Miss Universe is an annual international
beauty contest run by the
Miss Universe Organization.
The
contest was founded in 1952 by California
clothing company Pacific Mills. The pageant
became part of Kayser-Roth and then
Gulf and Western Industries,
before being acquired by
Donald Trump
in 1996.
Along with its rival contests —
Miss
World and
Miss Earth — this pageant
is one of the most publicized beauty contests in the world.
The
current Miss Universe is Stefanía Fernández, from
Venezuela
. She
won
the title on August 23, 2009.
History
The first use of the title "Miss Universe" was as part of
International Pageant of
Pulchritude which began in 1926. These events, the first
international contests, lasted until 1935 when the
Great Depression and other events preceding
World War II led to their demise. This
pageant had no direct relationship with the modern event.
The winner of the later "
Miss America
1951" pageant,
Yolande Betbeze,
refused to pose in a swimsuit from its major sponsor,
Catalina swimwear. As a result, the
brand's manufacturer Pacific Mills withdrew from Miss America and
set up the
Miss USA and Miss Universe
contests.
The first Miss Universe Pageant was held in
Long Beach,
California
in 1952. It was won by
Armi Kuusela from Finland, who gave up her
title to get married to a Filipino tycoon, Virgilio Hilario,
shortly before her year was complete. Until 1958 the Miss Universe
title (like Miss America) was post-dated, so at the time Ms.
Kuusela's title was Miss Universe 1953.
The pageant was first televised in 1955.
CBS
began nationally broadcasting the combined Miss USA and Miss
Universe pageants from 1960 and, separately, from 1965. In 2003 NBC
took over the television rights.
Competition Formats
In the early years of the pageant, the delegates who made the cut
were announced after the preliminary competition. From 1965 to the
present day, the semi-finalists were not announced until the night
of the main event. The semi-finalists once again competed in
evening gown and swimsuit and a top 5 were announced. An interview
portion was introduced in 1960 to decide the runners-up and
winner.
From 1959 to 1964, there were slight format changes. In 1959
through 1963, there was no cut to 5 finalists; the runners-up and
winners were called from the assembled 15 semi-finalists. In 1964,
the top 15 became a top 10, and after a round of interview, the
winner and runners-up were called from the 10 finalists.
In 1965, the pageant returned to the original format of a cut to 5
finalists, and remained so until 1989.
In 1969, a final question was posed to the last five contestants.
The final question was an on-and-off feature of the pageant. In
1990, it had taken root and every pageant since, the final
contestants have to answer a final question.
In 1990, the pageant implemented major format changes in the
competition itself. Instead of five finalists, the field was
reduced from 10 semi-finalists to 6. Each contestant then randomly
selected a judge and answered the question posed by the judge.
After that, the field was narrowed down further to a final 3. In
1998, the number of finalists was reduced to 5, although there
still was a cut to a final 3. This continued to 2001, where the
final 5 format was re-instated.
In 2000, the interview portion of the semi-finals was quietly
dropped and the contestants once again, as in the early days of the
pageant, competed only in swimsuit and gowns.
In 2003, the Top 15 was again selected instead of the Top 10. Cuts
were made to make the Top 10, and eventually the Top 5. The final
question varied, each coming from the final delegates themselves
and the current Miss Universe.
In 2006, twenty semi-finalists were announced, with these delegates
competing in the swimsuit competition. The number of competing
delegates was then cut to ten, with those delegates competing in
the evening gown competition. After that round of competition, the
final five were announced, with the finalists competing in the
"final question" or interview round. At the end of competition the
runners-up were announced and the winner crowned by the outgoing
queen.
In 2007 the format changed slightly with the top 15 moving to the
swimsuit competition; from there, 10 selected contestants moved on
to the evening gown competition where half were eliminated. The
final five were competing in the "final question". At the end of
competition the runners-up were announced an the winner crowned by
the outgoing queen.
The Contest Today
The Miss Universe Organization, a New York-based partnership
between
NBC and Donald Trump, has run the
contest since June 20, 2002. The current president is Paula
Shugart. The Organization sells television rights to the pageant in
other countries, and also produces the
Miss
USA and
Miss Teen USA contests
with the winner of Miss USA representing the USA in Miss
Universe.
Candidate Selection
Each year, bids are received by the Miss Universe organizers from
organizations who wish to select the Miss Universe contestant for a
country. This allows competition between different pageants to hold
a country's license, as happened for Miss Italy and Miss France for
example, when the licenses for their respective traditional
organizations were revoked (the usual Miss France competition
returned in 2004).
