A beauty pageant or beauty contest is a competition that has traditionally focused on judging and ranking the physical attributes of the contestants, although most contests have evolved to also incorporate personality traits, intelligence, talent, and a contestant's ability to answer judges' questions on various subjects as judged criteria. The term refers largely to contests for women such as the Big Four international beauty pageants. Hundreds of thousands of beauty contests are held annually, but the Big Four are considered the most prestigious, widely covered and broadcast by media. The Wall Street Journal, BBC News, CNN, Xinhua News Agency, and global news agencies such as Reuters, Associated Press and Agence France-Presse collectively refer to the four major pageants as "Big Four" namely: Miss Universe, Miss World, Miss International, and Miss Earth.
Miss Earth is an annual international environmental-themed beauty pageant competition promoting environmental awareness, conservation, and social responsibility. The contest is the third largest beauty pageant in the world in terms of the number of national-level competitions to participate in the world finals. Along with Miss World, Miss Universe, and Miss International, the competition is one of the Big Four international beauty pageants — the most coveted beauty titles among all the international pageant competitions.
Malou Hansson served as Miss Sweden in 2002. She was the first woman with black African ancestry to hold this beauty pageant title.
Miss Universe 2008, the 57th Miss Universe pageant, was held on 14 July 2008 at the Crown Convention Center in Nha Trang, Vietnam. Dayana Mendoza of Venezuela was crowned by Riyo Mori of Japan as her successor at the end of the event. 80 contestants competed in this year which was broadcast and distributed globally via NBC in English and Telemundo in Spanish to TV outlets in more than 180 countries.
Miss International 2008, the 48th Miss International pageant, was held on November 8, 2008 at The Venetian Macao in Macau, the presenters are Eric Tsang, Dodo Cheng, Astrid Chan. 63 contestants from all over the world competed for the crown, marking the biggest turnout in the 48 years of the pageant, surpassing the previous of 61 during last year pageant. The contestants also paid a visit to Hong Kong, Tokyo. Miss International 2007, Priscila Perales of Mexico, crowned her successor Alejandra Andreu of Spain as the new Miss International.
Shey Ling Him Gordon is a Panamanian beauty pageant contestant and model. She was the official representative of Panamá at the Miss World 2007 pageant held at the Crown of Beauty Theatre, Sanya, China on December 1, 2007. competed in the national beauty pageant Miss World Panamá 2007 and obtained the title of Miss World Panamá.
Katarzyna Weronika Borowicz is a Polish actress, model and beauty pageant titleholder who has competed in the Miss World, Miss Earth and Miss Europe pageants.
Hannelly Zulami Quintero Ledezma is a Venezuelan actress, model, TV presenter, and beauty queen. She won Miss World Venezuela 2007 and Miss Intercontinental 2009. She competed in the Miss World 2008 beauty pageant, on December 13 in Johannesburg, South Africa, and ranked as one of the top fifteen semifinalists. Quintero also won the title of Miss World Americas.
Miss Polonia is a national Beauty pageant in Poland to select the official ambassador of Poland at the Miss World, Miss Grand International, Miss Intercontinental and Miss Charm pageants. This pageant is the oldest beauty pageant in Poland.
Miss Universe Sweden is a beauty pageant, qualifying delegates to the Miss Universe competition. The first national final was held on June 6, 2009, the National Day of Sweden. Among the judges were Yvonne Ryding, Miss Universe 1984. The pageant is a late branch of the Miss Sweden contest. The director of the contest is Joakim Granberg of the Starworld Entertainment Corporation.
Julie Anne Robenhymer is Miss New Jersey 2005, and a blogger for the website hockeybuzz.com.
Rozalia Mancewicz is a Polish beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned Miss Polonia 2010 and represented her country in Miss Universe 2011 and in Miss International 2012.
Marcelina Zawadzka is a Polish model and beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned Miss Polonia 2011 and represented her country in Miss Universe 2012.
Camilla Hansson is a Swedish celebrity, actress, fashion model and beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned Miss Sweden 2014 and represented her country at the Miss Universe 2014 pageant. Previously, she was crowned as Miss Earth Sweden 2012 at the same pageant but unplaced at the Miss Earth 2012.
Miss Universe 2014, the 63rd Miss Universe pageant, was held on 25 January 2015 at the FIU Arena at the Florida, United States. Gabriela Isler of Venezuela crowned her successor Paulina Vega of Colombia at the end of the event. This is the second time that Colombia has won the title.
Miss Polski is a national beauty pageant in Poland to select the official ambassador of Poland at the Miss Universe, Miss International and Miss Supranational pageants. This pageant is one of famous Polish national pageant after Miss Polonia pageant. This pageant is not related to the Miss Polonia pageant.
Frida Maria Fornander is a Swedish model and beauty pageant titleholder. She was crowned Miss Earth Sweden 2014, and competed in Miss Earth 2014. Later, she also won Miss Universe Sweden 2017 and competed in Miss Universe 2017.
Weronika Szmajdzińska is a Polish beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned Miss Polonia 2015 and represented Poland in Miss Universe 2015 pageant. She also represented Poland at the Miss World 2012 pageant, where she was the first runner-up for the Top Model prize, but did not place in the actual pageant.
Sara Magdalena Skyttedal is a Swedish politician for the Christian Democrats party. She was elected Member of the European Parliament in the 2019 European Parliament election in Sweden.
Magdalena Powanskca Swat is a Polish beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned as 1st runner up of Miss Polonia 2017 and appointed to be Miss Universe Poland 2018 and represented Poland at the Miss Universe 2018 in Bangkok, Thailand where she ended as Top 20 semifinalist.
