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Miss World

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The Miss World pageant is an international beauty pageant founded in the United Kingdom by Eric Morley in 1951.

Along with the rival Miss Universe pageant, Miss World has grown to be the most sought after and prestigious title in beauty pageantry. It is the most widely attended and broadcasted of such events, with over a hundred delegates in competition (Miss Universe, by comparison, welcomes approximately 80 delegates). Miss World – The Final is the world's largest live annual television event with global viewing figures topping two billion across more than 200 countries.[1]

The winner spends a year travelling the globe representing the Miss World Organization in its various causes. Traditionally, Miss World lives in London during her reign and uses it as her base for world travel. The current Miss World is Taťána Kuchařová of the Czech Republic.

Contents

[edit] Miss World 2006

Main article: Miss World 2006

Taťána Kuchařová, an 18-year-old student from the Czech Republic, won the Miss World 2006 beauty contest on Saturday, September 30th at Sala Kongresowa, the main 2,897-seat auditorium at the Palace of Culture and Science in Warsaw, Poland. This is the first time ever that the pageant was held in an European city other than London, United Kingdom, having previously been held there in 2002 after the Nigeria Controversy. 104 countries competed for the title.

[edit] History

Image:Antigone Costanda4.jpg

Miss World started as the Festival Bikini Contest, in honour of the recently introduced swimwear of the time, but was called Miss World by the press. It was originally planned as a one-off event. Upon learning about the upcoming Miss Universe pageant, Morley decided to make the pageant an annual event.

Opposition to the wearing of bikinis led to their replacement with more modest swimwear after the first contest. In 1959, the BBC started broadcasting the competition. The pageant's popularity grew as the popularity of television grew.

In the 1980s, the pageant repositioned itself with the slogan Beauty With a Purpose. The contest added tests of intelligence and personality. By the 1990s, the pageant was reaching two billion viewers from almost every country in the world. However, the competition has been seen as old-fashioned and rather politically incorrect in its native Britain. Despite the global appeal, the show was not broadcasted on any major terrestrial British TV network for several years, until Channel Five aired it in 1998.

[edit] 21st century

Eric Morley died as the pageant entered the new century. His wife, Julia, succeeded as chairman of the Miss World Organization, in charge of holding the global pageant.

The century saw its first black African winner, Agbani Darego, in 2001. During that edition, as part of its marketing strategy, Miss World came up with a "You Decide" television special, featuring the delegates behind the scenes and on the beach, and allowing viewers to either phone in or vote online for their favorites. It also sells its Talent, "Beach Beauty" and Sports events as television specials to broadcasters.

In 2002 the competition was slated for Abuja, the capital city of Nigeria. This choice was controversial, as a northern Nigerian woman, Amina Lawal, was awaiting death by stoning for adultery under Sharia law there, but Miss World chose to use the publicity surrounding its presence to bring greater global awareness and action to Amina's plight (see Controversies section).

[edit] Miss World Organization

The Miss World Organization owns and manages the annual Miss World Finals, a competition that has grown into one of the World’s biggest and most loved events. Since its launch is 1951, the Miss World Organization has raised more than £250m for children’s charities. Miss World is franchised in more than 140 countries and commands the World’s largest annual live TV audience. Miss World, Limited is a privately held firm, and thus figures for its earnings, expenses and charitable contributions are not publicly available.

Aside from raising millions of pounds for charities around the globe under the banner of its 'Beauty with a Purpose' programme, Miss World is also credited with directly influencing a dramatic increase in tourism in Sanya, China, host of the Miss World finals 2003-05.[citation needed]

[edit] The pageant

The road to the Miss World crown is a long one. In the year preceding the global finals, each delegate must win her national title or a specially designated Miss World national preliminary. Miss World's national preliminaries are conducted by their license-holders, who hold the franchise to use the "Miss World" name in their country. The annual world final is typically a month long extravaganza, with several preliminary events, galas, dinners, balls and activities, culminating in a globally telecast final show in which the field is narrowed to between 15-20 delegates.

