Voting open: Help Miss Hawaii, Miss Hawaii’s Teen secure spots in Top 11
HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – Miss Hawaiʻi Carly Yoshida and Miss Hawaiʻi’s Teen Tianna-Lei Wailehua are on the national stage this week, representing the islands and competing for national crowns — and they need the public’s help to secure spots in the semi-finals.
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The delegates are currently navigating a busy pageant week as they prepare for their respective final competitions.
For Yoshida, a Hawaiʻi Island native and University of Hawaiʻi–West Oʻahu graduate, competing to become the 99th Miss America feels like a full-circle moment.
“I was Miss Hawaiʻi’s Outstanding Teen in 2016, which really opened my whole world to the Miss America organization,” Yoshida said. “It’s very serendipitous, nostalgic, even down to the color of our competition sashes that they handed to us the other day in our arrival ceremony.”
A serendipitous competition
This year’s official competition sash matches the color of the one she received as a teenager. Adding to the significance, Yoshida was born in 1999 and could potentially be crowned as the 99th Miss America.
The competition week has included various events, such as an orientation and the Miss America Expo. At a recent luau, Yoshida and Wailehua shared Hawaiian culture with fellow contestants.
“So this year, both Carly and Tianna-Lei actually opened up the entire luau with Hoʻonani,” said Blaine Dutro, executive director of the Miss Hawaiʻi Organization. “When you’re from Hawaiʻi, that’s a huge honor to open that type of celebration.”
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Dutro said the performance provided many contestants with their first exposure to local culture.
“Giving them a taste of our islands and giving them the taste of who we are as people is super important for us,” Dutro said. “I know that Tianna-Lei and Carly love to do that because that’s the essence of who they are.”
Supporting the delegates
Both representatives have completed their private interviews and performed in the Miss America’s Got Talent show. The delegates are now calling on the public to vote for them in the Miss America and Miss America’s Teen Choice Awards. The winners earn an automatic spot in the Top 11 semi-finals.
Each vote costs $1, with proceeds funding scholarships for Miss America delegates.
Miss America’s Teen will be crowned on Saturday, Sept. 5, and Miss America will be crowned on Sunday, Sept. 6. Both national pageants will be live streamed on YouTube.
How to cast your vote
To support Hawaiʻi’s delegates and help them secure a spot in the Top 11 semi-finals, you can vote directly online:
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