Miss Universe

Miss Universe

File:Miss Universe logo.svg
Formation	June 28, 1952 (1952-06-28)
Type	Beauty pageant
Headquarters	New York City
Location	United States
Official language	English
Key people	Paula Shugart (President)
Parent organization	WME/IMG 21st Century Fox
Affiliations	William Morris Endeavor Fox (21st Century Fox)
Website	www.missuniverse.com

Miss Universe is an annual international beauty pageant that is run by the Miss Universe Organisation. Along with its rival contests, Miss World and Miss Earth, this pageant is one of the most important and publicised beauty pageants in the world. It is held in more than 190 countries worldwide and seen by more than half a billion people annually. The Miss Universe Organisation and the brand is currently owned, along with Miss USA and Miss Teen USA, by WME/IMG.

The pageant was founded in 1952 by the California-based clothing company Pacific Knitting Mills. Miss Universe Organisation licences local organisations that wish to select the Miss Universe contestant for their country, and approves the selection method for national delegates. The current Miss Universe logo – "the woman with stars" – was created in 1998.

In 2015, after businessman Donald Trump, then co-owner of the pageant, made statements about illegal immigrants from Mexico in his U.S. presidential campaign kickoff speech, NBC decided to end its business relationship with him and stated that it would no longer air the Miss Universe or Miss USA pageants on its networks. In September 2015, Trump bought NBC's share of the Miss Universe Organisation, becoming its sole owner for three days, then sold the entire company to the WME/IMG talent agency.

The current Miss Universe is Iris Mittenaere of France who was crowned on 30 January 2017 in Manila, Philippines.

History

The title "Miss Universe" was first used by the International Pageant of Pulchritude in 1926. This contest was held annually until 1935, when the Great Depression and other events preceding World War II led to its demise.

The current Miss Universe pageant was founded in 1952 by Pacific Knitting Mills, a California-based clothing company and manufacturer of Catalina Swimwear. The company was the sponsor of the Miss America pageant until 1951, when the winner, Yolande Betbeze, refused to pose for publicity pictures wearing one of their swimsuits. So in 1952 Pacific Knitting Mills organised the Miss USA and Miss Universe pageants, co-sponsoring them for decades to follow.

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, though not officially, to get married, shortly before her year was completed. Until 1958, the Miss Universe title, like that of Miss America, was dated by the year following the contest, so at the time Ms. Kuusela's title was Miss Universe 1953.

Since its founding by Pacific Mills, the pageant has been organised and conducted by the Miss Universe Organisation. Eventually Pacific Mills and its subsidiaries were acquired by the Kayser-Roth Corporation, which was in turn acquired by Gulf and Western Industries.

The pageant was first televised in 1955. CBS began broadcasting the combined Miss USA and Miss Universe pageants in 1960, and as separate contests in 1965. John Charles Daly hosted the pageant from 1955 to 1966, Bob Barker from 1967 to 1987, Alan Thicke in 1988, John Forsythe in 1989, Dick Clark from 1990 to 1993, and Bob Goen from 1994 to 1996.

Donald Trump bought the operating company, Miss Universe, Inc., in 1996 from ITT Corp. Trump struck a broadcasting arrangement with CBS for a few years. In 1998, Miss Universe, Inc. changed its name to Miss Universe Organisation, and moved its headquarters from Los Angeles to New York City. In 2002 Trump entered into a joint venture with NBC, which in 2003 outbid the other networks for the TV rights. From 2003 to 2014, the pageant was broadcast in the US on NBC.

NBC and Univision dropped the pageant in September 2015 when NBC cancelled all business relationships with the Miss Universe Organisation and with Trump in response to his political comments in June 2015 about illegal immigration during his campaign for the presidency of the United States. As part of the legal settlement, in September 2015, Trump bought out NBC's 50% stake in the company making him the company's sole owner. Three days later he sold the whole company to WME/IMG. Following the change of ownership, in October 2015, Fox and Azteca became the official broadcaster of the Miss Universe and Miss USA pageants. The current president of the Miss Universe Organisation is Paula Shugart.

