Miss World 1981

Miss World 1981
Miss World 1981 Titlecard
Date	12 November 1981
Presenters	Peter Marshall, and Judith Chalmers
Venue	Royal Albert Hall, London, England, United Kingdom
Broadcaster	Thames Television
Entrants	67
Placements	15
Withdraws	Mauritius, Panama, Paraguay, Swaziland, and Virgin Islands
Returns	Chile, El Salvador, Iceland, Suriname, and Tahiti
Winner	Pilín León  Venezuela
Personality	Doris Pontvianne  Mexico
Photogenic	Melissa Hannan  Australia

Miss World 1981, the 31st Miss World pageant. was held on November 12, 1981 in the Royal Albert Hall, London, UK. The winner was Pilín León from Venezuela, the first titleholder from her country since 1955. Another Venezuelan, Irene Sáez, had been crowned Miss Universe 1981 in July, making Venezuela one of the very few countries to hold both major international titles (Miss Universe and Miss World) in the same year.

Results

Countries and territories which sent delegates and results.

Final results	Contestant
Miss World 1981	Venezuela - Pilín León
1st Runner-up	Colombia - Nini Johanna Soto
2nd Runner-up	Jamaica - Sandra Cunningham
3rd Runner-up	Brazil - Maristela Grazzia
4th Runner-up	United Kingdom - Michelle Donnelly
5th Runner-up	Australia - Melissa Hannan
6th Runner-up	United States - Lisa Lynn Moss
Top 15 Semifinalists	Argentina - Ana Natali  Belgium - Dominique van Eeckhoudt  Canada - Earla Stewart  Ireland - Geraldine McGrory  Japan - Naomi Kishi  Mexico - Doris Pontvianne  Trinidad & Tobago - Rachel Thomas  Zimbabwe - Juliet Nyathi

Special awards

• Personality: Doris Pontvianne (Mexico),
• Photogenic: Melissa Hannan (Australia)

Continental Queens

• Africa: Juliet Nyathi - Zimbabwe
• Americas: Pilín León - Venezuela
• Asia: Naomi Kishi - Japan
• Europe: Michele Donnelly - United Kingdom
• Oceania: Melissa Hannan - Australia

