- Miss Universe 1994
-
Miss Universe 1994 
Date May 20, 1994 Presenters Bob Goen, Arthel Neville and Angela Visser Entertainment Peabo Bryson, Bayanihan Philippine National Folk Dance Company Venue PICC, Manila, Philippines Broadcaster CBS, ABS-CBN Entrants 77 Placements 10 Debuts Russia, Slovak Republic, Zimbabwe Withdraws Austria, Belize, Czech Republic, Ghana, Lebanon, Nicaragua, Suriname, U.S. Virgin Islands Returns Cook Islands, Egypt, Taiwan Winner Sushmita Sen
IndiaCongeniality Barbara Kahatjipara
NamibiaBest National Costume Charlene Gonzales
PhilippinesPhotogenic Minorka Mercado
VenezuelaMiss Universe 1994, the 43rd Miss Universe pageant, was held at the Plenary Hall of the Philippine International Convention Center, in Manila, Philippines on May 20, 1994. It was Manila's second time to host the pageant, having hosted Miss Universe 1974 twenty years earlier.
Eighteen year-old Sushmita Sen from India was crowned by outgoing titleholder Dayanara Torres of Puerto Rico, besting early favorites Carolina Gómez of Colombia and Minorka Mercado of Venezuela.[1]
Sen became India's first Miss Universe titleholder and would go on to pursue a successful career as a film actress in her native country. Later that year, another Indian, Aishwarya Rai would win the Miss World title, securing the two leading international beauty pageants for India in 1994.
The pageant was hosted by Bob Goen of Entertainment Tonight and co-hosted by Arthel Neville of Entertainment News Television, both first-time hosts for the pageant. Miss Universe 1989, Angela Visser was in her fourth and final year as special commentator. Entertainment was provided by Peabo Bryson and the Bayanihan Philippine National Folk Dance Company.
Contents
Host country
Manila was announced as host city for the pageant in October 1993.[2] It was the second time the pageant was held in the Philippines, after it was staged in Manila in 1974.[2] It was staged at the Philippine International Convention Center in Manila, at approximately 8:00 in the morning (Philippine local time), to give way the live primetime telecast on CBS in the United States.
Results
Countries and territories which sent delegates and results
Placements
Final results Contestant Miss Universe 1994 1st runner-up 2nd runner-up Top 6 
USA - Lu Parker
Slovak Republic - Silvia Lakatošová- Philippines - Charlene Gonzales
Top 10 
Italy - Arianna David
Sweden - Domenique Forsberg
Switzerland - Patricia Fässler
Greece - Rea Toutounzi
Semifinal scores
Delegate Swimsuit Interview Evening Gown Average Top 6 Finalists 
Colombia9.638 (3) 9.655 (2) 9.897 (1) 9.730 (1) 9.683 (1) Venezuela9.752 (1) 9.592 (3) 9.843 (2) 9.729 (2) 9.667 (2) India9.722 (2) 9.562 (5) 9.792 (3) 9.692 (3) 9.667 (2) Slovak Republic9.447 (5) 9.668 (1) 9.700 (6) 9.605 (4) 9.467 (5) Philippines9.425 (6) 9.587 (4) 9.720 (4) 9.577 (5) 9.433 (6) USA9.510 (4) 9.478 (6) 9.697 (7) 9.562 (6) 9.540 (4) Italy9.325 (7) 9.378 (8) 9.708 (5) 9.470 (7) Sweden9.078 (10) 9.423 (7) 9.643 (8) 9.381 (8) Switzerland9.197 (9) 9.298 (9) 9.623 (9) 9.373 (9) Greece9.288 (8) 9.027 (10) 9.618 (10) 9.311 (10) - Winner
- First Runner-up
- Second Runner-up
- Top 6 Finalist
- Top 10 Semifinalist
- (#) Rank in each round of competition
Awards
Major awards
Award Contestant Best National Costume - Philippines - Charlene Gonzales
Mexico - Fabiola Pérez Rovirosa
Russia - Inna Zobova
Miss Congeniality Miss Photogenic Special awards