Competition formats

During the early years of the pageant, the delegates who made the first cut were announced after the preliminary competition. From 1965 to the present day, the semifinalists were not announced until the night of the main event. The semifinalists once again competed in evening gown and swimsuit and five finalists were announced. An interview portion was introduced in 1960 to decide the runners-up and the winner.

From 1959 to 1964 there were slight format changes. From 1959 through 1963 there was no cut to reach the five finalists. The runners-up and winner were called from the assembled 15 semifinalists. In 1965 the pageant returned to the original format of a cut to five 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 with every pageant since the final contestants have had to answer a final question. In 1990 the pageant implemented major changes in the competition itself. Instead of five finalists, the field was reduced from ten semifinalists to six. Each contestant then randomly selected a judge and answered the question posed by the judge. After that, the field was narrowed down further to a final three. In 1998, the number of finalists was reduced to five, although there still was a cut to a final three. This continued until 2001, when the final five format was reinstated.

In the year 2000, the interview portion of the semifinal was dropped, and the contestants competed only in swimsuits and evening gowns, as in the early years of the pageant. In 2003, the number of semifinalists was increased to fifteen, with cuts made to ten, and then to five contestants. The final question varied, each coming from the final delegates themselves and the current Miss Universe. In 2006, twenty semifinalists were selected for the swimsuit competition, ten of whom went on to the evening gown competition. The five who passed that stage competed in an interview round, after which the runners-up and winner were announced. The 2007 contest followed a similar format, with fifteen contestants competing in the swimsuit stage. In 2011, for the first time, one of the sixteen semifinalists was selected exclusively by TV viewers via online voting. In the 2014 contest held in January 2015, a final question was chosen from thousands submitted by Facebook.

In 2015, the contest followed a similar format from its previous years. In the final 5, a contestant answered the question which is related to national issue of their country. After that, the field was narrowed down further to a final three who will then go on to answer one common question, the final Q and A. Finally, there will be a final vote based on overall impression and performance in the last round. For the first time, the rest of the contestants played the role of a final judge and had the chance to choose the new Miss Universe.

The pageant skipped a year again in 2016, as Miss Universe 2016 was crowned on January 29, 2017. This is the result of Miss Universe 2014 being held in January 2015.

In Miss Universe 2016, however, the usual Top 15/16 cut is now down to Top 13 to compete in the swimsuit competition. This will be cut again to Top 9, to compete for the evening gown competition. This will be narrowed down to Top 6 for the question and answer then Top 3 for the final look competition.

Contestant selection

Main article: List of Miss Universe countries

Local organisations that wish to select the Miss Universe contestant for their countries must submit bids to the Miss Universe Organisation for that right. Occasionally, the traditional license holder for a particular country may lose its bid, as has happened in Italy, Denmark, France, Sweden, Germany, Great Britain, Thailand, and more.

Usually a country's candidate selection involves pageants in major cities, whose winners compete in a national pageant, but there are exceptions. For example, from 2000 to 2004, Australian delegates were chosen by a modeling agency. Although such "castings" are generally discouraged by the Miss Universe Organisation, Miss Australia Jennifer Hawkins was chosen to represent in Miss Universe in 2004 (where she would eventually win the crown). When Australia resumed its national pageant, Michelle Guy became Miss Universe Australia 2005.

Recent arrivals in the pageant include Slovenia (2001), China and Albania (2002), Vietnam, Georgia and Ethiopia (2004), Latvia (2005), Kazakhstan (2006), Tanzania (2007), Kosovo (2008), Gabon and Lithuania (2012) alongside Azerbaijan (2013); there have also been efforts to revive strong national pageants in South Africa, Canada, Spain, Japan, Southeast Asia and Latin America. The organisation makes continual efforts to expand the pageant, but the participation of some countries such as Algeria has proven difficult due to cultural barriers to the swimsuit competition, while others such as Armenia, Mozambique, and Nepal have balked at sending representatives due to the cost.

