- Miss Universe 2007
-
Miss Universe 2007 Date May 28, 2007 Presenters Vanessa Minnillo and Mario Lopez Entertainment RBD Venue Auditorio Nacional, Mexico City, Mexico Broadcaster NBC, Telemundo, Televisa Entrants 77 Placements 15 Debuts Montenegro, Serbia, Tanzania Withdraws Cayman Islands, Chile, Ethiopia, Ghana, Iceland, Ireland, Latvia, Namibia, Northern Marianas, Sri Lanka, St. Martin, St. Vincent & Grenadines, Sweden, Trinidad & Tobago, Turkey, United Kingdom Returns Barbados, Belize, Curaçao, Honduras, Italy Winner Riyo Mori[1]
JapanCongeniality Zhang Ningning[1]
ChinaPhotogenic Anna Theresa Licaros[1]
PhilippinesMiss Universe 2007, the 56th Miss Universe pageant, took place on May 28, 2007 at the National Auditorium in Mexico City, Mexico. 77 delegates competed for the title. Riyo Mori of Japan was crowned the winner of the title by Zuleyka Rivera of Puerto Rico.
This was the fourth time Mexico has been the host country and the second time Mexico City the host city of the Miss Universe pageant. Mexico first hosted the pageant in Acapulco in 1978. Miss Universe 1989 was then staged in Cancún and Miss Universe 1993, in Mexico City.
The pageant was co-hosted by Mario Lopez and Vanessa Minnillo, both first-time hosts of the Miss Universe pageant.[2] Minnillo, an Entertainment Tonight correspondent and former Miss Teen USA in 1998, previously hosted Miss Teen USA 2004 . Lopez hosted Miss Teen USA 1998 (won by Minnillo) and also co-hosted Miss Teen USA 2003.
The pageant was held almost two months prior to when it was held in 2006, although the event had generally been staged between late May and early June since 2001. Miss Universe 2006 Zuleyka Rivera reigned for little more than ten months, one of the shortest in the history of the title. Contestants began to arrive in Mexico on April 30, 2007 and were to be involved in a number of appearances and events prior to the final competition.
Contents
Results
Placements
Participating Nations and Results.
Results Delegates Miss Universe 2007 1st runner-up 2nd runner-up 3rd runner-up 
Korea - Honey Lee
4th runner-up Top 10 Top 15 
Slovenia - Tjaša Kokalj
Czech Republic - Lucie Hadasová
Denmark - Žaklina Šojić
Thailand - Farung Yuthithum
Ukraine - Lyudmila Bikmullina
Final Competition Scores
Country Swimsuit Evening Gown 
Brazil9.560 (2) 9.599 (1) 
Venezuela8.971 (7) 9.510 (2) Korea9.458 (3) 9.183 (3) Japan9.599 (1) 8.943 (4) 
USA8.995 (6) 8.754 (5) 
Tanzania9.223 (4) 8.488 (6) 
Angola9.150 (5) 8.363 (7) 
Mexico8.527 (9) 7.850 (8) 
India8.548 (8) 7.825 (9) 
Nicaragua8.171 (10) 7.674 (10) Slovenia8.163 (11) Czech Republic8.113 (12) Denmark7.969 (13) Thailand7.940 (14) Ukraine7.900 (15) - Winner
- First Runner-up
- Second Runner-up
- Third Runner-up
- Fourth Runner-up
- Top 10 Finalist
- Top 15 Semifinalist
- (#) Rank in each round of competition
Special Awards
Award Contestant Miss Congeniality Miss Photogenic Judges
Telecast Judges
The following celebrities judged the final competition. Christiane Martel was added as a judge the day prior to the final competition.[2]
- Tony Romo - Dallas Cowboys quarterback.
- James Kyson Lee - actor on Heroes.
- Nina Garcia - Project Runway judge and Elle magazine fashion director.
- Dave Navarro - rock star.
- Dayanara Torres - Miss Universe 1993.
- Mauricio Islas - Mexican actor.
- Lindsay Clubine - Deal or No Deal briefcase model
- Marc Bouwer - fashion designer
- Christiane Martel - Miss Universe 1953
- Michelle Kwan - World champion, 1998 Olympic silver medalist, and 2002 Olympic figure skating bronze medalist
Background Music
- National Costume Presentation: "Say It Right" by Nelly Furtado
- Swimsuit Competition: "Wanna Play", "Cariño Mio" and "Money Money" by R.B.D.
- Evening Gown Competition: "(When You Gonna) Give It Up to Me" by Sean Paul (featuring Keyshia Cole)
Contestants
National competitions
Debuts
Returning states and territories
Withdraws
Replacement
Mauritius - Melody Selvon was only 16 years old.[7] Rules state that all Miss Universe contestants must be over the age of 18 and Selvon was replaced by first runner-up, Sandra Faro.