Award Contestant Best in Filipino traditional costume Jantzen Best In Swimsuit Minolta Photo Contest winner 
Denmark - Gitte Andersen
Philippine Airlines Ambassador winner - Denmark - Gitte Andersen
Most Beautiful Hair 
Belgium - Christelle Roelandts
Miss Kodak Smile Order of announcements
- Top 10
- 1. India
- 2. Venezuela
- 3. Greece
- 4. Switzerland
- 5. USA
- 6. Italy
- 7. Sweden
- 8. Slovak Republic
- 9. Philippines
- 10. Colombia
- Top 6
- 1. Colombia
- 2. Slovak Republic
- 3. Philippines
- 4. India
- 5. Venezuela
- 6. USA
- Top 3
- 1. Venezuela
- 2. India
- 3. Colombia
Judges
- Carlos Arturo Zapata – Fashion designer
- Florence LaRue – Actress and Grammy award-winning singer
- Richard Dalton – Celebrity hairstylist
- Beulah Quo – Asian American actress
- Dr. Emilio T. Yap – Chinese-Filipino business magnate
- Stephanie Beacham– British actress
- Jonas McCord – American writer and director
- Mona Grudt – Miss Universe 1990
The pageant
Areas of competition
The delegates arrived in the Philippines in mid-April and were involved in nearly four weeks of events and competitions. They also visited different locations and attractions throughout the Philippines.
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 10 contestants (based on their preliminary scores) competed in the swimsuit, evening gown and interview. The top six contestants participated in a final round of on-stage interviews, and cut to the final top three before the runners-up were announced and the new Miss Universe named.
Opening number
Two former Miss Universe titleholders from the Philippines introduced the live international telecast, Miss Universe 1969 Gloria Diaz and Miss Universe 1973 Margarita Moran. A musical number "Mabuhay!, Welcome!" was performed by all 77 delegates competing for the title along with the Bayanihan Philippine National Folk Dance Company.
Parade of Nations
The traditional parade of nations with their national costumes, consisted of 6 groups:
- The Islands
- North and Central America
- Europe and the British Isles
- Mediterranean, The Middle East and Africa
- South America
- Asia and the Land Down Under
On screen, the contestants were accompanied by their preliminary scores in swimsuit, evening gown and interview competitions.
Controversies
When Charlene Gonzales (Philippines) won the Best National Costume award, the judges were criticized for favouring the host nation's delegate. Delia Jon Baptiste, who represented the British Virgin Islands, publicly declared that Gonzales won the award because of favouritism and that the other delegates disagreed with the choice.[4]
The country expected to make 10 million pesos ($ 357,000) profit out of the pageant, as well as the accompanying media exposure.[5] The 150 million pesos ($ 5.3 million) spent on hosting the pageant was funded from the private sectors, with sponsors such as Nestlé, Kodak and Hertz.[5] Some of the expected sponsorship money did not eventuate, leading the shortfall to be covered by the government.[6]
By mid May, when the contestants were already in the city, organizers confirmed that they were short of money and were unsure whether a profit would be made from the event.[7]
In the midst of power shortages around the time of the pageant, the Philippine government promised to ensure that the weekend of the pageant would be "blackout-free".[8]