As of 2016, only three countries have been present at every Miss Universe since its inception in 1952: Canada, France and Germany (actually West Germany until 1990, when East and West reunified). Many European countries allow 17-year-old contestants to compete in their pageants, while Miss Universe's minimum age is 18, so national titleholders often have to be replaced by their runners-up. Beginning in 2012, transgender women were allowed to compete, as long as they win their national pageants. Since its inception, Miss Universe strictly prohibits age fabrication.

Some of the most successful national pageants in the last decade have been Venezuela, U.S.A., France, and Philippines which command consistently high interest and television ratings in their respective countries. The live broadcasts of the Miss Universe pageant (regardless of the hosting nation) proved highly popular particularly in the Americas and Asia in the recent years.

Main pageant

The main Miss Universe Pageant is held over a two-week period in December. In the 1970s through the 1990s, the pageant was a month long. This allowed time for rehearsals, appearances, and the preliminary competition, with the winner being crowned by the previous year's titleholder during the final competition.

According to the organisers, the Miss Universe contest is more than a beauty pageant: women aspiring to become Miss Universe must be intelligent, well-mannered, and cultured. Often a candidate has lost because she did not have a good answer during the question responses rounds; although this section of competition has held less importance during recent pageants than it did in the twentieth century. Delegates also participate in swimsuit and evening gown competitions.

Currently, the final placement of the finalists is determined by a ranked vote, where each judge ranks each of the final three/five candidates, with the contestant posting the lowest cumulative score (thus often, but not necessarily always, the contestant with the most number one votes) becoming the winner. If there is a tie, the higher semifinal scores become decisive.

The winner is assigned a one-year contract with the Miss Universe Organisation, going overseas to spread messages about the control of diseases, peace, and public awareness of AIDS. Aside from the job, the winner also receives a cash allowance for her entire reign, a New York Film Academy scholarship, a modelling portfolio, beauty products, clothes, shoes, as well as styling, healthcare, and fitness services by different sponsors of the pageant. She also gains exclusive access to events such as fashion shows and opening galas, as well as access to casting calls and modelling opportunities throughout New York City. When Donald Trump owned the pageant, the winner was given the use of a Trump Place apartment in New York City during her reign, which she shared with the Miss USA and Miss Teen USA titleholders. If the winner, for any reason, cannot fulfill her duties as Miss Universe, the 1st runner-up takes over.

Aside from the main winner and her runners-up, special awards are also given to the winners of the best National Costume, Miss Photogenic, and Miss Congeniality. The Miss Congeniality award is chosen by the delegates themselves. In recent years, Miss Photogenic has been chosen by popular internet vote (the winner used to be chosen by media personnel covering the event).

Final judgment

The competition for the Miss Universe title has seen many changes, although there have been several constants throughout its history. All the contestants compete in a preliminary round of judging (nowadays called the "Preliminary Competition") where the field is narrowed to a select number of semifinalists. This number has fluctuated over the years. The first Miss Universe pageant had ten semifinalists. For the next two years, the number of semifinalists grew to 16. In 1955, the number dropped to a stable 15, which remained through 1970. In 1971, the number was reduced to 12. That number was further reduced to 10 in 1984. This lasted until 2003, when the number of 15 was reinstated. In 2006, there were 20 semifinalists, the highest number ever. In 2007, the organisation announced the Top 15 system would be back, which was also used in 2008 until 2010. In 2011, the results of a fan vote was shown on the screen during the swimsuit and evening gown competitions, but this did not affect the final outcome of the competition. From 2011 to 2013, there were 16 semifinalists, 15 chosen by judges and one chosen through Internet votes. The 16th semifinalist by fan vote has been dropped as of 2015, and the number has been reverted to 15 semifinalists.

In the early years, the contestants were judged in swimsuit and evening gown only. In later years, the contestants also competed in a preliminary interview round in a one-on-one meeting with each individual judge.

