|
Miss
Universe Australia
Miss
Universe is an annual international female 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.
Alongside
with its rival Miss World and Miss Earth contests,
this pageant is one of the most publicised beauty
contests in the world.
History
The
winner of the "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.
The
main pageant was held consecutively in the continental
US from 1952 to 1971. Since then, the pageant
has been held in locales around the world.
Competition formats
In
the early years of the pageant, the ladies 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 select a judge
and answer the question posed by the judge. After
that, the field is 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
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 was 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 answered the final question to decide
the ultimate winner.
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.
Miss
Universe 2007
The
2007 Miss Universe Pageant was held at the National
Auditorium in Mexico City, Mexico with peripheral
events taking place in the cities of Cancún,
the Mayan Riviera and Chiapas. Although initial
expectations were that ninety delegates would
participate, only 77 candidates competed for the
title with Miss Sweden withdrawing amongst complaints
in her home country that the contest degrades
women. Protesters in Mexico wore white dresses
splashed with fake blood and sashes proclaiming
Miss Juarez, Miss Atenco and Miss Michoacan alluding
to places in Mexico made infamous by killings
or sexual abuse of women.
The
winner of Miss Universe 2007 was Riyo Mori crowned
by the previous year's winner, Zuleyka Rivera
of Puerto Rico. Ningning Zhang from China, aged
20, won the Miss Congeniality award, while Anna
Theresa Licaros, aged 22, from the Philippines,
was chosen as Miss Photogenic.
The
2008 Miss Universe Pageant will be held in Nha
Trang, the capital of Khanh Hoa Province in Vietnam.
Nha Trang is famous for its beautiful beaches
and seaside resorts such as Vinpearl. (Credit:
Wikipedia)
Website
Miss
Universe official website
Profiles
Kimberley
Busteed
Miss
Universe
Beauty
Pageants
|
