in the Miss Switzerland contest was allegedly murdered and "pureed" in a blender by her husband, officials in Switzerland are reported to have said.

Kristina Joksimovic, 38, was found dead in her home in Binningen, near Basel, Switzerland, in February this year.

According to local news outlet BZ Basel, a man named Thomas, 41, had an appeal for release from custody denied by the Federal Court in Lausanne on Wednesday after he reportedly confessed to killing his wife, with whom he had two children.

The outlet said he had admitted to the killing during a crime reconstruction in March, and claimed it was in self-defence after she attacked him with a knife.

BZ Basel said the ruling from the court held Ms Joksimovic was strangled to death. An autopsy report included in the ruling said Ms Joksimovic's body was then dismembered in a laundry room with a jigsaw, knife and garden shears.

It added body parts were then chopped up with a hand blender, "pureed" and dissolved in a chemical solution.

BZ Basel also said Thomas was arrested the day after Ms Joksimovic's body was found, and initially told investigators he had found her dead and dismembered her body in their laundry room in panic.

According to local outlet 20 Minuten, Ms Joksimovic was crowned Miss Northwest Switzerland pageant and in 2007 was a finalist for Miss Switzerland.

She later ran her own business as a catwalk coach, and mentored model Dominique Rinderknecht for the Miss Universe pageant in 2013.

How horrific.

[GeneChing]

Is this S Korea's most glamorous granny? Miss Universe judges think so
3 days ago

Woongbee Lee and Flora Drury
BBC News
Reporting fromSeoul and London

Ms Choi was 72 when it was suggested she could make a good model
How would you like to spend your 80s?
Some gardening, maybe learning a language, a bit of travelling, spending time with the grandchildren.
Or perhaps entering an international beauty contest with the ultimate aim of launching your modelling career on the world stage.
For Choi Soon-hwa, it was a no-brainer.
This week, the 81-year-old took to the stage with women a quarter of her age for Miss Universe South Korea, hoping to make it to the finals in Mexico later this year.
The question, though, is why?
"After raising children and going through hardships, it’s just two people left, and that’s when you need to find what you want to do," the former hospital worker explained to the BBC shortly after she came off stage.
"Once you find it, it becomes the energy that drives your life, leading to a positive outlook and healthier relationships with people, which in turn helps your well-being."
For Ms Choi, the thing she wanted to do has been modelling, ever since a patient suggested she take it up at the spritely age of 72.
The comment gave her the confidence to take the leap after several years of financial hardship, which had pushed her and her family to the brink of ruin.

At 81, Choi Soon-hwa is the oldest ever Miss Universe contestant
In the years since, she has become a familiar face in South Korea - including walking the runway at fashion week - but launching a career outside the country has proved difficult.
So when Miss Universe, the famed beauty pageant which began nine years after Ms Choi was born, decided to throw out rules banning entrants over the age of 28 earlier this year, she jumped at the chance to take part - making her the oldest ever contestant so far to take part.
"It was something I couldn’t have imagined," she says. "For several years, I had wished to step onto the international stage as a model.
"However, there was no clear path or guidance for me, but since the Universe competition had no age restriction, I participated with the goal of reaching the global stage."
The removal of age restrictrions come as the Miss Universe competition has moved towards becoming more diverse in recent years - allowing married women, transgender women and single mothers to take part.
But her entry still caused quite the stir - not least among her competition.
"The participants were surprised to see me, and when they learned I was 80, they expressed admiration, saying, I want to age like you," she admits.
And it has brought her the international interest she was hoping: Ms Choi has garnered headlines around the world.

Ms Choi hopes to launch her career internationally
What it did not buy was a ticket to Mexico: the Miss Universe South Korea crown went instead to Han Ariel, 22.
Ms Choi didn't walk away completely empty handed however - but with the title of "Best Dressed".
"Just being able to participate is an amazing and honourable experience", she says, adding that she hopes she is the first of many older women to compete for the crown and, by extension, challenge beauty norms.
"Since this is still new, there’s a lot of buzz, but as more seniors participate, perspectives on them will shift, and there will come a time when seniors can compete in world competitions," she says. "But for now, it’s still time for the young to take the stage."
And whatever happens next, she knows some of her biggest fans will always be at home in the form of her grandsons, aged 23 and 24.
"My grandchildren cheer me on, saying, 'Our grandma is so cool, pretty, beautiful, and the best!'"

Do they still do bikini competition in Miss Universe? Just asking...