Crown

The crown of Miss Universe has changed 9 times over the course of its 65-year history. The first crown, the Romanov Imperial nuptial crown, was previously owned by the now-defunct Russian Monarchy. It was used when Armi Kuusela of Finland became the first Miss Universe in 1952. It is believed to be made of approximately 1,535 diamonds and was insured for $500,000. Ironically, a nuptial crown was used to honor a "Miss."

When Christiane Martel of France became Miss Universe 1953, the nuptial crown was replaced by a metallic bronze crown. She was the only Miss Universe titleholder to wear this crown. From 1954 to 1960, "The Star of the Universe" was used. It was named as such due to the star shape at the top of the crown. It is made up of approximately 1,000 Oriental cultured and black pearls set in solid gold and platinum and only weighed 1.25 pounds. It was insured for $500,000.

The Rhinestone Crown (purely made from rhinestones) was debuted in 1961, as part of the 10th anniversary of the pageant. Only Marlene Schmidt (Miss Universe 1961) and her successor Norma Nolan (Miss Universe 1962) wore this crown. In 1963, renowned jewellery maker Sarah Coventry was the one responsible for making the new rhinestone Miss Universe crown which featured a female figure (holding a scepter) as its centrepiece. It is also known as The Lady or The Queen crown. The cheap rhinestone design made it possible to create exact replicas of the crown to be given to outgoing titleholders. The design was slightly modified in 1973 for the wearer's ease. This crown was used until 2001, when it was replaced due to a sponsorship deal, thus ending the tradition.

The Miss Universe crown used from 2002–2007 was designed by Mikimoto, the official jewellery sponsor of the Miss Universe Organisation, and depicted the phoenix rising, signifying status, power and beauty, as stipulated in their sponsorship deal. The crown has 500 diamonds of almost 30 carats (6.0 g), 120 South Sea and Akoya pearls, ranging in size from 3 to 18 mm diameter and is valued at $250,000. The Crown was designed for the pageant on Mikimoto Pearl Island in Japan with the Mikimoto crown and tiara being first used for Miss Universe 2002.

In 2008, (Dayana Mendoza of Venezuela) was crowned with a tiara designed by Rosalina Lydster of Jewellery by Rosalina and Ms. Dang Thi Kim Lien of CAO Fine Jewellery. The crown, valued at $120,000, is made of 18-carat white and yellow gold. It is composed of over 1,000 precious stones; including 555 white diamonds (30 carats), 375 cognac diamonds (14 carats), 10 smoky quartz crystals (20 carats) and 19 morganite gemstones (60 carats). The yellow luster of the gold represents the prosperous thriving economy in Vietnam. White, light pink, and cognac are the main hues in the crown which represent inspiration and feeling. Each piece of the crown was designed to represent an important attribute of the Miss Universe Pageant. The curves of inlaid precious stones represent the strong development and potential of each country. The image of the crane (Lac Bird) symbolises Vietnamese spirit and culture. The image of the heart represents unified breath, rhythm, and vision, which are powerful internal forces that stress faith, hope, and unity. However, Mendoza did not wore this crown and instead wore the Mikimoto designed crown when she crowned her successor/compatriot Stefania Fernandez.

From 2009–2013, Diamond Nexus Labs made the Miss Universe crown. The crown is set with 1,371 gemstones, weighing a total of 416.09 carats (83.218 g). It contains 544.31 grammes of 14 carat and 18 carat white gold as well as platinum. The crown features synthetic rubies to represent Miss Universe's HIV/AIDS education and awareness platform. Diamond Nexus Labs is the first ever eco-friendly Official Jeweller of Miss Universe and was selected as part of NBC Universal's "Green is Universal" initiative.

Since 2014, Paulina Vega, Pia Wurtzbach, and Iris Mittenaere were decorated with a crown estimated to be worth US$300,000, produced in the workshop of Czech company DIC - Diamonds International Corporation. The whole production process, from the first sketches to the production itself, took approximately four months. The shape of the crown is reminiscent of Manhattan skyline. Its production required the work of 10 people and the crown is made up of 311 pcs of diamonds, 5 pieces of blue topaz, 198 pieces of blue sapphire, 33 pieces of crystal and 220 grammes of gold. Total weight of the crown is 411 g.

