Miss Illinois USA 2023 is Samantha Elliott of Freeport


Miss Freeport, Samantha Elliott, was crowned Miss Illinois USA 2023 in a glittering state competition held on Sunday, May 28 at Braden Auditorium of the Illinois State University.

The runners-up were Grace Rodi of DuPage County, Olivia Santelli of Edison Park, Yolina Lindquist of Southern Illinois, and Abby Foster of East Central.

Samantha succeeds Angel Reyes, last year's winner who placed fourth runner-up and bagged the Miss Photogenic award at Miss USA 2022.

The 22-year-old University of Kansas alumna with degrees in accounting and analytics will now prepare to represent Illinois at Miss USA 2023 in Reno, Nevada this fall.

"Truly honored to be your new Miss Illinois USA. Words cannot express how excited I am to get this year started and to be headed to Miss USA," she wrote on social media.

Sunday's event also crowned Vivica Lewandowski of Gold Coast as Miss Illinois Teen USA 2023 while Sofia Console, Karolina Kozbial, Sophia Xia, and Grace Toomey were announced as the runners-up.

Vivica succeeds Dawn Parks and will now go on to compete in Miss Teen USA 2023 pageant on a date and venue yet to be announced.

Meet the newly crowned Miss Illinois USA and Teen USA:

Photos: Miss Illinois USA, Vanbros and Associates / Instagram

RELATED POSTS:


Popular posts from this blog

Miss Universe 2024: Meet the contestants

Image
Miss Universe 2024, the 73rd Miss Universe pageant will be held on November 16 at the the Arena CDMX in Mexico City, Mexico. The country known for its rich culture, ancient ruins, dazzling beaches, and incredible cuisine has been chosen to host the competition for the fifth time after 1978, 1989, 1993, and 2007. A total of 127 national queens have been crowned up to this point and are all set to compete in this year's highly anticipated beauty pageant. Reigning Miss Universe Sheynnis Palacios from Nicaragua will crown her successor at the end of the much-awaited event. Don't forget to download the Miss Universe official app and vote for your favorites. The most-voted contestant will automatically earn a spot in the Top 30. Who will be crowned the next Miss Universe? View this post on Instagram A post shared by Miss Universe (@missuniverse) Meet the contestants: Albania - Franceska Rustem Angola - Nelma Ferreira Argentina - Magalí Benejam Armenia - Emma
Read more

LIVE UPDATES: Miss Universe 2024 Final Competition Results

Image
Tonight, the much-awaited culmination of the Miss Universe 2024 pageant will broadcast live from the Arena CDMX in Mexico City. For the past two weeks, equally beautiful and empowered beauties from 125 countries and territories have been busy filming, touring, and preparing for the upcoming final show. Actor, TV host, and producer Mario Lopez and Miss Universe 2012 Olivia Culpo will serve as hosts while Miss Universe 2018 Catriona Gray and TV personality Zuri Hall will be backstage commentators. Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter Robin Thicke, Taboo of the Black Eyed Peas, Brazilian artist Richaelio, Nico Ruiz, Latin pop star Vikina, and The Mariachi will be the musical guest performers. The selection committee consists of Camila Guiribitey, Emilio Estefan, Eva Cavalli, Fariana, Gabriela Gonzalez, Gary Nader, Gianluca Vacchi, Jessica Carrillo, Lele Pons, Margaret Gardiner, Michael Cinco, Nova Stevens and Romero Britto. Tonight's final competition will feature the Top 30 semifin
Read more

Miss Universe Denmark 2024 is Victoria Kjær Theilvig

Image
Victoria Kjær Theilvig has been officially announced by the Miss Denmark Organization as Miss Universe Denmark 2024. The 20-year-old passionate dancer living in Copenhagen was part of the jury at the Miss Denmark 2024 final on Sunday at Cirkusbygningen. She will represent Denmark at the Miss Universe 2024 pageant in Mexico this November. Her predecessor was last year's Miss Denmark (Miss Universe Denmark 2023), Nikoline Uhrenholt Hansen, who competed in Miss Universe 2023 in El Salvador. No stranger to pageantry, the new Miss Universe Denmark was second runner-up at Miss Denmark 2021. She was then appointed as Miss Grand Denmark and went to Miss Grand International 2022 in Indonesia where she made the Top 20. Hailing from Søborg, Victoria is a graduate of business and marketing and is a champion in dancing as well as a dance teacher. She is a dedicated volunteer supporting various causes and also an advocate for mental health awareness, drawing from her personal experiences to ins
Read more

Miss Universe 2024 standouts in the preliminary competition

Image
The spectacular Miss Universe 2024 preliminary competition and national costume show was held last night at the Arena CDMX in Mexico City. Hosted by reigning Miss Universe Sheynnis Palacios and Miss Universe 2022 R'Bonney Gabriel, the important event kicked off with the contestants parading in their colorful and stunning national costumes. After the national costume segment, each contestant walked on stage in their swimsuits and capes, and then by group during the evening gown. An esteemed panel of selection committee carefully assessed each of their performances. Scores from last night's event including their closed-door interviews, will help determine the semifinalists. Standouts were from Aruba, Botswana, Brazil, Cambodia, Cuba, Curacao, DR Congo, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Honduras, Iceland, Italy, Martinique, Mexico, Peru, Russia, Thailand, US Virgin Islands, USA, Venezuela and Zimbabwe. Albania, Argentina, Australia, Bahamas, Belarus, Bolivia, China, Colombia,
Read more