Usually a country's candidate selection involves pageants in major
cities, with the winners competing in a national pageant, but this
does not always occur. For example, in 2000 Australia's national
pageant was abolished as a relic of a bygone era, with Australian
delegates instead chosen by a
modeling
agency. Such "castings" are generally discouraged by the Miss
Universe Organization, which prefers national pageants that
preserve an aura of respectability and competition. Despite being
"cast", Miss Australia,
Jennifer
Hawkins, was chosen as Miss Universe 2004. Later that year,
Australia resumed its national pageant and chose
Michelle Guy as Miss Universe Australia
2005.
Some of the most successful national pageants in the last decade
have been
Venezuela,
USA,
Puerto Rico,
etc which command consistently high interest and television ratings
in their respective countries.
Recent arrivals in the pageant include China
(2002), Albania
(2002),
Vietnam
(2004), Georgia
(2004),
Ethiopia
(2004),
Latvia
(2005), Kazakhstan
(2006), Tanzania (2007) and
Kosovo
(2008); there have also been efforts to revive
strong national pageants in South
Africa, Canada, Spain, Japan,
Colombia; Latin America among other regions.
Prior powerhouses are
Finland,
Germany and
Sweden.
England is the most successful
non-winning country with nine Top 5 positions.
There are
continually efforts to expand the pageant, but the participation of
some countries such as Algeria
has proven
difficult due to cultural barriers to the swimsuit competition,
while others such as Mozambique
, Armenia
and Nepal
have balked
at sending representatives due to the cost (in fact, of all the
major international pageants, the franchise fee for Miss Universe
is the most expensive). As of 2007, only four countries have
been present at every Miss Universe since its inception in 1952:
Canada, France, Germany, and the United States. Many European
countries allow 17-year-old contestants to compete in their
pageants, while Miss Universe's minimum age is 18, so national
titleholders often have to be replaced by their runners-up. Miss
Universe also prohibits
transsexual
applicants and
age
fabrication.
Main Pageant
The main Miss Universe Pageant, as of now, is held over a two week
period in May and July. In the 1970s through the 1990s, the pageant
was a month long. This allowed time for rehearsals, appearances,
and the preliminary competition, with the winner being crowned by
the previous year's titleholder during the final competition.
According to the organizers, the Miss Universe contest is more than
a beauty pageant: women aspiring to become
Miss Universe
must be intelligent, well-mannered, and cultured. Often a candidate
has lost because she did not have a good answer during the question
responses rounds; although this section of competition has held
less importance during recent pageants than it did in the twentieth
century. Delegates also participate in swimsuit and evening gown
competitions.
Currently, the final placement of the finalists is determined by a
ranked vote, where each judge ranks each of the final three/five
candidates, with the contestant posting the lowest cumulative score
becoming the winner. If there is a tie, which often happens when
there are even members of the jury, the higher semifinal scores
become decisive.
The winner is assigned a one-year contract with the Miss Universe
Organization, going overseas to spread messages about the control
of diseases, peace, and public awareness of AIDS.
Since Donald Trump
took over the pageant, the winner has been given the use of a
Trump
Tower
apartment in New York City for use during her
reign.
Aside from the main winner and her runners-up, special awards are
also awarded to the winners of the best National Costume, Miss
Photogenic, and Miss Congeniality. Miss Congeniality is chosen by
the delegates themselves. In recent years, Miss Photogenic has been
chosen by popular internet vote (the winner used to be chosen by
media personnel covering the event).
Final Judgment
The competition for the Miss Universe title has seen many changes,
although there have been several constants throughout its history.
All the contestants compete in a preliminary round of judging
(nowadays called the "Presentation Show") where the field is
narrowed to a select number of semi-finalists. This number has
fluctuated over the years. The very first Miss Universe pageant had
ten semi-finalists. The next two years, the number of
semi-finalists grew to 16. In 1955, the number dropped to a stable
15, which remained through 1970. In 1971, the number was reduced to
12. That number was further reduced to a mere 10 in 1984. This
lasted until 2001, when the number of 15 was re-instated. In 2006,
there were 20 semi-finalists, the highest number ever. In 2007, the
Organization announced the Top 15 system will be back, which is
also used in
2008.