The pageant came under attack from the Nationalist Movement of New Women, a branch of the National Democratic Front, which claimed that it was being used to promote sex tourism.[9] The cost of the event was also criticised by the Philippine Congress, despite it being endorsed by President Fidel Ramos.[9] A social function attended by the delegates held prior to the final broadcast was picketed by the women's group, who opposed the nature of the pageant and the lavish spending.[10]
The day prior to the pageant a small homemade bomb exploded outside the pageant venue where the contestants had earlier been rehearsing, although it caused little damage and there were no injuries.[11]
More than 3000 policemen were involved in protecting the delegates, as well as dozens of policewomen assigned as bodyguards.[12]
During May there was also a probe by the Commission on Human Rights as to whether a police round-up of street children was intended to improve Manila's international image during the pageant events.[13] This was also criticised by Miss Thailand, Areeya Sirisopha Chumsai, even though the same scenario happened in their own country during the Miss Universe 1992.[14]
Inna Zobova (Russia), was detained for 15 hours in a windowless room at an airport in Bangkok, Thailand en route to Manila because she did not have a transit visa.[15]
Miss Malaysia Liza Koh, made a public apology on behalf of her country about the arrest of 1200 Filipina maids in Kuala Lumpur.[16] This led to a warning from the Malaysian Foreign Minister not to make political remarks.[17]
Miss Mauritius Viveka Babajee, was a very controversial figure due to her involvement in the 1994 Metro Manila Film Fest Scandal. She was a presenter for the Best Actress award together with actress Gretchen Barretto, an award which was very much disputed. Sixteen years later, on June 25, 2010, Babajee committed suicide.[18]
Venna Melinda (Indonesia), who was not allowed to compete in the pageant because of her country's attitudes towards the swimsuit competition, traveled to Manila to watch the pageant as an observer.[19]
Contestants
Argentina - Solange Magnano †
Aruba - Alexandra Ochoa
Australia - Michelle van Eimeren
Bahamas - Meka Knowles- Belgium - Christelle Roelandts
Bolivia - Cecilia O'Connor-d'Arlach
Brazil - Valeria Melo Peris
British Virgin Islands - Delia Jon Baptiste
Bulgaria - Nevena Marinova
Canada - Susanne Rothfos
Cayman Islands - Audrey Elizabeth Ebanks
Chile - Constanza Barbieri- Colombia - Carolina Gómez
Cook Islands - Leilani Brown
Costa Rica - Yasmin Camacho
Curaçao - Jasmin Clifton
Cyprus - Maria Vasiliou- Denmark - Gitte Andersen
Dominican Republic - Vielka Valenzuela
Ecuador - Mafalda Arboleda
Egypt - Ghada El-Salem
El Salvador - Claudia Méndez
Estonia - Eva-Maria Laan
Finland - Henna Merilainen
France - Valerie Claisse
Germany - Tanja Wild
Great Britain - Michaela Pyke- Greece - Rea Toutounzi
Guam - Christina Perez
Guatemala - Katya Schoenstedt
Honduras - Jem Haylock
Hong Kong - Mok Hoi-Yan
Hungary - Szilvia Forian
Iceland - Svala Björk Arnardóttir- India - Sushmita Sen
Ireland - Pamela Flood
Israel - Ravit Yarkoni- Italy - Arianna David
Jamaica - Angelie Martin
Japan - Chiaki Kawahito
Korea - Goong Sun-young
Luxembourg - Sandy Wagner
Malaysia - Liza Koh
Mauritius - Viveka Babajee †- Mexico - Fabiola Pérez Rovirosa
- Namibia - Barbara Kahatjipara
Netherlands - Irene van der Laar
New Zealand - Nicola Brighty
Nigeria - Suzan Hart
Northern Marianas - Elizabeth Tomokane