Recent titleholders

For full list and details, see List of Miss Universe titleholders.

Edition	Country	Name	National Title	Location	Number of Entrants
2016	France	Iris Mittenaere	Miss France	Manila, Philippines	86
2015	Philippines	Pia Wurtzbach	Binibining Pilipinas	Las Vegas, USA	80
2014	Colombia	Paulina Vega	Miss Colombia	Doral, USA	88
2013	Venezuela	Gabriela Isler	Miss Venezuela	Moscow, Russia	86

Gallery of winners

• 
  Miss Universe 2016
  Iris Mittenaere, France
• 
  Miss Universe 2015
  Pia Wurtzbach, Philippines
• 
  Miss Universe 2014
  Paulina Vega, Colombia
• 
  Miss Universe 2013
  Gabriela Isler, Venezuela
• 
  Miss Universe 2012
  Olivia Culpo, USA
• 
  Miss Universe 2011
  Leila Lopes, Angola
• 
  Miss Universe 2010
  Ximena Navarrete, Mexico
• 
  Miss Universe 2009
  Stefanía Fernández, Venezuela
• 
  Miss Universe 2008
  Dayana Mendoza, Venezuela
• 
  Miss Universe 2007
  Riyo Mori, Japan
• 
  Miss Universe 2006
  Zuleyka Rivera, Puerto Rico
• 
  Miss Universe 2005
  Natalie Glebova, Canada
• 
  Miss Universe 2004
  Jennifer Hawkins, Australia
• 
  Miss Universe 2003
  Amelia Vega, Dominican Republic
• 
  Miss Universe 2002
  Justine Pasek, Panama
• 
  Miss Universe 2001
  Denise Quinones, Puerto Rico
• 
  Miss Universe 2000
  Lara Dutta, India
• 
  Miss Universe 1999
  Mpule Kwelagobe, Botswana
• 
  Miss Universe 1997
  Brook Lee, USA
• 
  Miss Universe 1994
  Sushmita Sen, India
• 
  Miss Universe 1993
  Dayanara Torres, Puerto Rico
• 
  Miss Universe 1991
  Lupita Jones, México
• 
  Miss Universe 1989
  Angela Visser, Netherlands
• 
  Miss Universe 1987
  Cecilia Bolocco, Chile
• 
  Miss Universe 1984
  Yvonne Ryding, Sweden
• 
  Miss Universe 1976
  Rina Mor, Israel
• 
  Miss Universe 1967
  Sylvia Hitchcock, USA
• 
  Miss Universe 1956
  Carol Morris, USA
• Miss Universe 1955 Hillevi Rombin, Sweden
  Miss Universe 1955
  Hillevi Rombin, Sweden
• 
  Miss Universe 1953
  Christiane Martel, France
• 
  Miss Universe 1952
  Armi Kuusela, Finland

Miss Universe Organisation

The Miss Universe Organisation is the organisation that currently owns and runs the Miss Universe, Miss USA and Miss Teen USA beauty contests. Based in New York, the organisation is owned by WME/IMG. The current president is Paula Shugart. The organisation sells television rights to the pageants in other countries.

Miss Universe Organisation titleholders

Crystle Stewart, Miss USA 2008 and Stevi Perry, Miss Teen USA 2008

Hilary Cruz, Miss Teen USA 2007 and Crystle Stewart, Miss USA 2008

Hilary Cruz, Miss Teen USA 2007 and Riyo Mori, Miss Universe 2007 attend the "Fashion Rocks the Universe" event prior to the Miss USA 2008 pageant

Rachel Smith, Miss USA 2007 and Hilary Cruz, Miss Teen USA 2007 signing autographs during a USO tour of Japanese military bases

Chelsea Cooley, Miss USA 2005 and Shelley Hennig, Miss Teen USA 2004 at Guantanamo Bay

The following is a list of all Miss Universe Organisation titleholders over the years.