In the early years, the contestants were judged in swimsuit and
evening gown only. In later years, the contestants also competed in
a preliminary interview round in a one-on-one meeting with each
individual judge.
In 2007, 77 contestants started the competition; the top 15 moving
to the swimsuit competition. From there, 10 were selected for the
evening gown competition which halved the contenders to 5. These
final five then answered a final question to decide the
winner.
Crown
The Miss Universe
crown used from
2002–2007 was designed by
Mikimoto,
the official jewellery sponsor of the Miss Universe Organization,
and depicted the
phoenix rising,
signifying status, power and beauty. The crown has 500
diamonds of almost , 120 South Sea and Akoya
pearls, ranging in size from 3 to 18 mm
diameter and is valued at $250,000. The Crown was designed
specifically for the pageant on Mikimoto Pearl Island in Japan with
the Mikimoto crown and tiara being first used for Miss Universe
2002.
Musical Score
2004 marked the first year for the Miss Universe pageant to use the
Orenté musical score, the official Miss Universe soundtrack. The
Orenté musical score is divided into eight sequences: the Orenté
Introduction — the musical score played during the live-telecast as
the voice over begins the Miss Universe pageant, the Orenté Major —
used for the cue after commercial and during the announcement of
the newly-crowned Miss Universe, the Orenté Elimination — used for
the announcement of semi-finalists, the Orenté Fashion
Presentation, the Orenté Interlude — used while showing the ten
finalists, the Orenté Pregunta Final — used while the final five
finalists answer the final question the Orenté Final Look — used
for the final look of the five finalists, and the Orenté
Announcement — used while announcing the positions of the final
five delegates. In 2008, a new Orenté Fashion Presentation was
played during the Fadil Berisha swimsuit photoshoot, the 2007
version was now the called the Orenté Curtain Call, which was used
as
Melanie B and
Jerry Springer called out the delegates just
before they made the first cut, making the Orenté musical score
divided into nine sequences.
Recent titleholders
| Year |
Country/Territory |
Miss Universe |
National title |
Location |
|
| 2009 |
|
Stefania Fernandez |
Miss Venezuela |
Nassau, Bahamas |
| 2008 |
|
Dayana Mendoza |
Miss Venezuela |
Nha
Trang , Vietnam |
| 2007 |
|
Riyo Mori |
Miss Universe Japan |
Mexico
City , Mexico |
| 2006 |
|
Zuleyka Rivera |
Miss Puerto Rico
Universe |
Los Angeles , USA |
| 2005 |
|
Natalie Glebova |
Miss Universe Canada |
Bangkok , Thailand |
| 2004 |
|
Jennifer Hawkins |
Miss Universe
Australia |
Quito , Ecuador |
| 2003 |
|
Amelia Vega |
Miss Dominican
Republic |
Panama City , Panama |
| 2002 |
|
Oxana Fedorova (Dethroned) |
Miss Russia |
San Juan , Puerto Rico |
|
Justine Pasek |
Miss Panamá |
| 2001 |
|
Denise Quiñones |
Miss Puerto Rico
Universe |
Bayamón , Puerto Rico |
| 2000 |
|
Lara Dutta |
Femina Miss India |
Nicosia , Cyprus |
Hosts and Invited Artists
- :The following is a list of finals hosts and invited
artists of the previous ten years. See List of Miss
Universe hosts and invited artists for the full list of hosts
and invited artists.
"League Tables"
Map of Miss Universe-winning countries and territories as of
2009.
Note the absence of Russia.
By Number of Wins
| Country/Territory |
Titles |
Winning years |
|
7 |
1954, 1956, 1960, 1967, 1980, 1995, 1997 |
|
6 |
1979, 1981, 1986, 1996, 2008, 2009 |
|
5 |
1970, 1985, 1993, 2001, 2006 |
|
3 |
1955, 1966, 1984 |
|
2 |
1959, 2007 |
|
1982, 2005 |
|
1972, 2004 |
|
1994, 2000 |
|
1977, 1998 |
|
1965, 1988 |
|
1952, 1975 |
|
1969, 1973 |
|
1963, 1968 |
|
1 |
2003 |
|
2002 (Inherited crown after Russia was dethroned) |
|
2002 (Dethroned on September 23, 2002) |
|
1999 |
|
1992 |
|
1991 |
|
1990 |
|
1989 |
|
1987 |
|
1983 |
|
1978 |
|
1976 |
|
1974 |
|
1971 |
|
1964 |
|
1962 |
|
1961 |
|
1958 |
|
1957 |
|
1953 |
|
Source:
By Country Tally
Anyone who follows the
Olympic Games
or other sporting events will be familiar with the concept of the
Medal Table, which ranks countries based on their first (gold),
second (silver) and third (bronze) place finishes. Below is a
similar table of the top rankings for the Miss Universe pageant,
based on all results from the first event in 1952 to the most
recent competition in 2009. Note that, from 1990 to 2000, there was
only a "Top 3" with the third and fourth runner-ups positions
eliminated.