Norway - Caroline Saetre
Panama - María Sofía Velásquez
Paraguay - Liliana González
Peru - Karina Calmet- Philippines - Charlene Gonzales
Poland - Joanna Brykczynska
Portugal - Monica Pereira
Puerto Rico - Brenda Robles
Taiwan R.O.C. - Joanne Wu
Republic of Malta - Paola Camilleri
Romania - Mihaela Ciolacu- Russia - Inna Zobova
Singapore - Paulyn Sun- Slovak Republic - Silvia Lakatošová
Spain - Raquel Rodríguez
Sri Lanka - Nushara Pramali
Swaziland - Nicola Smith- Sweden - Domenique Forsberg
- Switzerland - Patricia Fassler
Thailand - Areeya Chumsai
Trinidad & Tobago - Lorca Gatcliffe
Turkey - Banu Usluer
Turks & Caicos - Eulease Walkin
Uruguay - Leonora Dibueno- USA - Lu Parker
- Venezuela - Minorka Mercado
Zimbabwe - Yvette D'Almeida-Chakras
Preliminary scores
Delegate Swimsuit Interview Evening Gown Average Colombia 8.99 9.41 9.40 9.268 Greece 9.25 9.09 9.43 9.256 India 9.13 9.49 9.14 9.253 Philippines 9.12 9.48 9.08 9.225 USA 9.19 9.20 9.22 9.202 Italy 9.21 9.02 9.25 9.159 Venezuela 9.06 9.17 9.16 9.126 Sweden 8.82 9.12 9.07 9.000 Switzerland 8.87 9.18 8.87 8.973 Slovak Republic 9.00 8.89 8.95 8.946 Australia 8.32 9.37 9.09 8.927 Russia 9.04 9.13 8.54 8.903 Thailand 8.98 8.85 8.81 8.880 Peru 8.89 9.24 8.43 8.853 Denmark 8.55 9.07 8.90 8.840 Estonia 8.64 8.96 8.89 8.830 Mexico 8.87 9.20 8.42 8.830 Poland 8.83 8.70 8.85 8.793 Brazil 8.51 9.11 8.73 8.783 Guatemala 9.12 8.76 8.42 8.767 Namibia 8.92 8.71 8.57 8.733 Belgium 8.57 9.00 8.58 8.717 Puerto Rico 8.48 9.14 8.51 8.710 Mauritius 8.95 8.68 8.50 8.710 Aruba 8.23 8.92 8.88 8.677 Hungary 8.78 8.78 8.47 8.677 Korea 8.71 8.75 8.55 8.670 Egypt 8.51 8.97 8.53 8.670 Ecuador 8.51 9.06 8.44 8.670 Sri Lanka 8.75 8.70 8.53 8.660 Ireland 8.69 8.75 8.51 8.650 Guam 9.02 8.40 8.50 8.640 Iceland 8.60 8.54 8.75 8.630 Zimbabwe 8.50 8.92 8.43 8.617 Netherlands 8.58 8.81 8.45 8.613 France 8.70 8.38 8.73 8.603 Spain 8.08 9.35 8.32 8.583 Singapore 8.40 8.91 8.41 8.573 Romania 8.63 8.58 8.46 8.557 Paraguay 8.68 8.71 8.22 8.537 Bulgaria 8.14 8.58 8.80 8.507 Uruguay 8.52 8.65 8.35 8.507 Costa Rica 8.15 8.97 8.39 8.503 Norway 8.80 8.15 8.54 8.497 Hong Kong 8.29 8.84 8.36 8.497 El Salvador 8.61 8.70 8.14 8.483 Canada 8.05 9.01 8.32 8.460 Portugal 8.37 8.78 8.22 8.457 Japan 8.53 8.64 8.18 8.450 Luxembourg 8.52 8.24 8.59 8.450 Trinidad and Tobago 8.37 8.82 8.09 8.427 Dominican Republic 8.24 8.70 8.29 8.410 Taiwan R.O.C. 8.17 8.53 8.49 8.397 Turkey 8.32 8.66 8.21 8.397 Finland 8.08 8.65 8.45 8.393 Bahamas 8.08 8.86 8.23 8.390 Malaysia 8.25 8.69 8.22 8.387 Chile 8.28 8.32 8.53 8.377 Panama 7.95 8.79 8.39 8.377 Great Britain 8.19 8.71 8.23 8.377 Bolivia 8.15 8.36 8.55 8.353 Nigeria 8.40 8.20 8.45 8.350 Honduras 8.25 8.51 8.27 8.343 Argentina 7.96 8.62 8.42 8.333 Curaçao 8.14 8.69 8.17 8.333 Jamaica 8.68 8.24 8.07 8.330 New Zealand 8.24 8.71 7.99 8.313 Israel 8.55 8.19 8.19 8.310 Swaziland 7.83 8.57 8.23 8.210 Turks and Caicos 8.11 8.54 7.91 8.187 Cyprus 7.92 8.49 8.07 8.160 Northern Marianas 7.89 8.43 8.05 8.123 Germany 7.98 8.41 7.98 8.123 Cook Islands 7.81 8.30 8.12 8.077 Malta 7.94 8.27 7.92 8.043 British Virgin Islands 7.71 8.09 8.15 7.983 Cayman Islands 7.88 8.15 7.92 7.983 - Winner
- First Runner-up
- Second Runner-up
- Top 6 Finalist
- Top 10 Semifinalist
National competitions
Withdrawals
- Austria, Belize, Czech Republic, Ghana, Lebanon, Nicaragua, Suriname, and U.S. Virgin Islands, competed in 1993 but not at Miss Universe 1994.
