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, and now Erics wife Julia Morley is a co-chairman on the pageant.
Miss World is the most widely attended and broadcasted of such events, with over a hundred delegates in competition (the rival Miss Universe pageant, by comparison, welcomes approximately 80 delegates, although Miss Universe maintains unrivalled popularity in some parts of the world, notably the Americas). 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.
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[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 30 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
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 chairwoman 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 twelve years. See List of Miss World winners for the full list of titleholders.
[edit] Best performances by country
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] 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.
| Rank | Country | Titles | 1st Runner-Up | 2nd Runner-Up | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. |  Venezuela |
5 | 2 | 3 | 10 |
| 2. |  India |
5 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| 3. |  United Kingdom |
4 | 4 | 3 | 11 |
| 4. |  Sweden |
3 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
| 5. |  Jamaica |
3 | 0 | 2 | 5 |
| 6. |  Iceland |
3 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| 7. |  United States |
2 | 5 | 2 | 9 |
| 8. |  South Africa |
2 | 2 | 5 | 9 |
| 9. |  Australia |
2 | 2 | 3 | 7 |
| 10. |  Argentina |
2 | 2 | 0 | 4 |
[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 |
 Mexico |
 Tanzania |
 Korea |
 Puerto Rico |
Iceland |
 Italy |
| 2006 |
 Brazil |
 Angola |
 Australia |
 Jamaica |
 Czech Republic |
 Romania |
[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 | Umoja |
| 2000 | Jerry Springer and Rebecca de Alba | bond and S Club 7 |
| 1999 | Ulrika Johnson and Melanie Sykes | Westlife, Robert Palmer and Enrique Iglesias |
| 1998 | Ronan Keating and Eden Harel | Boyzone and Errol Brown |
| 1997 | Richard Steinmetz | Ricky Martin |
[edit] 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 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 title was not offered to her first-runner up, Evangeline Pascual of the Philippines.
Source: http://www.pageantopolis.com/international/world_1973.htm
- 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 achieved this in 1974 if the title of the Miss World 1974 was offered to the first runner up after Miss World 1973 from U.S.A. 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.
- 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 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 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) and Maggie Cheung (Hong Kong, semi-finalist, 1983).
- 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.
[edit] External links and references
- Miss World Official Website
- 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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| Miss Earth | Miss International | Miss Universe | Miss World |
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