Since 2003 Miss World pageant also features Fast Track events during the preliminary round. The winners of Fast Track events are automatically qualified to enter the final round. Fast Track events which have been used since 2003 are :

  • Beach Beauty (2003,2004,2005,2006)
  • Talent (2003,2004,2005,2006)
  • Miss Sport (2003,2004,2006)
  • Beauty With A Purpose (2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, FT since 2005,2006)
  • Top Model (2004)
  • Personality (2003)
  • Peoples Choice (2003)
  • Contestants Choice (2004)

[edit] Titleholders

The following is a list of winners of the previous ten years. See List of Miss World winners for the full list of titleholders.
Year Miss World Country Venue
2006 Taťána Kuchařová Image:Flag of the Czech Republic.svg Czech Republic Sala Kongresowa at the Warsaw Palace of Culture and Science, Warsaw, Poland
2005 Unnur Birna Vilhjálmsdóttir Image:Flag of Iceland.svg Iceland Crown of Beauty Theatre, Sanya, China
2004 María Julia Mantilla Image:Flag of Peru.svg Peru Crown of Beauty Theatre, Sanya, China
2003 Rosanna Davison Image:Flag of Ireland.svg Ireland Crown of Beauty Theatre, Sanya, China, Beijing, China, Shanghai, China, and Xi'an, China
2002 Azra Akin Image:Flag of Turkey.svg Turkey Alexandra Palace, London, UK and Nigeria
2001 Ibiagbanidokibubo "Agbani" Asenite Darego Image:Flag of Nigeria.svg Nigeria Sun City Entertainment Centre, Sun City, South Africa and Zambia
2000 Priyanka Chopra Image:Flag of India.svg India Millennium Dome, London, UK and the Maldives
1999 Yukta Mookhey Image:Flag of India.svg India Olympia Hall, London, UK and Malta
1998 Linor Abargil Image:Flag of Israel (bordered).svg Israel Lake Berjaya Mahe Resort, Port Glaud, Mahe, Seychelles and Paris, France
1997 Diana Hayden Image:Flag of India.svg India Plantation Club, Baie Lazare, Seychelles

[edit] Best performances by country

Image:Miss World Pageant Map.PNG As of 2006:

Titles Country
5 India, Venezuela
4 United Kingdom (plus 1 resigned, 1974)
3 Iceland, Jamaica, Sweden
2 Argentina, Australia, Austria, Netherlands, Peru, South Africa, United States
1 Bermuda, Brazil, Czech Republic, Dominican Republic, Egypt, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Grenada, Guam, Ireland, Israel, Nigeria, Poland, Puerto Rico, Russia, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkey

[edit] Best performances by continental region

As of 2006:

Continent Best Performance
Europe 24 titles won by United Kingdom (4), Iceland and Sweden (3), Austria and Netherlands (2), Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Israel, Poland, Russia and Turkey (1).
Americas 13 titles won by Venezuela (5), Argentina, Peru and United States (2), Bermuda and Brazil (1).
Asia-Pacific 8 titles won by India (5), Australia (2) and Guam (1).
Caribbean 7 titles won by Jamaica (3), Dominican Republic, Grenada, Puerto Rico and Trinidad and Tobago (1).
Africa 4 titles won by South Africa (2), Egypt and Nigeria (1).

[edit] Continental Queens of Beauty

The following is a list of Continental Queens of Beauty winners since the format was changed in 2005. See List of Miss World Continental Queens of Beauty for the full list of winners.

From 2005-present:

Year Americas Africa Asia-Pacific Caribbean Northern Europe Southern Europe
2005
Image:Flag of Mexico.svg Mexico
Dafne Molina Lona
Image:Flag of Tanzania.svg Tanzania
Nancy Sumari
Image:Flag of South Korea.svg Korea
Oh Eun-young
Image:Flag of Puerto Rico.svg Puerto Rico
Ingrid Marie Rivera Santos
Image:Flag of Iceland.svg Iceland
Unnur Birna
Image:Flag of Italy.svg Italy
Sofia Bruscoli
2006
Image:Flag of Brazil.svg Brazil
<center> <center>Jane de Sousa Borges Oliveira
Image:Flag of Angola.svg Angola
<center> <center>Stiviandra Oliveira
Image:Flag of Australia.svg Australia
<center> <center>Sabrina Houssami
Image:Flag of Jamaica.svg Jamaica
<center> <center>Sara Lawrence
Image:Flag of the Czech Republic.svg Czech Republic
<center> <center>Taťána Kuchařová
Romania Romania
<center> <center>Ioana Valentina Boitor

[edit] Queens of Beauty titles

As of 2006:

