Miss Universe 1975

Miss Universe 1975
Date	19 July 1975
Presenters	Bob Barker
Venue	National Gymnasium, San Salvador, El Salvador
Broadcaster	CBS (international) TV6 (Official broadcaster)
Entrants	71
Placements	12
Debuts	American Samoa Belize Mauritius Micronesia
Withdrawals	Cyprus Honduras Portugal Senegal Suriname
Returns	Denmark Ecuador Guatemala Haiti Morocco Peru South Africa
Winner	Anne Pohtamo Finland
Congeniality	Christine Mary Jackson (Trinidad and Tobago)
Best National Costume	Emy Elivia Abascal (Guatemala)
Photogenic	Martha Echeverry (Colombia) Summer Bartholomew (United States)
←  1974 1976  →

Miss Universe 1975 was the 24th Miss Universe pageant, held on 19 July 1975 at the National Gymnasium in San Salvador, El Salvador. Anne Pohtamo won the title for Finland, thus making her the second Finnish woman to win the Miss Universe crown after Armi Kuusela, who was the first Miss Universe winner, in 1952. After Spain's Amparo Muñoz resigned the previous year, her successor was crowned by Miss Universe 1972, Kerry Anne Wells of Australia.

Background

Location and date

According to the New York Times, August 5, "while a worldwide television audience saw El Salvador’s sunny beaches before the “Miss Universe” finals July 19, off-camera heavily armed troops were called out to halt demonstrations by students protesting the Government's expenditure of $1-million on the contest." Protests took place in Santa Ana and San Salvador, resulting in a student massacre with far-reaching consequences for the country. Again, from the NY Times: "According to the military Government, which contended that the march was part of a “Communist plot”, one person was killed, five wounded, and 11 arrested. But according to the students, at least 12 persons were killed, 20 wounded, and 40 arrested". ^[1]

Selection of participants

Sirikwan Nantasiri, Miss Thailand Universe 1975 (not to be confused with Miss Universe Thailand), refused to compete in order to achieve acting career. The pageant authorities decided to send Wanlaya Thonawanik, her 3rd runner-up to compete instead. ^[2]

Results

Miss Universe 1975 participating nations and results

Placements

Placement	Contestant
Miss Universe 1975	Finland – Anne Pohtamo
1st runner-up	Haiti – Gerthie David
2nd runner-up	United States – Summer Bartholomew
3rd runner-up	Sweden – Catharina Sjödahl
4th runner-up	Philippines – Rose Marie Brosas
Top 12	Brazil – Ingrid Budag Colombia – Martha Echeverry El Salvador – Carmen Figueroa England – Vicki Harris Ireland – Julie Farnham Israel – Orit Cooper Japan – Sachiko Nakayama

Contestants

Country/Territory	Contestant	Hometown
American Samoa	Darlene Schwenke	Pago-Pago
Argentina	Rosa Del Valle	Tucumán
Aruba	Martica Brown	San Nicolaas
Australia	Jennifer Matthews	Sydney
Austria	Rosemarie Holzschuh	Vienna
Bahamas	Sonia Chipman	Nassau
Belgium	Christine Delmelle	Liège
Belize	Lisa Longsworth	Belmopan
Bermuda	Donna Wright	St. David's
Bolivia	Jacqueline Gamarra	Cochabamba
Brazil	Ingrid Budag	Blumenau
Canada	Sandra Campbell	Leamington
Chile	Raquel Argandoña	Santiago
Colombia	Martha Lucia Echeverri	Tuluá
Costa Rica	Maria de Los Angeles Picado	San José
Curaçao	Jasmin Fraites	Willemstad
Denmark	Berit Fredriksen	Stevns
Dominican Republic	Milvia Troncoso	Santiago de los Caballeros
Ecuador	Ana Maria Wray Salas	Guayaquil
El Salvador	Carmen Figueroa	San Salvador
England	Vicki Harris	London
Finland	Anne Pohtamo	Helsinki
France	Sophie Perin	Talange
Greece	Afroditi Katsouli	Athens
Guam	Deborah Naqui	Hagåtña
Guatemala	Emy Abascal	Guatemala City
Haiti	Gerthie David	Port-au-Prince
Holland	Linda Snippe	Amsterdam
Hong Kong	Mary Cheung	Hong Kong
Iceland	Helga Jonsdottir	Reykjavík
India	Meenakshi Kurpad	Bangalore
Indonesia	Lydia Arlini Wahab	Jakarta
Ireland	Julie Farnham	Dublin
Israel	Orit Cooper	Tel Aviv
Italy	Diana Salvador	Udine
Jamaica	Gillian King	Kingston
Japan	Sachiko Nakayama	Hokkaido
Lebanon	Suad Nachoul	Beirut
Liberia	Aurelia Sancho	Monrovia
Luxembourg	Marie Therese Manderschied	Tétange
Malaysia	Alice Cheong	Kuala Lumpur
Malta	Frances Ciantar	Valletta
Mauritius	Nirmala Sohun	Port Louis
Mexico	Delia Servin	Sinaloa
Micronesia	Elena Tomokane	Saipan
Morocco	Salhi Badia	Rabat
New Zealand	Barbara Kirkley	Auckland
Nicaragua	Alda Sanchez	Managua
Panama	Anina Horta	Panama City
Paraguay	Susana Vire	Asuncion
Peru	Olga Berninzon	Lima
Philippines	Rose Marie Brosas	Manila
Puerto Rico	Lorell Carmona	San Germán
Scotland	Mary Kirkwood	Glasgow
Singapore	Sally Tan	Singapore
South Africa	Gail Anthony	Cape Town
South Korea	Seo Young-ok
Spain	Chelo Martin Lopez	Canary Islands
Sri Lanka	Shyama Algama	Colombo
Sweden	Catharina Sjödahl	Örebro
Switzerland	Beatrice Aschwanden	Zürich
Thailand	Wanlaya Thonawanik	Bangkok
Trinidad and Tobago	Christine Jackson	Tunapuna–Piarco
Turkey	Sezin Topçuoğlu	Istanbul
United States	Summer Bartholomew	Merced
United States Virgin Islands	Julia Wallace
Uruguay	Evelyn Rodriguez	Montevideo
Venezuela	Maritza Pineda	Caracas
Wales	Georgina Kerler	Cardiff
West Germany	Sigrid Klose	Saarland
Yugoslavia	Lidija Manić	Belgrade

References

1. "Unrest Growing in El Salvador: Demonstrations Put Down After Protest Against Beauty Contest", New York Times, August 5, 1975.
2. "Miss Thailand Universe 1974 - 1983 era" (in Thai).