| Rank |
Country/Territory |
Miss Universe |
1st Runner-Up |
2nd Runner-Up |
3rd Runner-Up |
4th Runner-Up |
Semifinalists |
Total |
| 1 |
|
7 |
8 |
6 |
1 |
5 |
27 |
54 |
| 2 |
|
6 |
6 |
5 |
7 |
2 |
13 |
39 |
| 3 |
|
5 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
3 |
5 |
17 |
| 4 |
|
3 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
16 |
29 |
| 5 |
|
2 |
5 |
0 |
2 |
3 |
17 |
29 |
| 6 |
|
2 |
3 |
5 |
1 |
1 |
6 |
18 |
| 7 |
|
2 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
4 |
12 |
| 8 |
|
2 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
9 |
18 |
| 9 |
|
2 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
13 |
19 |
| 10 |
|
2 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
11 |
16 |
|
Trivia and Statistics
Scores
- Electronic voting was introduced to television viewers in 1978
when the pageant was held in Acapulco, Mexico: for the first time
in a televised pageant, the audience got to see how the judges
voted. The pageant still uses a computer voting system. There is a
team of three people who install, maintain, and operate the voting
system. They sit somewhere in the audience area with a view of the
stage, usually just in front of the accountants. They are listed in
credits as “Computer Score Operators.” The same system is used for
Miss Teen USA and Miss USA.
Locations
- :For the full list of venues, see List of Miss Universe winners
and venues.
- 6 winners have been crowned Miss Universe on their home turf:
- 1954:
Miriam Stevenson (USA) was crowned
in Long
Beach
, California
, USA.
- 1956:
Carol Morris (USA) was crowned in
Long
Beach
, California
, USA.
- 1960:
Linda Bement (USA) was crowned in
Miami
Beach
, Florida
, USA.
- 1967:
Sylvia Hitchcock (USA) was crowned
in Miami
Beach
, Florida
, USA.
- 1997:
Brook Mahealani Lee (USA) was
crowned in Miami
Beach
, Florida
, USA.
- 2001:
Denise Quiñones (Puerto Rico)
was crowned in Bayamón
, Puerto
Rico.
- 10 winners have crowned their succesors on their home turf:
- 1954:
Miriam Stevenson (USA) crowned
1955: Hillevi Rombin (Sweden) in Long
Beach
, California
, USA.
- 1956:
Carol Morris (USA) crowned 1957: Gladys
Zender (Peru) in Long Beach
, California
, USA.
- 1960:
Linda Bement (USA) crowned 1961: Marlene
Schmidt (Germany) in Long Beach
, California
, USA.
- 1967:
Sylvia Hitchcock (USA) crowned
1968: Martha Vasconcellos (Brazil) in Long
Beach
, California
, USA.
- 1973:
Maria Margarita Moran
(Philippines) crowned 1974:
Amparo Muñoz (Spain) in Manila
,
Philippines.
- 1980:
Shawn Weatherly (USA) crowned
1981: Irene Sáez (Venezuela) in New York City
, New
York
, USA.
- 1995: Chelsi Smith (USA) crowned 1996: Alicia
Machado (Venezuela) in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA.
- 1997:
Brook Mahealani Lee (USA)
crowned 1998: Wendy Fitzwilliam (Trinidad and Tobago) in
Honolulu
, Hawaii
,
USA.
- 1998: Wendy Fitzwilliam (Trinidad and Tobago)
crowned 1999: Mpule Kwelagobe (Botswana) in Chaguaramas, Trinidad and Tobago.
- 2001:
Denise Quiñones (Puerto Rico)
crowned 2002: Oxana Fedorova (Russia) in San
Juan
, Puerto Rico.
- 2002:
Justine Pasek (Panama) crowned
2003: Amelia Vega (Dominican Republic) in Panama City
, Panama
- Miss Universe was first held outside of U.S. territory when it
held the pageant in Athens, Greece, for the Miss Universe 1973 pageant.
