Location and date
On 3 August 1971, the Miss Universe Organization and the Government Economic Development Administrator of Puerto Rico signed a contract to bring Miss Universe and Miss USA to San Juan from 1972 to 1976. [1] However, the Puerto Rican government canceled the agreement in February 1973 because, according to Puerto Rican government officials, the agreement was allegedly illegal. [2]
The pageant's 25th anniversary was supposed to be held in Israel. However, it was announced on 15 January 1976, that the competition would no longer be held in Israel after the Israeli Ministry of Finance refused to allocate $300,000 to host the competition in the country. [3] According to then-Finance Minister Yehoshua Rabinovitz, if competition for Israeli tourism and propaganda is good, the funds should come from the Tourism and Foreign Ministry budget. [4] [5]
On 6 February, Miss Universe Inc. president Harold Glasser announced that the 25th anniversary of the pageant would be held on 10 July in Hong Kong, and all money raised from tickets would go to the Hong Kong Community Chest. [6]
Selection of participants
Contestants from seventy-two countries and territories were selected to compete in the pageant. Two candidates were selected to replace the original dethroned winner.
Replacements
Miss Venezuela 1976 first runner-up, Judith Castillo, was appointed to represent Venezuela after Miss Venezuela 1976, Elluz Peraza, resigned after four days to get married. [7] Miss Holland 1976 first runner-up, Nannetje Nielen, was appointed to represent her country after Miss Holland 1976, Lucie Visser, chose not to participate for undisclosed reasons. [8] [9]
Debuts, returns, and, withdrawals
This edition saw the debuts of Barbados, the Northern Mariana Islands, Papua New Guinea, and Sint Maarten, and the returns of Norway which last competed in 1973; and Honduras and Suriname which last competed in 1974. [10]
Janet Joan Joseph of Belize, Angela Ruddock of Jamaica, and Ramona Karam of Lebanon withdrew for undisclosed reasons. [11] Haiti, Micronesia, and Morocco withdrew after their respective organizations failed to hold a national competition or appoint a delegate.
Cleopatra Sanders of Antigua and Irene Penn of the British Virgin Islands were supposed to participate in this edition, but were unable to do so for undisclosed reasons. [12] Amiot Moea of Tahiti was also supposed to participate, but withdrew from the competition after finding out that her mother fell ill. [13]