Debuts
- Russia and Zimbabwe attended the Miss Universe pageant for the first time. Russia competed before as "USSR", "Soviet Union" and as "Commonwealth of Independent States".
- Slovak Republic (short form Slovakia), attended Miss Universe for the first time, after separating from Czech Republic, the former Czechoslovakia. Czech Republic did not participate in Miss Universe 1994.
Returning states and territories
- Cook Islands, Egypt and Taiwan (Republic of China), competed in Miss Universe 1994 after not missing some pageants in the past.
Crossovers
Miss World
- Miss World 1992: Uruguay
- Miss World 1993: Cayman Islands, Ireland, Mauritius, Namibia, New Zealand and Switzerland
- Miss World 1994: Nigeria and Taiwan R.O.C.
Miss International
- Miss International 1993: Belgium (semi-finalist) and Puerto Rico
- Miss International 1994: Aruba (1st runner-up) and Luxembourg
International Broadcasters
These are some of the networks outside the United States (telecasted on CBS at the time) that showed the 1994 Miss Universe pageant live (or recorded earlier) in their respective countries and territories:
References
- ^ "Miss India crowned 1994 Miss Universe". Reuters. 1994-05-20.
- ^ a b "Philippines to host Miss Universe pageant". Reuters. 1993-10-24.
- ^ a b "Miss Venezuela awarded Miss Photogenic title". Agence France-Press. 1994-05-16.
- ^ "Ms Universe pageant slammed for hometown verdict". Reuters. 1994-05-09.
- ^ a b "Philippines expects to profit from Miss Universe". Agence France-Press. 1994-03-16.
- ^ Gosh, Nirmal (1994-04-27). "Row in Manila over cost of Miss Universe pageant". Straits Times.
- ^ "Miss Universe organisers short of cash - official". Reuters. 1994-05-17.
- ^ "Manila says no blackouts for Miss Universe pageant". Agence France-Presse. 1994-04-05.
- ^ a b "Communist insurgents say Miss Universe promotes sex tourism". Agence France-Press. 1994-04-29.
- ^ "Feminists picket Miss Universe social function". Agence France-Press. 1994-05-01.
- ^ "Miss Universe pageant site bombed". Agence France-Press. 1994-05-20.
- ^ "Manila deploys 3,000 policemen for beauties". Reuters. 1994-04-26.
- ^ "Police roundup of Manila street children under probe". Straits Times. 1994-05-02.
- ^ "Miss Thailand : Don't hide street kids". Straits Times. 1994-05-12.
- ^ "Miss Russia held by Thais on way to Miss Universe". Reuters. 1994-04-28.
- ^ "Hi, I am sorry". Straits Times. 1994-04-28.
- ^ "Miss Malaysia told not to make political remarks". Straits Times. 1994-04-29.
- ^ [1]
- ^ "Miss Indonesia to watch but not take part". Straits Times. 1994-05-19.
External links
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