Edition		Miss Universe	Country		Miss USA	State		Miss Teen USA	State
2017		TBA	TBA		TBA	TBA		TBA	TBA
2016		Iris Mittenaere	France		Deshauna Barber	District of Columbia		Karlie Hay	Texas
2015		Pia Wurtzbach	Philippines		Olivia Jordan	Oklahoma		Katherine Haik	Louisiana
2014		Paulina Vega	Colombia		Nia Sanchez	Nevada		K. Lee Graham	South Carolina
2013		Gabriela Isler	Venezuela		Erin Brady	Connecticut		Cassidy Wolf	California
2012		Olivia Culpo	USA		Nana Meriwether	Maryland		Logan West	Connecticut
2011		Leila Lopes	Angola		Alyssa Campanella	California		Danielle Doty	Texas
2010		Ximena Navarrete	Mexico		Rima Fakih	Michigan		Kamie Crawford	Maryland
2009		Stefanía Fernández	Venezuela		Kristen Dalton	North Carolina		Stormi Henley	Tennessee
2008		Dayana Mendoza	Venezuela		Crystle Stewart	Texas		Stevi Perry	Arkansas
2007		Riyo Mori	Japan		Rachel Smith	Tennessee		Hilary Cruz	Colorado
2006		Zuleyka Rivera	Puerto Rico		Tara Conner	Kentucky		Katie Blair	Montana
2005		Natalie Glebova	Canada		Chelsea Cooley	North Carolina		Allie LaForce	Ohio
2004		Jennifer Hawkins	Australia		Shandi Finnessey	Missouri		Shelley Hennig	Louisiana
2003		Amelia Vega	Dominican Republic		Susie Castillo	Massachusetts		Tami Farrell	Oregon
2002		Justine Pasek	Panama		Shauntay Hinton	District of Columbia		Vanessa Semrow	Wisconsin
		Oxana Fedorova[a]	Russia
2001		Denise Quiñones	Puerto Rico		Kandace Krueger	Texas		Marissa Whitley	Missouri
2000		Lara Dutta	India		Lynnette Cole	Tennessee		Jillian Parry	Pennsylvania
1999		Mpule Kwelagobe	Botswana		Kimberly Pressler	New York		Ashley Coleman	Delaware
1998		Wendy Fitzwilliam	Trinidad & Tobago		Shawnae Jebbia	Massachusetts		Vanessa Minnillo	South Carolina
1997		Brook Lee	USA		Brandi Sherwood	Idaho		Shelly Moore	Tennessee
1996		Alicia Machado	Venezuela		Ali Landry	Louisiana		Christie Lee Woods	Texas
1995		Chelsi Smith	USA		Shanna Moakler	New York		Keylee Sue Sanders	Kansas
1994		Sushmita Sen	India		Lu Parker	South Carolina		Shauna Gambill	California
1993		Dayanara Torres	Puerto Rico		Kenya Moore	Michigan		Charlotte Lopez	Vermont
1992		Michelle McLean	Namibia		Shannon Marketic	California		Jamie Solinger	Iowa
1991		Lupita Jones	Mexico		Kelli McCarty	Kansas		Janelle Bishop	New Hampshire
1990		Mona Grudt	Norway		Carole Gist	Michigan		Bridgette Wilson	Oregon
1989		Angela Visser	Netherlands		Gretchen Polhemus	Texas		Brandi Sherwood	Idaho
1988		Porntip Nakhirunkanok	Thailand		Courtney Gibbs	Texas		Mindy Duncan	Oregon
1987		Cecilia Bolocco	Chile		Michelle Royer	Texas		Kristi Addis	Mississippi
1986		Bárbara Palacios	Venezuela		Christy Fichtner	Texas		Allison Brown	Oklahoma
1985		Deborah Carthy-Deu	Puerto Rico		Laura Martinez-Herring	Texas		Kelly Hu	Hawaii
1984		Yvonne Ryding	Sweden		Mai Shanley	New Mexico		Cherise Haugen	Illinois
1983		Lorraine Downes	New Zealand		Julie Hayek	California		Ruth Zakarian	New York
1982		Karen Baldwin	Canada		Terri Utley	Arkansas		↑ No Pageant Held (established in 1983)