Miss Grand Denmark 2022 is Victoria Kjær Theilvig

Image
Victoria Kjær Theilvig has been officially announced as Miss Grand International Denmark 2022 and she will soon travel to Indonesia for the 10th Miss Grand International pageant. The 18-year-old former elite dancer from Søborg is a woman with great ambitions. She has already completed high school, where she studied marketing and economics, and is now taking a gap year, where she works full-time with her own company. Miss Denmark Organization headed by CEO Lisa Lents made the official announcement on social media early Monday morning. An official statement read: "The Miss Grand International pageant is one of the most prestigious events of its kind and millions of people from around the world will be watching the final competition. The contestants are going to have a memorable, once-in-a-lifetime experience." Miss Grand International 2022 will take place from October 4 to 25 in Bali and Jakarta, Indonesia. The new Miss Grand Denmark, who is also a passionate dancer and a trave
Read more

Here's where to watch Miss Universe 2024 final show livestream

Image
Miss Universe 2024, the highly anticipated 73rd Miss Universe pageant will take place tonight at the Arena CDMX in Mexico City. Mexican-American TV personality Mario Lopez and former Miss Universe Olivia Culpo will host the show with Miss Universe 2018 Catriona Gray and TV personality Zuri Hall as backstage commentators. Grammy Award-winning artist Robin Thicke will be a special guest performer, alongside a diverse musical lineup consisting of Taboo, Richaelio, Nico Ruiz, The Mariachi, and Vikina. The competition will be broadcast live on The Roku Channel in the USA, Telemundo for Spanish-speaking audiences, and various local TV channels around the world from 6:45 p.m. Mexican local time. Tonight's much-awaited final and coronation event will also stream live on the Miss Universe  official YouTube channel (paid membership) and Telemundo  official App. You don't want to miss the crowning of the next Miss Universe! View this post on Instagram A post shared b
Read more

Miss Denmark 2024 is Emma Heyst from Sæby

Image
Emma Heyst was crowned Miss Denmark 2024 in a glittering national competition on Sunday, September 1 at the Cirkusbygningen in Copenhagen. The 21-year-old animal welfare advocate and salesperson from Sæby, Jutland succeeds last year's winner Nikoline Uhrenholt Hansen. Sophie Wagner and Sofie Ørn Andersen were named the first and second runners-up, respectively. Sofie Langballe Jensen and Simran Kholi rounded out the Top 5 finalists. The new Miss Denmark is expected to represent her country in a major international pageant in 2025. Emma is currently taking a sabbatical and working as a full-time salesperson in Ilva. In her spare time, she enjoys quality moments with her family and friends. Her interests include traveling, social media, planning and decorating events and holidays, experimenting with Pescetarian cooking, paddle boarding, winter swimming, and animal welfare. As Miss Denmark, she wants to use her platform to achieve her goals in life and to be the voice for the animals.
Read more

Here's where to watch Miss Universe 2024 preliminary competition

Image
The Miss Universe 2024 preliminary competition and national costume show will take place tonight at the Arena CDMX in Mexico City. Contestants from 127 countries and territories will each present themselves in their swimsuits, evening gowns, and national costumes. Tonight's show, to be hosted by reigning Miss Universe Sheynnis Palacios and former Miss Universe R'Bonney Gabriel, will start at 8 p.m. local time. The crucial event will help the  selection committee determine who will advance to the Top 30 to be announced during this Saturday's final show. If you can't be at the venue, you can also watch the preliminaries in the comfort of your own home. Live streaming will be available on Telemundo  and the official Miss Universe YouTube channel (accessible only for members). View this post on Instagram A post shared by Miss Universe (@missuniverse) Photos: Miss Universe
Read more

Mr World 2024: Meet the Top 12 finalists of the Top Model competition

Image
The Mr World 2024 Top Model competition was held during the Vietnam Beauty Fashion Fest on Saturday, November 9 at the spectacular Villa Blanche in Vung Tau, Vietnam. Over 50 contestants vying for this year's title walked the runway wearing creations by talented local designers and outfits they prepared specially for the challenge. The fast-track event culminated with the announcement of the Top 12 finalists: View this post on Instagram A post shared by Mr World (@mrworld.official) Italy - Bruno Barbieri Northern Ireland - James Moody Spain - Antonio Company China - Wei Zihong India - Gokul Ganesan Philippines - Kirk Bondad Türkiye - Ege Karabenli Vietnam - Pham Tuan Ngoc Kenya - Teddy Rossiter Colombia - Juan Esteban Rodriguez Mexico - Alan Salazar Venezuela - Juan Alberto Garcia The winner of the Top Model competition, to be announced during the final in Phan Thiet this November 23, will automatically advance to the Top 20. Photos: Mr World / Instagram
Read more

FAVORITES: Miss Universe 2024 Top 16 pre-arrival favorites

Image
After months of anticipation, the much-awaited 73rd Miss Universe pageant is about to begin in Mexico. More than 100 contestants from different countries and territories are expected to arrive in the host country later this month. Sheynnis Palacios from Nicaragua will pass on her crown to the next Miss Universe at the conclusion of this year's competition on November 16. The Miss Universe 2024 final show will broadcast live from the Mexico City Arena (Arena CDMX). Meet our Top 16 pre-arrival favorites: (in alphabetical order) Chile - Emilia Dides Colombia - Daniela Toloza Rocha Curaçao - Kimberly de Boer Dominican Republic - Celinee Santos Finland - Matilda Wirtavuori France - Indira Ampiot Netherlands - Faith Landman New Zealand - Victoria Vincent Velasquez Nigeria - Chidimma Adetshina Peru - Tatiana Calmell Philippines - Chelsea Manalo South Africa - Mia le Roux Thailand - Suchata Chuangsri USA - Alma Cooper Venezuela - Ileana Marquez Pedroza Zimbabwe - Sakhile Dube Special menti
Read more