:''This article is about the pageant. For the song by the band
Hole , see
Miss World (song).''
Miss World logo
The 'Miss World' pageant is an international
beauty pageant founded in the
United Kingdom by
Eric Morley in
1951. Presently, Morley's wife,
Julia Morley, co-chairs the pageant.
Miss World is the most widely attended and broadcasted international beauty pageant, with over a hundred delegates competing every year (the
Miss Universe pageant, by comparison, has approximately 80 delegates each year,). Its rival, the
Miss Universe pageant maintains equal popularity in some parts of the world, notably the Americas, and also by virtue of the fact that most countries in the world send the winners of their major national competitions to the Miss Universe pageant. Miss World – The Final is the world's largest live annual television event with global viewers topping two billion in more than 200 countries.
[1]
The winner spends a year travelling to represent the ''Miss World Organization'' and its various causes. Traditionally, Miss World lives in
London during her reign. The current Miss World is
Taťána Kuchařová of
Czech Republic.
Miss World 2007
Main articles: Miss World 2007
The 57th Miss World pageant will be celebrated in
Sanya,
People's Republic of China on December 1, 2007.
History
Miss World started as the ''Festival
Bikini Contest'', in honor of the recently introduced swim wear 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 swim wear after the first contest. In
1959, the
BBC started broadcasting the competition. The pageant's popularity grew with the advent of television. By the
1990s, the pageant was reaching two billion viewers from almost every country in the world.
In the
1980s, the pageant repositioned itself with the
slogan ''Beauty With a Purpose'', with added tests of
intelligence and
personality. 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 broadcast on any major terrestrial British TV network for several years, until
Channel 5 aired it in 1998.
21st century
Eric Morley died as the pageant entered the new century. His wife, Julia, succeeded as chairwoman of the Miss World Organization.
The century saw its first black African winner,
Agbani Darego, in 2001. As part of its marketing strategy, Miss World came up with a "You Decide" television special during that edition, 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 choosing
Abuja, the
capital city of
Nigeria to host its final. 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)''.
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 in 1951, the Miss World Organization has raised more than £250 million 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' program, Miss World is also credited with directly influencing a dramatic increase in tourism in
Sanya, China, host of the Miss World finals from 2003-05.
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 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)
Titleholders
::''The following is a list of winners of the previous twelve years. See
List of Miss World winners for the full list of titleholders''.
| Year | Miss World | Country | Venue |
|---|
| 2006 | Taťána Kuchařová | Czech Republic | Sala Kongresowa at the Warsaw Palace of Culture and Science, Warsaw, Poland |
| 2005 | Unnur Birna Vilhjálmsdóttir | Iceland | Crown of Beauty Theatre, Sanya, China |
| 2004 | MarÃa Julia "Maju" Mantilla GarcÃa | Peru | Crown of Beauty Theatre, Sanya, China |
| 2003 | Rosanna Davison | Ireland | Crown of Beauty Theatre, Sanya, China, Beijing, China, Shanghai, China, and Xi'an, China |
| 2002 | Azra Akin | Turkey | Alexandra Palace, London, UK and Nigeria |
| 2001 | Ibiagbanidokibubo "Agbani" Asenite Darego | Nigeria | Sun City Entertainment Centre, Sun City, South Africa and Zambia |
| 2000 | Priyanka Chopra | India | Millennium Dome, London, UK and the Maldives |
| 1999 | Yukta Mookhey | India | Olympia Hall, London, UK and Malta |
| 1998 | Linor Abargil | Israel | Lake Berjaya Mahe Resort, Port Glaud, Mahe, Seychelles and Paris, France |
| 1997 | Diana Hayden | India | Plantation Club, Baie Lazare, Seychelles |
| 1996 | Irene Skliva | Greece | Bangalore Cricket Stadium, Bangalore, India and Seychelles |
| 1995 | Jacqueline Maria Aguilera Marcano | Venezuela | Sun City, South Africa; Dubai, United Arab Emirates and Comoros |
Best performances by country
Map of Miss World-winning countries as of 2006.