- Outside the continental US,
Mexico has hosted the most Miss Universe pageants, with four. The
various locations were:
- Apart from the United States and Mexico, the other
territory/states to host the pageant more than once were:
Competing States
- The United States has performed the best throughout the
pageant's entire history, with seven winners, eight first
runners-up, six second runners-up, one third runner-up, five fourth
runners-up, six finalists, and seventeen semi-finalists.
Miss USA
has missed the semi-finals only three times: 1976 (Barbara
Peterson, from Minnesota
), 1999 (Kimberly Pressler, from New York), and 2002
(Shauntay Hinton, from District of Columbia
). In 1957, Leona Gage, from Maryland
, was disqualified from the semi-finals after it was
revealed that she was married and a mother.
- After the USA, Venezuela is the next most successful nation in
terms of overall placements in the semi-finals (36); it is followed
in turn by Brazil and Sweden (both 29), Colombia(28), Germany (21),
Israel (20), England and India (both 19), Finland and Greece (both
18), Japan, Puerto Rico and Norway (17), Canada, Mexico, Peru, and
South Africa (16 each). Of these countries, only England has yet to
win the contest.
- The United States has been the most successful nation to
compete in Miss Universe in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. Venezuela
won two crowns in the 1980's becoming the most successful country
that decade. Puerto Rico and Venezuela have been most successful in
the 1990s and 2000s with 3 crowns each.
- The nations that have competed every single year of competition
(from 1952 to date) are Canada, France, Germany, and the USA.
Sweden lost this distinction when it failed to send a contestant in
2005. Israel missed the pageant in 1953, while Greece was absent in
1988 (its delegate withdrew because of illness).
- Before becoming states in 1959, Alaska and Hawaii both sent
delegates to the pageant during the 1950s. In fact, Miss Hawaii was
1st runner-up in 1952 and 2nd runner-up in 1958 (before winning
Miss Universe as Miss USA in 1997), while Miss Alaska reached the
semi-finals in 1957.
- After the USA, Venezuela ranked second in terms of consecutive
placements in the semi-finals: 21 years, from 1983 to 2003, nearly
beating the United States' 22-year streak between 1977–1998. Of
those 21 years, 13 times in a row Venezuela made the top 6 or
higher (1991–2003).
- Other than the USA and Venezuela, the countries that have made
the semi-finals the most in a row are India (who in recent years
has emerged as a pageant powerhouse) with 11 (1992–2002)
consecutive placements; Germany with ten (1952 to 1961); and
Finland with 8 (1962–1969). Now that record belongs to USA, which
delegates have placed consecutively in the semifinals the last
seven years (2003–2009).
- Colombia had three first runner-up placements in a row
(1992–1994) a streak that has been unparalleled in competition
history. However, Venezuela had 3 in four years (1997, 1998 and
2000). Also, between 1996 and 1998, Venezuela had three consecutive
placements in the top two with Alicia Machado winning the crown in
1996 and the first runner-up the next two years being
Venezuelan.
- Finland has had the most consecutive runners-up. For five
years, from 1965 to 1969, its delegates placed among the five
finalists without interruption (1965: Virpi Miettinen, first
runner-up, 1966: Satu Östring, first runner-up, 1967: Ritva Lehto,
third runner-up, 1968: Leena Brusiin, second runner-up, and 1969:
Harriet Eriksson, first runner-up).
- Both Puerto Rico and Venezuela have had at least one winner in
each of the last four decades, the only two nations/territories to
accomplish this feat.
Delegates
- Miss
Universe 1955, Hillevi Rombin of
Sweden
, is the
only deceased Miss Universe title holder since the pageant's
inception. She was also the first winner to witness her
victory being aired on television.
- Miss
Universe 1957, Gladys Zender from
Peru
was the youngest Miss Universe in history.
She was 17 when she won the title.
- On three occasions, contestants that did not place in Miss World: Georgina
Rizk, Angela Visser, and Mpule Kwelagobe, won Miss Universe. However,
no contestant who failed to place at Miss Universe has ever gone on
to win Miss World.