Continent Best Performance
Queens of Beauty Northern Europe United Kingdom (3)
Queens of Beauty Southern Europe Croatia and Turkey (3)
Queens of Beauty Americas Venezuela (10)
Queens of Beauty Asia-Pacific India (5)
Queens of Beauty Caribbean Jamaica (8)
Queens of Beauty Africa South Africa (9)

[edit] Hosts and invited artists

The following is a list of finals hosts and invited artists of the previous ten years. See List of Miss World hosts and invited artists for the full list of hosts and invited artists.
Year Hosts Invited Artists
2006 Tim Vincent, Angela Chow, and Grażyna Torbicka Westlife, Robin Gibb, and Amici
2005 Tim Vincent and Angela Chow Alexander O’Neal
2004 Troy McClain, Angela Chow and Lisa Snowdon Lionel Richie and Il Divo
2003 Phil Keoghan, Amanda Byram and Angela Chow Luis Fonsi and Brian Ferry
2002 Sean Kanan and Claire Elizabeth Smith Chayanne and BBMak
2001 Jerry Springer and Claire Elizabeth Smith
2000 Jerry Springer and Rebecca de Alba bond and S Club 7
1999 Ulrika Johnson and Melanie Sykes Westlife and Enrique Iglesias
1998 Ronan Keating and Eden Harel Boyzone and Errol Brown
1997 Richard Steinmetz Ricky Martin

[edit] Controversies surrounding the pageant

Image:Rosanna davison 02.jpg

The Miss World pageant seems to have been the target of many controversies since its inception.

  • In 1970, feminist protesters threw flour bombs during the live event at London's Royal Albert Hall, momentarily scaring host Bob Hope.
  • The first winner from the United States, 1973's Marjorie Wallace, was forced to resign because of her high-profile serial dating.
  • The 1974 winner Helen Morgan resigned four days later after it was discovered she was a single mother.
  • In 1976, several countries went on a boycott, because the pageant included both a Caucasian and African representative for South Africa. In yet another shut-out for the nation for its apartheid policy, South Africa competed for the last time in 1977, before it was welcomed back in 1991 as that policy disintegrated.
  • The 1980 winner Gabriela Brum of Germany resigned one day after winning, initially claiming her boyfriend disapproved. A few days later it emerged that she had been forced to resign after it was discovered that she posed naked for a magazine.
  • In 1996, wide-scale protests took place in Bangalore, India over the hosting of the beauty contest. The swimsuit shootings were moved to Seychelles, and heavy security was in place for every move the contestants made. Despite the chaos, the pageant's live telecast went on without a problem.
  • Just days after her 1998 crowning, Israel's Linor Abargil revealed that she had been raped only two months before the pageant. One of the highlights of her year was seeing her accused rapist convicted.

[edit] The 2002 Nigeria contest

In the year leading up the finals in Nigeria, several European title holders lobbied their governments and the EU parliament to support Amina's cause. A number of contestants followed the lead of Kathrine Sørland of Norway in boycotting the contest (despite the controversy Sørland would go on to become a semifinalist in both the Miss World and Miss Universe contest), while others such as Costa Rica were instructed by their national governments and parliaments not to attend the contest. Among the other boycotting nations were Denmark, Spain, Switzerland, Panama, Belgium and Kenya. There was further controversy over the possibly suspended participation of France and South Africa, which may or may not have been due to the boycott. For her part, Lawal asked that contestants not suspend their participation in the contest, saying that it was for the good of her country and that they could, as the representative of Sweden had earlier remarked, make a much stronger case for her on the ground in Nigeria.

Despite the increasing international profile the boycott was garnering in the world press, the contest went ahead in Nigeria after being rescheduled to avoid taking place during Ramadan, with many prominent nations sending their delegates. Osmel Sousa of Venezuela, one of the world's most influential national directors, famously said "there is no question about it (the participation of Miss Venezuela in the contest)." The trouble did not end there, however. A ThisDay (Lagos, Nigeria) newspaper editorial suggesting that Muhammad, the prophet of Islam, would probably have chosen one of his wives from among the contestants had he been alive to see it, resulted in interreligious riots that started on November 22 in which over 200 people were killed in the city of Kaduna, along with many houses of worship being burned by religious zealots. Because of these riots, the 2002 pageant was moved to London, following widely circulated reports that the representatives of Canada and Korea had withdrawn from the contest and returned to their respective countries out of safety concerns. A fatwa urging the beheading of the woman who wrote the offending words, Isioma Daniel, was issued in Nigeria, but was declared null and void by the relevant Saudi Arabian authorities. Upon the pageant's return to England, many of the boycotting contestants chose to attend, including Miss Norway, Kathrine Sørland, who was ironically tipped in the last few days as the number one favorite for the crown she had previously boycotted.

