A beauty pageant 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 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, Miss Universe is one of the Big Four international beauty pageants.
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 to 2022, Femina also organised Miss Diva as a separate competition, with representatives competing at Miss Universe.
Miss USA is an American beauty pageant that has been held annually since 1952 to select the entrant from United States in the Miss Universe pageant. The Miss Universe Organization operated both pageants, as well as Miss Teen USA, until 2020, when the organization announced it was licensing operation of the Miss USA and Miss Teen USA pageants to Crystle Stewart, Miss USA for 2008 prior to her suspension in October 2022, thus returning the said pageants to the Miss Universe Organization.
The Miss Venezuela is the national beauty pageant of Venezuela, traditionally held in September. It is preceded by two or three months of preliminary events, with the awarding of corporate prizes. The final televised competition generally lasts about four hours and is broadcast live across Latin America by Venevisión and produced by the networks parent company Cisneros Group, with edited versions to the United States and Mexico on the Univision and Telemundo networks. From 2013 to 2015, the national contest was split into two separate pageants: Miss Venezuela and Miss Venezuela Mundo. The pageant is also closely observed by other countries seeking to level competition due to its illustrious record of pageant victories. In 2016, the Venezuelan franchise for Miss Earth was awarded to Miss Earth Venezuela organized by National Directors Julio César Cruz and Alyz Henrich.
The Miss Perú is the national beauty pageant of the Republic of Peru. The contest gathers participants from all over the nation, including Peruvian women representing their community overseas. Having been broadcast by all the major television networks in the country during its history, the pageant is currently broadcast by América Televisión.
Chelsi Mariam Pearl Smith was an American actress, singer, television host and beauty queen who was crowned Miss USA 1995 and Miss Universe 1995. Smith was the third Miss USA of African-American origin, after Carole Gist (1990) and Kenya Moore (1993), in addition to being the sixth American woman to win Miss Universe and the first since Shawn Weatherly was crowned Miss Universe 1980.
The Miss Belgium is a national beauty pageant in Belgium. The winner of Miss Belgium automatically represents her country at the Miss World and Miss Universe pageants if the dates do not overlap.
Miss Universe 2002 was the 51st Miss Universe pageant, held at the Coliseo Roberto Clemente in San Juan, Puerto Rico on 29 May 2002.
Crystle Danae Stewart is an American actress, tv host, model and beauty pageant titleholder who won Miss USA 2008. Stewart's acting career began in 2011, when she played real estate agent Leslie Morris on the OWN/TBS comedy-drama television series For Better or Worse until 2017. In 2018 she appeared in Acrimony. From 2020 until 2023, Stewart was the national director of Miss USA and Miss Teen USA. She was suspended from the position following allegations of favoritism, results rigging at Miss USA 2022 and sexual harassment at Miss USA 2021, and officially stepped down in August 2023.
Maria Venus Bayonito Raj is a Filipino actress, model, and beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned Binibining Pilipinas Universe 2010. She represented the Philippines at the Miss Universe 2010 pageant and placed 4th Runner-Up.
The Miss Universe Kosova is a national beauty pageant that sends representatives from Kosovo to the Miss Universe pageant.
Miss Universe 2010 was the 59th Miss Universe pageant, held at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States on August 23, 2010.
Zeynep Kübra Sever Demirel is a Turkish-Belgian volleyball player and beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned Miss Belgium 2009 and also she represented Belgium at Miss Universe 2009, where she was placed among the Top 15.
Laetitia Sauzier is a Belgian born Mauritian model of Belgian and Mauritian descent. She was the winner of the Miss Mauritius 2010 beauty pageant.
Justine De Jonckheere is a Flemish model and beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned Miss Belgium 2011 and represented her country in the Miss Universe 2011 and Miss World 2011 pageants.
Anissa Blondin is a Belgian model and beauty pageant titleholder who placed 1st runner up in Miss Belgium 2014. She competed at Miss World 2014 and Miss Universe 2014.
The Miss Bahamas Universe or “Miss Universe Bahamas” is a national beauty pageant that selects Bahamas representative to the Miss Universe pageant.
The Miss Belgium 2010 was held on January 10, 2010, at Casino de Knokke, Belgium.
Miss Universe 2018 was the 67th Miss Universe pageant, held at the IMPACT Arena, Muang Thong Thani, Nonthaburi Province, Thailand on 17 December 2018.