- Eight Miss Universe delegates placed as runner-up or
semi-finalist in that pageant and later won the Miss World title. They were: Susana Duijm - semi-finalist, Venezuela 1955;
Corine Rottschäfer -
semi-finalist, Holland 1958; Rosemarie Frankland - first runner-up,
Wales 1961; Madeleine Hartog
Bell - semi-finalist, Peru 1966; Eva Rueber-Staier - semi-finalist, Austria
1969; Helen Morgan - first
runner-up, Wales 1974 (dethroned); Gina
Swainson - first runner-up, Bermuda 1979 and Agbani Darego - semi-finalist, Nigeria
2001.
- At tall, Miss Thailand 1965, Apasra Hongsakula was the shortest Miss
Universe ever crowned.
- At tall, Miss Dominican Republic 2003, Amelia Vega was the tallest Miss Universe ever
crowned.
- In 1957, Miss USA Mary Leona Gage was disqualified for being
married and a mother, though she had qualified for the semi-finals.
She was replaced by Miss Argentina, Mónica Lamas.
- Miss Haiti, Evelyn Miot, became the
first black woman to make it to the semi-finals in 1962.
- Trinidad & Tobago's Janelle
Commissiong became the first woman of African descent to be
crowned Miss Universe, in 1977 in Santo Domingo, Dominican
Republic. The first black African to win Miss Universe was Mpule Kwelagobe, of Botswana, crowned in
1999 at Chaguaramas, Trinidad & Tobago.
- Only once have black women won Miss Universe in succession.
Wendy Fitzwilliam of Trinidad
& Tobago won the title in 1998, followed by Mpule Kwelagobe of Botswana in 1999.
- Andrea Stelzer was Miss South
Africa in 1985, but pulled out of Miss Universe because of
anti-apartheid demonstrations. She competed in 1989 as Miss
Germany, and was a top 10 semi-finalist.
- 2002's winner, Oxana Fedorova of Russia, became the first
Miss Universe who officially did not finish her reign, making first
runner-up Justine Pasek the first
Panamanian
to hold the title. Fedorova was crowned in
Puerto Rico in mid-May, and was replaced by Pasek in late
September. It is unclear whether Fedorova was fired for failure to
perform her duties (the official version), or chose to resign
because she had not expected the heavy workload.
- The
strong rivalry between Puerto Rico and
Venezuela
is so well-known in Latin-American popular culture,
that their struggle has been immortalized in several
Spanish-language television commercials in the United States for
such companies as MasterCard and Budweiser. In the latter,
former Miss Universe winners Dayanara
Torres of Puerto Rico and Alicia
Machado of Venezuela caused mayhem in a sports bar as they
competed to win the admiration of the men present.
- A new trend of delegates representing countries they were not
born in has developed. Miss Universe 2002 Justine Pasek was born in Kharkiv
, Ukraine
, where her Panamanian mother was completing her
University studies. Miss Israel
2005, Elena Ralph was also born in
Ukraine and moved to Israel when she was 18 years old. The most
famous country-swapper was probably Natascha Börger. After placing 12th in
the 2000 Venezuelan
pageant she moved to Germany where she easily won
the crown of Miss Deutschland
2002. Other notable contestants who represented countries
other than their birth place include the Miss Universe Canada and
Miss Universe 2005 Natalie Glebova
who is Russian by birth, Miss Universe Canada 2006 Alice Panikian who is Bulgarian by birth,
Miss Germany Universe 2006 Natalie Ackermann who is Colombian by
birth, and Venezuelan born Francys
Sudnicka representing Poland. Such is also reflected in the
growing number of delegates from different parts of the world being
sent to a third country (almost always Latin American) for further
training before going on to the host country and compete in the
pageant proper.
- In 1999, Botswana sent Mpule
Kwelagobe as its first ever delegate to the pageant and she
won.
- In
2007, Riyo Mori of Japan was crowned in
Mexico City,
Mexico
in another controversial competition.
All ten finalists were brunettes. When Miss Mexico failed to make
the final cut, the crowd loudly booed Miss USA who did pass despite
falling over in the evening gown competition.
Winners
- In an
interesting and quite original break from tradition, Miss Universe
1998, Wendy Fitzwilliam of
Trinidad and
Tobago
, did her final walk in 1999 to her very own
recording, a cover of Sade's Kiss of Life instead of to a pre-recorded
message or being interviewed by the host.
- Natalie Glebova of Canada, Miss
Universe 2005 reigned for the longest period in Miss Universe
history: one year and 53 days (almost 2 months) from the time she
was crowned on May 31, 2005 in Bangkok, Thailand. Riyo Mori of Japan, Miss Universe 2007 reigned for
almost the same length: one year and 45 days from the time she was
crowned on May 28, 2007 in Mexico City, Mexico.
