Miss Universe is an annual international major beauty pageant that is run by a United States and Thailand-based Miss Universe Organization. Along with Miss World, Miss International, and Miss Earth, it is one of the Big Four beauty pageants.
Miss Venezuela is a Venezuelan beauty pageant operated by the Cisneros Group. Founded in 1952, it currently selects Venezuelan representatives to Miss Universe, Miss World, and Miss International. The current national director of Miss Venezuela is Miss Universe 2013 Gabriela Isler.
Irene Skliva is a Greek model and beauty queen who was crowned Miss World 1996 in India.
Miss Universe 2004 was the 53rd Miss Universe pageant, held at the Centro de Convenciones CEMEXPO in Quito, Ecuador on 1 June 2004.
Miss Universe 2000 was the 49th Miss Universe pageant, held at the Eleftheria Indoor Hall in Nicosia, Cyprus on 12 May 2000.
Miss Universe 1996 was the 45th Miss Universe pageant, held at the Aladdin Theatre for the Performing Arts in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States on 17 May 1996. This was the last time that the Miss Universe was run by ITT Corp.
Miss World 1998, the 48th edition of the Miss World pageant, was held on 26 November 1998 at the Lake Berjaya Mahé Resort in Mahé Island, Seychelles. 86 delegates from around the world competed for the crown. Ronan Keating, then lead singer of Boyzone, and MTV's Eden Harel hosted the event. This year's winner, Israel's Linor Abargil, revealed days after the competition that she had been raped several weeks before the pageant. She was crowned by Miss World 1997, Diana Hayden of India.
Miss World 1995, the 45th edition of the Miss World pageant, was held on 18 November 1995 for the fourth straight year at the Sun City Entertainment Centre in Sun City, South Africa. The 1995 pageant attracted 84 delegates. The pageant was hosted by Richard Steinmetz, Jeff Trachta, and Bobbie Eakes and also involved supermodels Linda Evangelista and Beverly Peele and Bruce Forsyth who acted as presenters. Aside from Sun City; Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and the Comoros hosted some segments of the show. The winner was Jacqueline Aguilera of Venezuela. She was crowned by Miss World 1994, Aishwarya Rai of India.
Miss World 1997, the 47th edition of the Miss World pageant, was held on 22 November 1997 at the Plantation Club Seychelles in Baie Lazare, Seychelles. 86 delegates competed for the coveted crown. At the end of the event, India's Diana Hayden came out victorious. Hayden went on to win the Miss World 1997 pageant at the age of 24 crowned by Miss World 1996, Irene Skliva. It was the first time the Miss World pageant was held in the Seychelles. She became the third Indian woman to win Miss World since Reita Faria in 1966 and Aishwarya Rai in 1994.
Ana Cepinska Miszczak is a Venezuelan model and beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned Miss World Venezuela 1996 who won the Miss World Photogenic award and placed fourth runner-up at Miss World 1996.
Miss Universe 2008 was the 57th Miss Universe pageant, held at the Crown Convention Center in Nha Trang, Vietnam on July 14, 2008. This was the first time that the Miss Universe pageant was broadcast in 1080i High-definition.
Miss Universe 2009 was the 58th Miss Universe pageant, held at the Imperial Ballroom in Atlantis Paradise Island, Nassau, The Bahamas on August 23, 2009.
Miss World 2011, the 61st edition of the Miss World pageant, was held on 6 November 2011 at the Earls Court Two in London, United Kingdom. As part of the events, the contestants also travelled to Edinburgh, Scotland between 23 and 27 October. Alexandria Mills of the United States crowned her successor Ivian Sarcos of Venezuela at the end of the event, she is the sixth Venezuelan woman to win Miss World - currently tied with India for the most wins in the competition's history. Although over 120 delegates were expected to compete, problems regarding the timely acquisition of visas prevented several candidates from participating, thus reducing the final number to 113. Miss World 2011 was viewed by over 1 billion people worldwide.
Miss Universe 2013 was the 62nd Miss Universe pageant, held at the Crocus City Hall in Krasnogorsk, Moscow, Russia on 9 November 2013.
Miss Earth 2013, the 13th edition of the Miss Earth pageant, was held on December 7, 2013 at the Versailles Palace in Las Piñas, Metro Manila, Philippines. Tereza Fajksová of the Czech Republic crowned her successor Alyz Henrich of Venezuela at the end of the event.
Miss Universe 2014 was the 63rd Miss Universe pageant, held at the FIU Arena in Florida, United States on 25 January 2015. This was the first time in the history of the competition that the pageant was not during the year the title was awarded for. However, the pageant was still known as the 2014 pageant.
The following is a list of India's official representatives and their placements at the Big Four beauty pageants, considered the most important in the world. The country has won a total of ten victories with eighty-one placements in all four pageants:
Miss Universe 2015 was the 64th Miss Universe pageant, held at The AXIS in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States on 20 December 2015. This was the first edition of the pageant to be held under the ownership of WME/IMG, which purchased the Miss Universe Organization from Donald Trump on 14 September 2015. Consequently, it was also the first Miss Universe event to be aired by Fox and Azteca as the pageant's respective English and Spanish broadcasters instead of NBC.
Miss Bahamas Universe or Miss Universe Bahamas is a national beauty pageant that selects The Bahamas representative to the Miss Universe pageant.
