Big Four pageants
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Recently some Governments have questioned the credibility of Miss Earth contest as it allows unauthorized and improper representation of countries.
The Big Four beauty pageants are: Miss Universe, Miss World, Miss International and Miss Earth.
In the world of beauty pageants, these four have become the top international pageants. Miss Universe and Miss World have gained greater success and popularity, having started back in the 1950's as splinter contests to Miss America and being annually aired worldwide. Miss International came in the 1960's. Miss Earth, leaning more on the promotion of environmental issues, started in 2001.
The "Big Four" category (also known as the "Grand Slam" of beauty pageants) was created in 2001 by GlobalBeauties.com. In 2006, GlobalBeauties.com expanded its "Grand Slam" group to include Miss Tourism Queen International, thus covering the world's five largest international beauty pageants.
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[edit] Statistics
In terms of winning the "Grand Slam" (a country winning all four pageants, but not necessarily in the same year), only Brazil and Venezuela have done it so far, through their victories in the Miss Earth pageant.
Venezuela holds the most titles, winning 15 times, followed by USA, though the latter is yet to win in the Miss Earth to claim a Grand Slam.
USA has the most Miss Universe title with 7. Venezuela and India share the most Miss World title with 5 each; the former also holds the record for most Miss International title with 5. No country yet has won multiple Miss Earth title.
| Country | Miss Universe | Miss World | Miss Earth | Miss International | Total Grand Slam wins |
 Venezuela |
4 | 5 | 1 | 5 | 15 |
 USA |
7 | 21 | 3 | 12 | |
 Puerto Rico |
5 | 1 | 1 | 7 | |
 India |
2 | 5 | 7 | ||
 Australia |
2 | 2 | 3 | 7 | |
 UK2 |
43 | 3 | 7 | ||
 Sweden |
3 | 3 | 6 | ||
 Philippines |
2 | 4 | 6 | ||
 Brazil |
2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 |
 Finland |
2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | |
 Argentina |
1 | 2 | 1 | 4 | |
 Netherlands |
1 | 2 | 1 | 4 | |
 Germany |
1 | 14 | 2 | 4 | |
 Colombia |
1 | 3 | 4 | ||
 Iceland |
3 | 1 | 4 | ||
 Poland |
1 | 3 | 4 | ||
 Trinidad and Tobago |
2 | 1 | 3 | ||
 Peru |
1 | 2 | 3 | ||
 South Africa |
1 | 2 | 3 | ||
 France |
1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | |
 Greece |
1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | |
 Norway |
1 | 2 | 3 | ||
 Spain |
1 | 2 | 3 | ||
 Jamaica |
3 | 3 | |||
 Canada |
2 | 2 | |||
 Thailand |
2 | 2 | |||
 Dominican Republic |
1 | 1 | 2 | ||
 Israel |
1 | 1 | 2 | ||
 Chile |
1 | 1 | 2 | ||
 Lebanon |
1 | 1 | 2 | ||
 New Zealand |
1 | 1 | 2 | ||
 Panama |
1 | 1 | 2 | ||
 Austria |
2 | 2 | |||
 Costa Rica |
2 | 2 | |||
 Botswana |
1 | 1 | |||
 Japan |
1 | 1 | |||
 Mexico |
1 | 1 | |||
 Namibia |
1 | 1 | |||
 Bermuda |
1 | 1 | |||
 Czech Republic |
1 | 1 | |||
 Egypt |
1 | 1 | |||
 Grenada |
1 | 1 | |||
 Guam |
1 | 1 | |||
 Ireland |
1 | 1 | |||
 Nigeria |
1 | 1 | |||
 Russia |
5 | 1 | 1 | ||
 Turkey |
1 | 1 | |||
 Denmark |
1 | 1 | |||
 Honduras |
1 | 1 | |||
 Kenya |
1 | 1 | |||
 Guatemala |
1 | 1 | |||
 Portugal |
1 | 1 | |||
 Yugoslavia6 |
1 | 1 | |||
| Total number of editions | 55 | 56 | 6 | 46 | 163 |
1 Marjorie Wallace was fired on March 8, 1974 but she still remains the official Miss World 1973.
2 Uses the name Britain in some of the pageants, while may compete as separate nations (i.e. England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland) at times.
3 Does not include the Miss World crown won in 1974, when Helen Morgan resigned.
4 Does not include the Miss World crown won in 1980, when Gabriela Brum resigned.
5 Does not include the Miss Universe crown won in 2002, when Oxana Fedorova was dethroned.
6 Yugoslavia no longer exists as a country. It is separated into six countries: Macedonia, Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Croatia and Slovenia
The above table also does not include the Miss Earth crown won by Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2002, when Dzejla Glavovic was dethroned.