- In April 2006, a reunion of former titleholders took place in
New York City to celebrate the launch of the book "Universal
Beauty" by Cara Birnbaum. The reunion included Sylvia Hitchcock (1967, USA); Margaret Gardiner (1978, South Africa);
Yvonne Ryding (1984, Sweden); Deborah Carthy Deu (1985, Puerto Rico);
Bárbara Palacios (1986,
Venezuela); Porntip
Nakhirunkanok (1988, Thailand); Mona
Grudt (1990, Norway); Lupita Jones
(1991, Mexico); Michelle McLean
(1992, Namibia); Brook Mahealani
Lee (1997, USA); Wendy
Fitzwilliam (1998, Trinidad & Tobago); Denise Quiñones (2001, Puerto Rico);
Justine Pasek (2002, Panama); Amelia Vega (2003, Dominican Republic) and
Natalie Glebova (2005, Canada).
- Miss Universe 2000, Lara Dutta's
(India) finalist interview was the highest individual score in any
category in the history of the Miss Universe contest, as her
perfect interview saw a majority of the judges giving her the
maximum 9.99 mark.
- Highest Televised Scores in the Semi-Finals:
- :Evening Gown competition - 9.897 by Carolina Gómez of Colombia in 1994.
- :Swimsuit competition - 9.880 by Oxana Fedorova of Russia in 2002.
- :Interview competition - 9.954 by Lara
Dutta of India in 2000.
- The largest interval between a nation winning Miss Universe is
Japan; Akiko Kojima won the title in
1959 and, 48 years later, Riyo Mori became
the second recipient from Japan.
- In 2009, Venezuela became the first country ever to win
consecutive titles, when Dayana
Mendoza, Miss Venezuela and Miss Universe 2008 crowned her
compatriot, Stefanía
Fernández as Miss Universe 2009. USA won in 1954 and 1956, then
in 1995 and 1997 and Venezuela won in 1979 and 1981. Curiously,
between the Venezuelan triumphs of 1979 and 1981, the winner was
from the USA, and between the two USA wins in 1995 and 1997, the
winner was from Venezuela.
Awards
- The Philippines has won the
Miss Photogenic award seven times (including a back-to-back and a
three-peat), followed by the UK and Puerto Rico, both with five.
Puerto Rico won its five awards during a six-year period
(1999–2004, did not win in 2000).
- Colombia has won the Best National Costume Award six
times.
- Guam has won the Miss Congeniality award four times.
- The only Miss Universe to win three other awards on pageant
night was Denise Quiñones (Puerto Rico), who in 2001 also won Miss
Photogenic, Bluepoint Swimsuit Award, and Clairol Best Style
Award.
- Four Miss Universe winners were awarded Miss Photogenic:
Margareta Arvidsson (Sweden, 1966), Margarita Moran (Philippines,
1973), Janelle Commissiong (Trinidad/Tobago, 1977) and Denise
Quiñones (Puerto Rico, 2001)
- Three titleholders have also won Best National Costume: Porntip
Nakhirunkanok (Thailand, 1988), Wendy Fitzwilliams
(Trinidad/Tobago, 1998) and, Amelia Vega (Dominican Republic,
2003).
The Miss Universe Creed
From 1960 to 1990, the Miss Universe Creed was read at each
pageant:
"We, the young women of the universe, believe people everywhere are
seeking peace, tolerance and mutual understanding. We pledge to
spread this message in every way we can, wherever we go."
See also
References
- Washington Post: Trump and Rosie Argue Over Miss
USA
- Miss Universe crown eludes Africa 55 times
- Miss Universe Pageant Defends Credibility Amid
Criticism Show is Degrading, Unprofessional
- Channel-i to telecast Miss Universe 2004 live!
- Singapore must not give up its 59 seconds of
fame
- Tracing the regal existence of ‘Miss Universe’
- Grand Slam Ranking - last updated on December 2, 2007 of
Global Beauties
- The Miss Universe Mikimoto Crown
- Pageantopolis - Miss Universe
- Miss Universe - History and List of
titleholders
- WHO
HAS THE MOST MISS UNIVERSES?
- Pageant Almanac - Miss Universe - Ranking
-
http://www.beautyinpageants.blogspot.com/2008/08/1999-miss-universe-in-trinidad-and.html
External links