Miss Universe 1973

Miss Universe 1973
Margarita Moran
Date	21 July 1973 [a]
Presenters	Bob Barker
Venue	Odeon of Herodes Atticus, Athens, Greece
Broadcaster	CBS (international) EIRT (official broadcaster)
Entrants	61
Placements	12
Debuts	Cyprus
Withdrawals	Bahamas Ecuador Iceland Iraq Peru Zaire
Returns	Ceylon Lebanon Nicaragua Panama Trinidad and Tobago
Winner	Margarita Moran Philippines
Congeniality	Jeanette Robertson (Chile)
Best National Costume	María del Rocío Martín (Spain)
Photogenic	Margarita Moran (Philippines)
←  1972 1974  →

Miss Universe 1973 was the 22nd Miss Universe pageant, held at the Odeon of Herodes Atticus in Athens, Greece, on 21 July 1973. This was the first Miss Universe event to be held in Europe.

At the conclusion of the event, Kerry Anne Wells of Australia crowned Margarita Moran of the Philippines as Miss Universe 1973. It is the second victory of the Philippines in the pageant's history. ^[1]

Contestants from sixty-one countries and territories participated in this year's pageant. The pageant was hosted by Bob Barker in his seventh consecutive year, while Helen O'Connell provided commentary and analysis throughout the event.

Background

Location and date

In February 1973, Puerto Rican government officials announced that they would be ending the $1 million contract to bring Miss Universe and Miss USA to the island until 1976. ^{[2] [3]} Officials said the agreement was illegal, and Miss Universe President Harold Glasser said it was only a technical-legal nature. According to Glasser, the real reason the agreement was terminated was because "pageants are victims of political infighting" and pageant sponsors have remained neutral in the debate over Puerto Rico's political status. The pro-statehood administration of Gov. Luis A. Ferre signed the contract to sponsor the pageants, but an anti-statehood administration led by Gov. Rafael Hernandez Colon took office on January 2. Although the search for a venue for Miss Universe is still ongoing, the pageant will still push through on July 21, according to Glasser. ^[2]

On February 22, Miss Universe Inc. filed a $20 million USD damage suit against the government of Puerto Rico for canceling its contract to sponsor the competition for five years. ^{[4] [5]}

On May 10, the Miss Universe Inc. announced that the 22nd edition would be held in Athens from July 11 to July 21. ^[6] According to Glasser and Chrysanthos Demetriadis, president of the Greek National Tourist Organization, the competition will be broadcast in more than 30 countries. ^{[7] [8]}

Selection of participants

Contestants from sixty-one countries and territories were selected to compete in the pageant.

Debuts, returns, and, withdrawals

This edition saw the debut of Cyprus, and the returns of Ceylon, which last competed in 1970; and Lebanon, Nicaragua, Panama, and Trinidad and Tobago which last competed in 1971. ^[9]

Cyprianna Munnings of the Bahamas withdrew in order to joing the celebration of her country's independence from the United Kingdom. ^[10] Katrin Gisladóttir of Iceland withdrew for health reasons. ^[11] Mary Núñez of Peru was not allowed by her government to participate due to the weak diplomatic relations with the United States and Peru. ^[12] Ecuador, Iraq, and Zaire withdrew from the competition after their respective organizations failed to hold a national competition or appoint a delegate.

Results

Miss Universe 1973 participating countries and territories.

Placements

Placement	Contestant
Miss Universe 1973	Philippines – Margarita Moran [13]
1st runner-up	United States – Amanda Jones [13]
2nd runner-up	Norway – Aina Walle [13]
3rd runner-up	Spain – Rocío Martín [13]
4th runner-up	Israel – Limor Schreibman [13]
Top 12	Argentina – Susana Romero [13] Brazil – Sandra Ferreira [13]   Colombia – Ana Agudelo [13] Greece – Vana Papadaki [13]   India – Farzana Habib [13] Japan – Miyoko Sometani [13]   Lebanon – Marcelle Herro [13]

Special awards

Award	Contestant
Miss Photogenic	Philippines – Margarita Moran [14]
Miss Amity	Chile – Wendy Robertson
Best National Costume	Spain – Rocío Martín [15]

Pageant

Format

Same with 1971, twelve semi-finalists were chosen at the preliminary competition that consists of the swimsuit and evening gown competition. The twelve semi-finalists participated in the casual interview, swimsuit, and evening gown competitions. Because the Greek Archaeological Society did not allow the candidates to parade in their swimsuits at the Odeon of Herodes Atticus, this edition's swimsuit competition was held outside the odeon. ^{[16] [17]} From twelve, five finalists were shortlisted to advance to the final interview. ^[18]

Selection committee

• Jean-Pierre Aumont – French actor ^[19]
• Horst Buchholz – German actor ^[19]
• El Cordobés – Spanish bullfighter ^[19]
• Walt Frazier – American basketball player ^[19]
• Apasra Hongsakula – Miss Universe 1965 from Thailand ^[19]
• Herakles Mathiopoulos – Chairman of the chamber of hotels in Greece ^[19]
• Hanae Mori – Japanese fashion designer ^[19]
• Lynn Redgrave – British-American actress ^[19]
• Ginger Rogers – American actress and singer ^[19]
• Edilson Cid Varela – Brazilian journalist ^[19]
• Earl Wilson – American columnist and journalist ^[19]

Contestants

Sixty-one contestants competed for the title.