[edit] Representation
Since the status of women and the definition of beauty (in the beauty pageant case, based on the body through the swimsuit, elegance in the evening gown, and intelligence in the final answer) varies from one country to the other, the number of countries/territories participating may vary from one beauty pageant to another, and from one edition to the next. Notable absences are those from Middle Eastern and North African countries. Although prominent Communist countries have begun sending delegates to these pageants, this trend has been accompanied by the waning popularity of pageants as an instrument to objectify women in most of the developed countries.
Despite the growing popularity of Eastern Europe as a fertile source of the next and upcoming supermodels and beauty icons, such has also not been the case in the pageant world, wherein Latin American countries have been most successful. Investing heavily on the training and grooming of contestants, these countries' beauty schools have also attracted the attention of worldwide national pageant organizations, which send their delegates to these schools for extensive training prior to joining a pageant.
In terms of qunatity, Miss World receives the highest number of delegates, with over 100 in 2006. It is closely followed by Miss Universe, whose highest number of contestants so far is 86 (in 2006). See Big Four Pageants: Number of Candidates.
[edit] Grand Slam
Unlike in the realm of sports, a nation winning a true Grand Slam (all these pageants in the same year) is unlikely. This is due to the fact that the winners are chosen by a panel of judges (or in the most recent trend, partly by the public), who may, consciously or unconsciously, be for or against a nation winning the Grand Slam. This is in contrast to a Grand Slam in sports where the achievement is based on an athlete's ability, not on a judgement by others.
The following table shows the performance of nations across all the "Big Four". Since a contestant is unlikely to represent her country in all four pageants, the evaluation is based more on the winning countries, however, there are some contestants who came close to winning two of the four Grand Slam pageants (e.g. Gina Swainson of Bermuda, and Helen Morgan of United Kingdom).
1 Marjorie Wallace was fired on March 8, 1974 but she still remains the official Miss World 1973.
2 Helen Morgan (United Kingdom) resigned only four days after being crowned and Anneline Kriel (South Africa) replaced her.
3 Gabriela Brum (West Germany) resigned just 18 hours after being crowned and Kimberly Santos (Guam) replaced her.
4 Oxana Fedorova (Russia) was dethroned in September 23, 2002.
5 Džejla Glavović (Bosnia and Herzegovina) was dethroned in May 28, 2003.
[edit] Locations
Despite the international nature of the pageants in terms of delegates participation, the pageants' locations has generally been confined within the organizing bodies' home states (Miss Universe: United States, Miss World: United Kingdom, Miss Earth: Philippines, Miss International: Japan) in their years of infancy (although Miss International was regularly held in the United States since its inception, before completely moving to Japan). Although eventually these pageants have eventually been held overseas, host cities/states have mostly been confined to within the immediate regions, reflecting the target audience of each. Thus, it is very rare that a region will end up hosting all the Big Four, and less likely, for a state to do so. The year 2005 marked only the first time since Miss Earth came into the Big Four fold that these four were held within a region, in the Far East (note however that two of the four are based in the region).
The selection of the host state may or may not undergo the formal bidding process, with the decision resting heavily on the organizing body. In fact, hosting duties might be taken away from the a state while the pageant is undergoing, if the need arises (e.g. Miss World 2002), while portions of the competition might take place in a second or third states, again due to circumstances (e.g. Miss World 1999--the introductory number of the contestants, in swimsuit, was held in Malta, since it was winter then in host city London). Still, as in the case of Thailand hosting the Miss Universe pageant in 2005 (to revive its tourism industry in the wake of the 2004 Asian Tsunami), exceptional circumstances may also swing the hosting decision to the bidding state's favor.
The hosting duty is not just limited to the crowning of a winner, but, over the years, has gradually expanded to a whirlwind of increased media coverage, with pageant contestants staying in the host state for weeks to participate in charity events, social gatherings, cultural festivities and tourism promotions. Although the crowning night is held in a city, the entire state may participate as host for the related events, providing a vehicle for the pageant to reach the mainstream consciousness in the organizing state, and capture the public's imagination, ultimately leading to the finals night when a winner is selected.