''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 |
|---|
Best performances by continental region
''As of 2006'':
| Continent | Best Performance |
|---|
| Europe | 24 titles won by United Kingdom (4), Iceland and Sweden (3), Austria, 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). |
|---|
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. Here is a similar table of the top rankings for the Miss World pageant, based on all results from the first event in 1951 to the most recent competition in 2006.
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'':
Queens of Beauty titles
''As of 2006'':
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''.
Controversies surrounding the pageant
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 the 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 duties, but not the title was offered to first-runner up,
Evangeline Pascual of the
Philippines, which she refused. The two girls were tied at the final tabulation of the pageant competition, but the Chairman of the Board of Judges, American actor Gregory Peck broke the tie in favor of Wallace. source: http://www.pageantopolis.com/international/world_1973.htm ,
[2]
★ 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 placed. Despite the chaos, the pageant's live telecast went on smoothly.
★ 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.
★ It was in 1998 Miss World Pageant when Miss Ghana unfortunately slipped in the middle of the stage, but was unharmed.
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 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, would probably have chosen one of his wives from among the contestants had he been alive to see it, resulted in inter-religious 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.
Trivia
★
Aishwarya Rai is the only Miss World to have a wax statue at Madam Tussads Wax Museum, and was named one of the 100 Most Influential People in the World in Times Magazine
★ 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).
★ India is the only country to have both
Miss Universe and Miss World crowns in the same year twice- 1994 (
Sushmita Sen and
Aishwarya Rai) and 2000 (
Lara Dutta and
Priyanka Chopra). France, Australia and Venezuela have won both Miss World and
Miss Universe crowns in the same year once: 1953, 1972 and 1981 respectively. The Philippines should have achieved this in 1973 if the Miss World title was offered to the first runner up after the winner was dethroned.
★ 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.
★ Miss World has title holders who placed as finalist or runners-up in Miss Universe. They were
Carmen Duijm Zubillaga (Miss World 1955),
Corinne Rottschafer (Miss World 1959),
Rosemarie Frankland (Miss World 1961),
Madeline Hartog-Bel Houghton (Miss World 1967),
Eva Rueber-Staier (Miss World 1969),
Helen Morgan (Miss World 1974) (dethroned),
Gina Ann Swainson (Miss World 1979),
Agbani Darego (Miss World 2001).
★ The longest reign by any Miss World titleholder belongs to the first winner,
Kiki HÃ¥kansson, 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 alumnae 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).''
★
★
A View to a Kill - '
Lou-Anne Ronchi' ''(Australia, second runner-up 1984)'' and '
Mary Stavin' ''(Sweden, Miss World 1977)''
★
★
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) know as
Wonder Woman and
Maggie Cheung (Hong Kong, semi-finalist, 1983).
★ Miss World 1994 Aishwarya Rai from India is often touted as the most beautiful woman on the earth. She is one of the most popular actresses of India and is currently working on many international projects like Chaos with Meryl Streep and Last Legion which is about to release soon.
★ Miss World 2004 had the whole world voting for the new Miss World. It was for the first time that a major international event had popular votes were considered for choosing the winner.
★ Miss World chairperson Julia Morley scrapped the swimsuit competition from the finals from the year 1998. She said that beachwears must be wore on beaches only. However, she contradicted herself from the year 2004 because from that year all the contestants present themselves in bikinis on the stage during the finals.
★ The
55th staging of Miss World in
Sanya,
China in 2005 meant that for the first time, all the
major beauty pageants were staged in the same
continent (
Asia):
Miss Universe in
Thailand, Miss Earth in the
Philippines, and Miss International in
Japan.
★ Beside the Summer
Olympics, for the first time in the history of beauty pageants, both the
Republic of the Congo and the
Democratic Republic of the Congo are strongly expected to compete together in
Miss World 2007 in October of 2007.
External links and references
★
Miss World Official Website
★
Pageantopolis
★
56th Miss World Warsaw Poland Official Website
★
Missosology.Org: Analyzing Beauty Pageants
★
Official Miss World Publicity/PR website
★
Guardian story on Nigeria
★
Warsaw-life Miss World 2006
★
Miss World 2006 Tatana Kucharova
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