The eventual winner of the pageant was Azra Akin of Turkey, the first predominantly Muslim country to hold the title since Egypt in 1954.

[edit] Trivia

  • In 2000, Aishwarya Rai, Miss World 1994 from India, was named the Most Beautiful Miss World of All Times - receiving a score of 9.911.
  • Miss World remains the only major beauty pageant where a country successfully held the title for consecutive years: Sweden (1951-52), United Kingdom (1964-65), and India (1999-2000).
  • France, Australia,Venezuela and India have won both Miss World and Miss Universe crowns in the same year: 1953, 1972, 1981 and 1994 respectively. Philippines should have done this also but Miss World 1973 1st runner up was not offered the crown after Miss USA was dethroned. India achieved the feat twice, in 1994 and in 2000. Australia and India has both won Miss Universe, Miss World and Miss Asia Pacific all in the same year (1972 and 2000 respectively).
  • Though unplaced in Miss World, contestants Georgina Rizk (Miss Universe 1971), Angela Visser (Miss Universe 1989), and Mpule Kwelagobe (Miss Universe 1999) were all Miss Universe title holders. Michelle McLean (Miss Universe 1992) from Namibia was a finalist at the 1991 Miss World pageant in Atlanta and went on to win the 1992 Miss Universe crown in Bangkok.
  • The longest reign by any Miss World titleholder belongs to the first winner, Kicki Håkansson, which lasted for 475 days (almost 16 months). The shortest reign was that of Gabriella Brum, which lasted just 18 hours before she resigned in 1980. Officially, the shortest reign, from the time of her crowning until she passes the title to her successor, belongs to 2005 winner Unnur Birna of Iceland, who reigned for just 294 days (less than 10 months) by the time she crowned Taťána Kuchařová of the Czech Republic on September 30, 2006.
  • Several Miss World alumna have been cast as Bond girls or made appearances in the Bond movies:

Dr. No - Michelle Mok (Hong Kong, 1958).

Thunderball - Claudine Auger (France, first runner-up 1958).

Diamonds Are Forever - Denise Perrier (France, Miss World 1953).

The Spy Who Loved Me - Eva Rueber-Staier (Austria, Miss World 1969); she would go on to reprise her role in For Your Eyes Only and Octopussy).

Octopussy - Mary Stavin (Sweden, Miss World 1977) and Carolyn Seaward (United Kingdom, first runner-up 1979). Stavin will re-appear in the next Bond movie A View to a Kill.

A View to a Kill - Lou-Anne Ronchi (Australia, second runner-up 1984).

The Living Daylights - Ruddy Rodriguez (Venezuela, finalist 1985).

Tomorrow Never Dies - Michelle Yeoh (Malaysia, 1983).

Die Another Day - Halle Berry (USA, finalist 1986).

Other notable contestants who made impacts in the show business on an international level are Lynda Carter (USA, semi-finalist, 1972) and Maggie Cheung (Hong Kong, semi-finalist, 1983).

[edit] External links and references

Big Four Pageants
Miss Universe | Miss World | Miss Earth | Miss International
Miss World
1951 | 1952 | 1953 | 1954 | 1955 | 1956 | 1957 | 1958 | 1959 | 1960
1961 | 1962 | 1963 | 1964 | 1965 | 1966 | 1967 | 1968 | 1969 | 1970
1971 | 1972 | 1973 | 1974 | 1975 | 1976 | 1977 | 1978 | 1979 | 1980
1981 | 1982 | 1983 | 1984 | 1985 | 1986 | 1987 | 1988 | 1989 | 1990
1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000
2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007
Titleholders |  Continental Queens of Beauty | Hosts & Invited Artists

[edit] External links Northern Europe

[edit] External links Southern Europe

[edit] External links Asia Pacific

[edit] External links Africa

[edit] External links Caribbean

[edit] External links Americas


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