The table below lists the finals host cities and countries of each of the editions of these pageants since they began.
| Year | Miss Universe | Miss World | Miss Earth | Miss International |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1951 | started in 1952 | London, UK | started in 2001 | started in 1960 |
| 1952-59 | Long Beach, USA | London, UK | ||
| 1960-65 | Miami Beach, USA | London, UK | Long Beach, USA | |
| 1966 | Miami Beach, USA | London, UK | no pageant | |
| 1967 | Miami Beach, USA | London, UK | Long Beach, USA | |
| 1968-69 | Miami Beach, USA | London, UK | Tokyo, Japan | |
| 1970 | Miami Beach, USA | London, UK | Osaka, Japan | |
| 1971 | Miami Beach, USA | London, UK | Long Beach, USA | |
| 1972 | Dorado, Puerto Rico | London, UK | Tokyo, Japan | |
| 1973 | Athens, Greece | London, UK | Osaka, Japan | |
| 1974 | Manila, Philippines | London, UK | Tokyo, Japan | |
| 1975 | San Salvador, El Salvador | London, UK | Motobu, Japan | |
| 1976 | Hong Kong | London, UK | Tokyo, Japan | |
| 1977 | Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic | London, UK | Tokyo, Japan | |
| 1978 | Acapulco, Mexico | London, UK | Tokyo, Japan | |
| 1979 | Perth, Australia | London, UK | Tokyo, Japan | |
| 1980 | Seoul, South Korea | London, UK | Tokyo, Japan | |
| 1981 | New York City, USA | London, UK | Kobe, Japan | |
| 1982 | Lima, Peru | London, UK | Fukuoka, Japan | |
| 1983 | St. Louis, USA | London, UK | Osaka, Japan | |
| 1984 | Miami, USA1 | London, UK | Yokohama, Japan | |
| 1985 | Miami, USA | London, UK | Tsukuba, Japan | |
| 1986 | Panama City, Panama | London, UK | Nagasaki, Japan | |
| 1987 | Singapore | London, UK | Tokyo, Japan | |
| 1988 | Taipei, Taiwan | London, UK | Gifu, Japan | |
| 1989 | Cancún, Mexico | Hong Kong | Kanazawa, Japan | |
| 1990 | Los Angeles, USA | London, UK | Osaka, Japan | |
| 1991 | Las Vegas, USA | Atlanta, USA2 | Tokyo, Japan | |
| 1992 | Bangkok, Thailand | Sun City, South Africa | Nagasaki, Japan | |
| 1993 | Mexico City, Mexico | Sun City, South Africa | Tokyo, Japan | |
| 1994 | Manila, Philippines | Sun City, South Africa | Ise, Japan | |
| 1996 | Las Vegas, USA | Bangalore, India | Kanazawa, Japan | |
| 1997 | Miami Beach, USA | Mahé, Seychelles | Kyoto, Japan | |
| 1998 | Honolulu, USA | Baie Lazare, Seychelles | Tokyo, Japan | |
| 1999 | Chaguaramas, Trinidad and Tobago | London, UK | Tokyo, Japan | |
| 2000 | Nicosia, Cyprus | London, UK | Tokyo, Japan | |
| 2001 | Bayamón, Puerto Rico | Sun City, South Africa | Quezon City, Philippines | Tokyo, Japan |
| 2002 | San Juan, Puerto Rico | London, UK3 | Manila, Philippines | Tokyo, Japan |
| 2003 | Panama City, Panama | Sanya, China | Quezon City, Philippines | Tokyo, Japan |
| 2004 | Quito, Ecuador | Sanya, China | Quezon City, Philippines | Beijing, China |
| 2005 | Bangkok, Thailand | Sanya, China | Quezon City, Philippines | Tokyo, Japan |
| 2006 | Los Angeles, USA | Warsaw, Poland | Manila, Philippines4 | Beijing, China |
| 2007 | Mexico City, Mexico | Warsaw, Poland | TBA | Tokyo,Japan |
1 Originally scheduled to be held in Calgary, Canada but was moved due to financial troubles.
2 Originally scheduled to be held in the Dominican Republic, but was moved to Puerto Rico, then to Atlanta, USA due to scheduling difficulties.
3 Originally scheduled to be held in Nigeria but was moved to London, England due to security reasons.
4 Originally scheduled to be held in Santiago, Chile, but was moved to Manila, Philippines due to the lack of progress in pageant preparation.
[edit] See also
- Big Four, disambiguation
- GlobalBeauties.com: Creators of the 'Big Four' pageants category
- Grand Slam Beauties
- Missosology.Org: Analyzing Beauty Pageants
- Pageant Almanac
 Big Four Pageants |
| Miss Earth | Miss International | Miss Universe | Miss World |