Did not compete
Sri Lanka - Aruni Rajapaksha was expected to represent Sri Lanka in the pageant,[8] but did not compete. She went on to participate in Miss Universe 2008 a year later instead.
Crossovers
Guatemala - Alida Boer
- Angola - Micaela Reis (1st runner-up)
France - Rachel Legrain-Trapani
Lebanon - Nadine Njeim
Russia - Tatiana Kotova
South Africa - Megan Coleman
Spain - Natalia Zabala
Zambia - Rosemary Chileshe
Argentina - Daniela Stucan
- Guatemala - Alida Boer
Poland - Dorota Gawron
- Argentina - Daniela Stucan (3rd runner-up)
Hungary - Ildikó Bóna
- Reina Hispanoamericana 2007
Dominican Republic - Massiel Taveras (Winner)
- Guatemala - Alida Boer
- Brazil - Natália Guimarães (Top 12)
Norway - Kirby Ann Basken (Top 12)
Uruguay - Giannina Silva (Winner/Dethroned)
Peru - Jimena Elías (1st runner-up)
- Guatemala - Alida Boer (1st runner-up)
Aruba - Carolina Raven (Winner)
- Reinado Internacional del Café 2008
Bolivia - Jessica Jordan (Winner)
- Reina Mundial del Banano 2006
Costa Rica - Veronica González (Winner)
- Brazil - Natália Guimarães (Winner)
- Poland - Dorota Gawron (Winner)
- Denmark - Žaklina Šojić (1st runner-up)
- Miss Tourism Queen International 2007
- Miss Costa Maya International 2007
Belize - Maria Jeffery (Winner)
National Costume controversy
- Mexico : In April 2007, controversy erupted over the proposed national costume of Rosa María Ojeda, Miss Mexico. The skirt of the costume depicted scenes from the Cristero War, a Roman Catholic rebellion in the 1920s in which thousands of people were killed, including hangings.[9] The outfit included a bullet-studded belt and crucifix necklace.[10] The design was chosen from over thirty others and had been intended to show Mexico's culture and history, but it elicited controversy amid claims it was in poor taste and inappropriate.[9] Pageant owners said that the costume would be redesigned to include image of the Virgin of Guadalupe.[9]
Areas of competition
Prior to the final telecast, all contestants competed in swimsuit and evening gown during the preliminary competition. They also participated in interviews with the judges.
During the final competition, the top fifteen contestants (based on their preliminary scores) competed in the swimsuit competition, and the top ten competed in evening gown. The final five contestants participated in a final round of on-stage interviews, before the runners-up were announced and the new Miss Universe named.
This was the first year since 2002 that the judges' average scores were shown on television.
It was also the first time since 2002 that the final question posed on the ladies came from the judges. The previous pageants had final questions coming from the current Miss Universe and the delegates participating in the final five themselves.
Historical significance
- Asia gave a strong showing not witnessed since the 1988 pageant: four Asian delegates (Japan, Korea, India, and Thailand) made the cut, with Japan winning the crown. The two special awards were also won by delegates from Asian nations (Philippines and China). In comparison, of the 125 semi-finalists named in the past ten years, only 14 were from Asia.
- Japan won its 2nd Miss Universe crown.
- Miss USA was booed during the National Costume parade, an open-air event held prior to the final competition where admission was free to the public. She also slipped on the runway and landed on her bottom during the evening gown competition, and managed to barely make top 5 in fifth place, whilst home crowd favourite Mexico did not and was eliminated at that stage of the competition. As a result of this, Smith was jeered during her final interview.[11] As she answered her question, there were loud shouts of "Mexico! Mexico!", which continued until she greeted the audience in Spanish.[11] This may be attributed to Miss USA making the top five in spite of the fall and political issues between the two countries, such as the illegal immigration policy as well as the War On Terror.[12] This followed a similar incident during Miss Universe 1993, when that year's Miss USA, Kenya Moore, and Mexican judges Jose Luis Cuevas and Lupita Jones were also booed after Miss Mexico didn't even make the finals and only placed 12th.[13]
- Puerto Rico was 1st runner-up in 2005 and won in 2006. Japan followed the same trend in 2006 and 2007.
- Thailand, Denmark, Ukraine, India, Brazil and Japan made the cut for the second consecutive year. This was the first time since the 1960s that Denmark and Thailand recorded two consecutive placements.
- Mexico placed for the 4th consecutive year.
- USA placed for the 5th consecutive year.
