A beauty pageant or beauty contest is a competition that has traditionally focused on judging and ranking the physical attributes of the contestants. Pageants have now evolved to include inner beauty, with criteria covering judging of personality, intelligence, talent, character, and charitable involvement, through private interviews with judges and answers to public on-stage questions. The term beauty pageant refers originally to the Big Four international beauty pageants.
Miss Universe is an annual international beauty pageant that is run by the United States–based Miss Universe Organization. It is one of the most watched pageants in the world with an estimated audience of over 500 million viewers in over 190 territories. Along with Miss World, Miss International, and Miss Earth, Miss Universe is one of the Big Four international beauty pageants.
Miss World is the oldest-running international beauty pageant. It was created in the United Kingdom by Eric Morley in 1951. Since his death in 2000, Morley's widow, Julia Morley, has co-chaired the pageant. Along with Miss Universe, Miss International, and Miss Earth, this pageant is one of the Big Four international beauty pageants.
Kerstin Margareta "Kiki" Håkansson is a Swedish model and beauty queen who was first the winner of the Miss World beauty pageant after being crowned Miss Sweden World in 1951.
Azra Akın is a Turkish-Dutch actress, dancer, model and beauty queen who was crowned Miss World 2002 in London on December 7, 2002.
Miss India or Femina Miss India is a national beauty pageant in India that annually selects representatives to compete in Miss World, one of the Big Four major international beauty pageants. It is organised by Femina, a women's magazine published by The Times Group. Since 2013, Femina has also organised Miss Diva as a separate competition, with representatives competing at Miss Universe.
Christina Sawaya is a Lebanese beauty queen. As part of her modelling career, Christina entered a series of pageants between 1998 and 2002 in which she became the winner of Miss University Lebanon in 1998, and was chosen as "Top Lebanon Modeling 1999".
Kathrine Sørland is a Norwegian fashion model, TV presenter and beauty queen who has competed in the Miss World and Miss Universe beauty pageants.
Miss Sweden, is the title of the Swedish beauty pageant, which ran from 1949 to 2003, introduced by the female magazine VeckoRevyn and later operated by production company Strix in partnership with MTG. The competition qualified delegates to the global contest Miss Universe. After this Miss Sweden competition stopped running, it was replaced by separate pageants from various franchises.
Miss Turkey is a national beauty pageant in Turkey.
Malou Hansson served as Miss Sweden in 2002. She was the first woman with black African ancestry to hold this beauty pageant title.
Miss Earth Sweden was a beauty pageant for Swedish females between 18–27 years old. The pageant was until 2013 sponsored by Carousel Production Inc.. The winner of the pageant competes in the global beauty pageant, Miss Earth, held each year in the Philippines.
Lina Maria Hahne is a Swedish beauty queen and Miss Sweden 2007 titleholder, who was crowned on June 26 after the original winner Isabel Lestapier Winqvist was dethroned from the title. It seems that Lina won't be a representative for Sweden at Miss Universe 2008 after several unsuccessful attempts to participate and the sponsor has most probably dropped out for the future pageants. In the end Miss Sweden organization boycotted the event for a second year in a row. Lina is currently studying to become a doctor in the last year of Medical School. She is involved in UNICEF and children charities.
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.
Renate Veronica Cerljen is the first ever winner of the Miss Universe Sweden pageant which she won on June 6, 2009. Cerljen represented Sweden at the Miss Universe 2009 pageant on the Bahamas on August 23, 2009 and placed in the Top 15. Renate was the first non-winner of the Miss Sweden pageant since 1952 to represent Sweden at Miss Universe since Miss Sweden lost its rights to crown a contestant for Miss Universe earlier in 2009. Cerljen was also the first delegate from Sweden at the international final since 2006 when Josephine Alhanko placed in the Top 20. Miss Universe 1984 winner Yvonne Ryding was among the judges in the final which crowned Cerljen as winner. By making the Top 15 Cerljen became Sweden's 29th semifinalist at the Miss Universe pageant overall. In May 2010 Cerljen placed fifth in the Miss Beauty of the World pageant in China. Cerljen was a judge at the Miss Sinergy competition for breast cancer in 2009 as well as 2010 which is an annual pageant made by the Sinergy group, held at the House of Sweden in Washington DC, United States.
Nya Fröken Sverige(in English: New Miss Sweden) was a Swedish beauty pageant, under administration of the swimsuit producer Panos Emporio. The recruitment process is based on personal interviews and education backgrounds, and no traditional swimsuit competition is arranged. The very first winner Josephine Alhanko competed at the Miss Universe in 2006 and was placed as semi-finalist, but it was later discovered that the two pageants are fundamentally different and the national director decided to abolish international beauty competitions. The contest is a branch of the former Miss Sweden pageant, that existed between 1949 and 2005. Politician Sara Skyttedal participated in 2006 and made it to the final.
Miss World 2013, the 63rd edition of the Miss World pageant, was held on 28 September 2013 at Bali Nusa Dua International Convention Center, South Kuta, Bali, Indonesia. It was the first time in the pageant's history that the event was held in Southeast Asia. Contestants from 127 countries and territories competed in this year's Miss World pageant, marking the biggest turnout for any major international beauty pageant as of 2022. Yu Wenxia of China crowned her successor Megan Young of the Philippines at the end of the event, marking the only time to date that the Philippines has won the Miss World title.
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.
The Big Four or the Big League Pageants refers to the four major international beauty pageants for women – Miss World, Miss Universe, Miss International and Miss Earth. The group was first described by the China Daily newspaper in 2004 as "the world's four major beauty contests". In April 2008, the South China Morning Post described them as "four of the world's top beauty pageants"; the same description was also used by South Korea's leading newspaper, Chosun Ilbo in 2010. In 2017, the Latin Times considered the group as the "most important pageants in the world". In 2018, NBC News referred to them as the "four biggest international pageants", while Agencia EFE delineated them in 2019 as the "four most influential beauty pageants in the world".
