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.
Armi Helena Kuusela is a Finnish-American charity worker, model and beauty queen. In 1952, she won the Finnish national beauty contest Suomen Neito and was presented with a trip to the United States to participate in the first-ever Miss Universe pageant, becoming its first titleholder.
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 Latina Television.
Stella Márquez-Araneta, often styled as Madame Stella Márquez de Araneta, is a Colombian pageant director and beauty queen. She grew up in New York City then later migrated to Colombia, where she became a pageant titleholder. As Miss Colombia, she was crowned the first Miss International in 1960. She obtained her Filipino citizenship via naturalization in 1970.
Most Beautiful Girl in Nigeria – also abbreviated as MBGN – is a pageant organised by Silverbird Group with the main purpose of sending representatives to international competitions. Originally known as Miss Universe Nigeria, it was renamed Most Beautiful Girl in Nigeria after news publishers Daily Times lost their license to send delegates from rival contest Miss Nigeria to Miss World and Miss Universe.
Jennifer Murphy is an American actress, YouTube personality, entrepreneur, and speaker. Murphy has competed in beauty pageants, having been a top-ten finalist at Miss USA 2004.
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 Universe 1959, the 8th Miss Universe pageant, was held on 24 July 1959 at Long Beach Municipal Auditorium in Long Beach, California, United States. 34 contestants competed and in the end Akiko Kojima of Japan won the competition, becoming the first Asian woman to win the title. She was crowned by Luz Marina Zuluaga from Colombia. This was the last year that the pageant was held in Long Beach before it moved to Miami Beach, Florida in 1960, before the establishment of the Miss International pageant.
Miss International 1960, the first edition of the Miss International pageant, was held on 12 August 1960 at the Long Beach Municipal Auditorium in Long Beach, California, United States. 52 contestants competed for the title. Stella Márquez of Colombia became the first Miss International and the first Latina titleholder in this line of pageants.
Maria Venus Bayonito Raj, popularly known as Venus Raj, is an Indian-Filipino actress, beauty queen, and television personality.
The Miss Universo Italia or is a national pageant that currently selects the Italian representative for the Miss Universe pageant. The pageant was first organized in 1951 and it is not related to Miss Italia, although some delegates have crossed over from one format to the other throughout the years.
Dayana Sabrina Mendoza Moncada is a Venezuelan actress, model, film producer and director. She is also a former beauty queen, winner of the titles of Miss Venezuela 2007 and Miss Universe 2008, she is also the holder of a Guinness Record after the victory in 2009 of the also Venezuelan Stefanía Fernández, being the first and only time that a nation has won the Miss Universe competition consecutively.
Miss Universe 2012, the 61st Miss Universe pageant, was held on 19 December 2012 at PH Live at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada, United States. Leila Lopes of Angola crowned her successor Olivia Culpo of the United States at the end of the event, making the eighth crown for the United States at Miss Universe. 89 contestants competed in this year's pageant, same as the last year. This record was broken in 2017 with 92 contestants, which again was broken in 2018 with 94 contestants.
Elisa Torrini is an Italian model. She was crowned Miss Universe Italy 2011 on 30 June 2011 at the Piazzale del Soccorso in Forio d'Ischia. She is 1.80 m tall (5'11"), one of tallest Italian delegates ever in the history of the pageant. By winning the title, Elisa earned the right to represent her country at the Miss Universe 2011 pageant in São Paulo, Brazil, on 12 September 2011.
Olivia Frances Culpo is an American fashion influencer and social media personality. After winning the Miss Rhode Island USA competition, she went on to be crowned Miss USA, and then Miss Universe in 2012. She has also ventured into modeling and acting.
Luna Isabella Voce is a Dutch-Italian model and beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned Miss Universo Italia 2013.
Paulina Vega Dieppa is a Colombian TV Host, model and beauty queen who was crowned Miss Colombia 2013 and Miss Universe 2014. Vega is the second Miss Universe from Colombia.
Aniporn Chalermburanawong is a Thai actress, model and beauty pageant titleholder who won Miss Universe Thailand 2015. She represented Thailand at the Miss Universe 2015 pageant held in Las Vegas, where she placed top 10 and won Best in National Costume.
Maria Lynn Ehren, known professionally as Maria Poonlertlarp, is a Thai-Swedish beauty pageant titleholder, model, and singer, who was crowned Miss Universe Thailand 2017. She represented Thailand at the Miss Universe 2017 competition, finishing as a top five finalist. She is of Chinese, Swedish and Thai descent.
Maria Polverino is an Italian beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned Miss Universo Italia 2017 and she represented Italy at Miss Universe 2017 pageant.