1981		Irene Sáez	Venezuela		Kim Seelbrede	Ohio
1980		Shawn Weatherly	USA		Jineane Ford	Arizona
1979		Maritza Sayalero	Venezuela		Mary Therese Friel	New York
1978		Margaret Gardiner	South Africa		Judi Andersen	Hawaii
1977		Janelle Commissiong	Trinidad & Tobago		Kimberly Tomes	Texas
1976		Rina Messinger	Israel		Barbara Peterson	Minnesota
1975		Anne Marie Pohtamo	Finland		Summer Bartholomew	California
1974		Amparo Muñoz	Spain		Karen Morrison	Illinois
1973		Margarita Moran	Philippines		Amanda Jones	Illinois
1972		Kerry Anne Wells	Australia		Tanya Wilson	Hawaii
1971		Georgina Rizk	Lebanon		Michele McDonald	Pennsylvania
1970		Marisol Malaret	Puerto Rico		Deborah Shelton	Virginia
1969		Gloria Diaz	Philippines		Wendy Dascomb	Virginia
1968		Martha Vasconcellos	Brazil		Dorothy Anstett	Washington
1967		Sylvia Hitchcock	USA		Cheryl Ann Patton	Florida
1966		Margareta Arvidsson	Sweden		Maria Remenyi	California
1965		Apasra Hongsakula	Thailand		Sue Downey	Ohio
1964		Corinna Tsopei	Greece		Bobbi Johnson	District of Columbia
1963		Iêda Maria Vargas	Brazil		Marite Ozers	Illinois
1962		Norma Nolan	Argentina		Macel Leilani Wilson	Hawaii
1961		Marlene Schmidt	Germany		Sharon Brown	Louisiana
1960		Linda Bement	USA		Linda Bement	Utah
1959		Akiko Kojima	Japan		Terry Huntingdon	California
1958		Luz Marina Zuluaga	Colombia		Arlene Howell	Louisiana
1957		Gladys Zender	Peru		Charlotte Sheffield	Utah
					Mary Leona Gage[b]	Maryland
1956	Carol Morris	USA	Carol Morris	Iowa
1955	Hillevi Rombin	Sweden	Carlene Johnson	Vermont
1954	Miriam Stevenson	USA	Miriam Stevenson	South Carolina
1953	Christiane Martel	France	Myrna Hansen	Illinois
1952	Armi Kuusela	Finland	Jackie Loughery	New York

^a In 2002, Fedorova was dethroned by the Miss Universe Organisation and replaced by Pasek, the first runner-up.
^b In 1957, Gage was stripped of her Miss USA title when it was revealed that she was married and the mother of two children. Sheffield, the first runner-up, replaced her.

• 
  Miss Universe 2002, Justine Pasek, with Miss USA 2002, Shauntay Hinton and Miss Teen USA 2002, Vanessa Semrow at Guantanamo Bay.
• 
  Crystle Stewart, Miss USA 2008 and Dayana Mendoza, Miss Universe 2008 at Guantanamo Bay
• 
  Shawn Weatherly, Miss Universe 1980 and Kim Seelbrede, Miss USA 1981 together with then U.S. President Ronald Reagan

Licensing

The Miss Universe brand has been licensed for use in various products, including Farouk Systems' line of hair care products named Miss Universe Style Illuminate by CHI.

Electronic Arts was reportedly developing a video game based on the pageant, but development status is currently uncertain due to the closure of EA Black Box, the studio allegedly developing the game. A slot machine mobile game, Miss Universe: Crowning Moment, was released by High 5 Casino for iOS and Android devices in 2013.

An official mobile companion app of the Miss Universe Organisation was released in May 2016.

External links

• Official website