Country/Territory	Contestant	Age [b]	Hometown
Argentina	Susana Romero [20]	20	Buenos Aires
Aruba	Ethline Oduber [21]	18	Oranjestad
Australia	Susan Mainwaring [22]	22	Brisbane
Austria	Roswitha Kobald [23]	18	Styria
Belgium	Christiane Devisch [24]	20	Antwerp
Bermuda	Judy Richards [25]	19	Hamilton
Bolivia	Roxana Sittic [26]	18	Santa Cruz de la Sierra
Brazil	Sandra Mara Ferreira [27]	21	São Paulo
Canada	Deborah Ducharme [28]	20	Ontario
Ceylon	Shiranthi Wickremesinghe [29]	20	Badulla
Chile	Jeanette Robertson [30]	18	Santiago
Colombia	Ana Lucía Agudelo [31]	20	Valle del Cauca
Costa Rica	Rosario Mora [32]	18	Alajuela
Curaçao	Ingerborg Zielinski [33]	18	Willemstad
Cyprus	Johanna Melaniodos [34]	18	Nicosia
Denmark	Anette Grankvist [35]	20	Copenhagen
Dominican Republic	Liliana Fernández	18	Salcedo
El Salvador	Gloria Ivette Romero [36]	–	San Salvador
England	Veronica Ann Cross [37]	23	London
Finland	Raija Stark [38]	20	Helsinki
France	Isabelle Krumacker [39]	18	Lorraine
Greece	Vana Papadaki [40]	19	Athens
Guam	Beatrice Benito	18	Agana
Holland	Monique Borgeld [41]	23	Amsterdam
Honduras	Nelly Suyapa González [42]	17	El Paraíso
Hong Kong	Elaine Sung [43]	18	Hong Kong
India	Farzana Habib [44]	18	New Delhi
Ireland	Pauline Fitzsimons	20	Dublin
Israel	Limor Schreibman [45]	19	Tel Aviv
Italy	Antonella Barci [46]	18	Milan
Jamaica	Reta Faye Chambers [47]	20	Saint James
Japan	Miyoko Sometani	22	Ibaraki
Lebanon	Marcelle Herro [48]	21	Beirut
Luxembourg	Lydia Maes	18	Esch-sur-Alzette
Malaysia	Margaret Loo [49]	19	Cheras
Malta	Marthese Vigar	20	Msida
Mexico	Rossana Villares [50]	18	Yucatán
New Zealand	Pamela King [51]	20	Auckland
Nicaragua	Ana Cecilia Saravia [52]	18	Leon
Norway	Aina Walle [53]	20	Oslo
Panama	Jeanine Lizuaín [54]	–	Panama City
Paraguay	Teresita María Cano [55]	20	Concepción
Philippines	Margarita Moran [56]	19	Manila
Portugal	Carla Barros [57]	20	Lisbon
Puerto Rico	Gladys Colón	18	Orocovis
Scotland	Caroline Meade [58]	18	Glasgow
Singapore	Debra de Souza [59]	19	Singapore
South Korea	Kim Young-joo	18	Seoul
Spain	Rocío Martín [60]	19	Seville
Suriname	Yvonne Ma Ajong [61]	18	Paramaribo
Sweden	Monica Sundin [62]	20	Stockholm
Switzerland	Barbara Schöttli [63]	19	Zürich
Thailand	Kanok-orn Bunma	20	Chachoengsao
Trinidad and Tobago	Camella King [64]	25	San Fernando
Turkey	Yildiz Arhan [65]	–	Istanbul
United States	Amanda Jones [66]	22	Evanston
United States Virgin Islands	Cindy Richards [67]	–	Saint Croix
Uruguay	Yolanda Ferrari [68]	21	Montevideo
Venezuela	Desirée Rolando [69]	18	Carabobo
Wales	Deirdre Greenland [70]	23	Newport
West Germany	Dagmar Winkler [71]	18	Bavaria

Notes

1. The event was televised live at 08:00 pm local time (UTC+02:00) in various broadcasters around the world. For the United States, it was tape delayed to make way for the primetime broadcast.
2. Ages at the time of the pageant

References

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External links

• Miss Universe official website