Order of Semifinalists

1. Belgium 2. Ireland 3. United Kingdom 4. Australia 5. Japan 6. Zimbabwe 7. Argentina 8. Brazil

9. Canada 10. Colombia 11. Jamaica 12. Mexico 13. Trinidad & Tobago 14. United States 15. Venezuela

Order of Finalists

1. Brazil 2. Colombia 3. United Kingdom 4. Venezuela 5. United States 6. Australia 7. Jamaica

67 Contestants

EUROPE
Contestant Number	Nation	Contestant
01	Austria	Beatrix Kopf
02	Belgium	Dominique van Eeckhoudt
03	Cyprus	Elena Andreou
04	Denmark	Tina Brandstrup
05	Finland	Pia Irmeli Ann-Marie Nieminen
06	France	Isabelle Sophie Benárd
07	Germany	Barbara Reimund
08	Gibraltar	Yvette Maria Bellido
09	Greece	Maria Argirocastritou
10	Holland	Saskia Lemmens
11	Iceland	Åsdis Eva Hannesdóttir
12	Ireland	Geraldine Mary McGrory
13	Isle of Man	Nicola Jane Grainger
14	Italy	Marisa Tutone
15	Jersey	Elizabeth Sarah Walmsley
16	Malta	Elizabeth Mary Fenech
17	Norway	Anita Nesbø
18	Spain	Cristina Perez Cottrell
19	Sweden	Carita Gustafsson
20	Switzerland	Margit Kilchoer
21	Turkey	Aydan Şener
22	United Kingdom	Michelle Donnelly
OCEANIA
Contestant Number	Nation	Contestant
23	Australia	Melissa Hannan
24	Guam	Rebecca Arroyo
25	New Zealand	Raewyn Patricia Marcroft
26	Papua New Guinea	Jennfer Abaijah
27	Tahiti	Maimiti Kinnander
28	Western Samoa	Julianna Curry
ASIA & AFRICA
Contestant Number	Nation	Contestant
29	Hong Kong	Winnie Chin Wei-Yee
30	India	Deepti Divakar
31	Israel	Ninnette Asur
32	Japan	Naomi Kishi
33	Korea	Lee Han-na
34	Lebanon	Zeina Joseph Challita
35	Malaysia	Cynthia Geraldine de Castro
36	Philippines	Suzette Nicolas
37	Singapore	Sushil Kaur Sandhu
38	Sri Lanka	Sonya Elizabeth Tucker
39	Thailand	Massupha Karbprapun
40	Lesotho	Palesa Joyce Kalele
41	Zimbabwe	Juliet Nyathi
THE AMERICAS
Contestant Number	Nation	Contestant
42	Argentina	Ana Helen Natali
43	Aruba	Gerarda Hendrine Jantiene Reopel
44	Bahamas	Monique Ferguson
45	Bermuda	Cymone Florie Tucker
46	Bolivia	Carolina Diaz Mansour
47	Brazil	Maristela Silvia Grazzia
48	Canada	Earla Stewart
49	Cayman Islands	Donna Marie Myrie
50	Chile	Susanna Bravo Indo
51	Colombia	Nini Johanna Soto González
52	Costa Rica	Sucetty Salas Quintanilla
53	Curacao	Mylene Mariela Gerard
54	Dominican Republic	Josefina Maria Cuello Perez
55	Ecuador	Lucia Isabel Vinueza Urjelles
56	El Salvador	Martha Alicia Ortiz
57	Guatemala	Beatriz Bojorquez Palacios
58	Honduras	Xiomara Sikaffy Mena
59	Jamaica	Sandra Angela Cunningham
60	Mexico	Doris Pontvianne Espinoza
61	Peru	Olga Roxana Zumaran Burga
62	Puerto Rico	Andrenira Ruiz Saenz
63	Suriname	Joan Boldewijn
64	Trinidad & Tobago	Rachel Ann Thomas
65	United States	Lisa Lynn Moss
66	Uruguay	Silia Marianela Bas Carrese
67	Venezuela	Carmen Josefina (Pilín) León Crespo

Trivia

Returning Countries and Debuts

• Suriname last competed in 1966.
• Chile, El Salvador, Iceland, and Tahiti last competed in 1979.

Withdrawals and Nations not competing

• Panama, Paraguay, and Swaziland did not attend the Miss World.
• Portugal (Paula Dos Santos) who had a dual citizenship, won the Miss Portugal contest held in Johannesburg, South Africa. She flew to London, only to be told by Eric Morley that any girl from South Africa cannot participate, and that the contest has to be held in the country of the girl's origin.

Crossovers

Miss Universe

• Miss Universe 1978: Peru (semi-finalist)
• Miss Universe 1980: Switzerland
• Miss Universe 1981: Belgium (4th runner-up), Bermuda, Cayman Islands, Denmark (Miss Photogenic), Ecuador (semi-finalist), France and Thailand
• Miss Universe 1982: Ireland, Spain and United Kingdom (represented as Wales)

Miss International

• Miss International 1981: Belgium (semi-finalist), Denmark, Germany (semi-finalist) and Tahiti

Other Notes

• The Continental Queen of Beauty awards were handed out for the very first time.
• United States, Lisa Lynn Moss, was the first woman to compete in Miss World under the Miss USA franchise. She placed as 2nd runner-up in Miss USA, representing Miss Louisiana USA.
• Cayman Islands and New Zealand sent their first black delegates to Miss World.
• This is the first time that there were only two runners-up and Miss World during the crowning ceremony.
• This is also the first time that the award winners for Miss Personality and Miss Photogenic had made into the semi-finals in Miss World since 1973.
• 10 out of 15 countries which made it into the semifinals, were not in the semifinals last year: Belgium (1962), Canada (1967), Colombia (1968), Japan (1974), Ireland (1976), Argentina (1978), and Australia, Brazil, Mexico, and Trinidad & Tobago (1979).

External Sources

• Miss World Official Website
• Pageantopolis - Miss World 1981