- Slovenia and Tanzania placed for the first time. This was the first year that Tanzania participated in the pageant, and she also was the first delegate to compete with a shaved head. Slovenia debuted in 2001.
- Angola and Nicaragua reached their highest placement in Miss Universe history, 7th and 10th place respectively breaking their previous records.
- Countries that made the semi-finals after a long period without placement were Nicaragua, which last placed in 1977, and Korea which last placed in 1988.
- Czech Republic placed for only the 3rd time, it placed in the top 10 in 1993 when it debuted in the pageant and in 2003.
- Philippines won the Miss Photogenic award for the seventh time (it won this award via internet voting three years in a row since 2005).
- China won the Miss Congeniality award for the first time.
- For the first time since the award's inception, no Best National Costume award was given.
International broadcasting
These are some of networks outside the United States (telecasted on NBC and Telemundo) that showed the 2007 Miss Universe pageant live (or recorded earlier) in their respective countries and territories:
- Argentina: TNT Latin America
Australia: Seven Network- Brazil: Rede Bandeirantes and TNT
Chile: TNT- China: STAR World
Colombia: Caracol and TNT- Dominican Republic: Telemundo, TNT
Ecuador: Gamavision, TNT
Hong Kong: STAR World
Indonesia: SCTV- India: STAR World
- Japan: Fox
Malaysia: STAR World- Mexico (host country): Televisa and TNT
- Nicaragua: TNT
Panama: Telemetro and TNT- Peru: ATV and TNT
- Philippines: ABS-CBN, Studio 23 and STAR World
Singapore: STAR World- Thailand: Channel 7 and STAR World
- Venezuela: Venevisión and TNT
Vietnam: VTV3 and STAR World
References
- ^ a b c d e "Miss Japan upsets Universe". Brisbane Times. May 29, 2007. http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/news/queensland/miss-japan-upsets-universe/2007/05/29/1180205212320.html. Retrieved 22 March 2011.
- ^ a b "Vanessa Minnillo and Mario Lopez to Host Miss Universe(R) 2007, Live From the National Auditorium in Mexico City on NBC, Monday, May 28, 9-11 p.m. ET" (Press release). Miss Universe Organization. 2007-05-17. http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/05-17-2007/0004591166&EDATE=. Retrieved 2007-05-17.
- ^ Walters, Basil (2007-04-01). "Rastafarians embrace first beauty queen". Jamaica Observer. Archived from the original on 2007-05-10. http://web.archive.org/web/20070510001649/http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/html/20070331T180000-0500_121178_OBS_RASTAFARIANS_EMBRACE_FIRST_BEAUTY_QUEEN_.asp. Retrieved 2007-04-18.
- ^ "Miss World from India coaches Tanzanian beauties". Xinhua News Agency. 2007-04-13.
- ^ "Latina Fashion Designer, Icel De Jesus Will Participate as International Judge at the Miss Universe Honduras 2007 Pageant" (Press release). Carimaxx Productions. 2007-04-21. http://www.pr.com/press-release/36479. Retrieved 2007-04-21.
- ^ "No TT beauty for Miss Universe". Trinidad & Tobago's News Day. 2007-05-04. http://www.newsday.co.tt/news/0,56529.html. Retrieved 2007-05-05.
- ^ "Recent Grande Prairie, Alta high school graduate now Miss Mauritius". The Canadian Press. 2006-08-22.
- ^ "Aruni, Lanka’s new queen". The Sunday Times Online. 2007-04-15. http://www.sundaytimes.lk/070415/Plus/001_pls.html. Retrieved 2007-04-15.
- ^ a b c "Miss Mexico 'war gown' toned down". BBC News. 2007-04-19. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6571061.stm. Retrieved 2007-02-24.
- ^ "Miss Mexico's pageant dress kick-starts outrage". El Paso Times. 2007-04-21.
- ^ a b Watson, Julie (2007-05-28). "Miss Japan crowned Miss Universe 2007". Associated Press. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070529/ap_en_ot/miss_universe_26. Retrieved 2007-05-28.[dead link]
- ^ "Japan's Mori wins troubled Miss Universe contest". Reueters. May 28, 2007. http://tv.yahoo.com/miss-universe-2007/show/41744/news/urn:newsml:tv.reuters.com:20070529:mexico_missuniverse_dc__ER:14501#. Retrieved 2007-05-29.
- ^ "Miss Puerto Rico crowned 1993 Miss Universe". Reuters. 1993-05-22.
External links
Miss Universe 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 • 2008 • 2009 • 2010
2011 • 2012Organization • Titleholders • Award winners • Editions
Hosts and invited artists • Countries • RankingsCategories:- Miss Universe
- 2007 in Mexico
- 2007 beauty pageants
- Beauty pageants in Mexico
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
