Miss Universe 1985

Last updated

Miss Universe 1985
Miss Universe 1985 opening titles.jpg
Date15 July 1985
Presenters
Entertainment
Venue James L. Knight Convention Center, Miami, Florida, United States
Broadcaster CBS (WTVJ)
Entrants79
Placements10
Debuts Dominica
Withdrawals
Returns
Winner Deborah Carthy-Deu
Puerto Rico
CongenialityLucy Montinola (Guam)
Best National CostumeSandra Borda (Colombia)
PhotogenicBrigitte Bergman (Holland)
  1984
1986  

Miss Universe 1985 was the 34th Miss Universe pageant, held at the James L. Knight Convention Center in Miami, Florida, United States, on 15 July 1985. Seventy-nine contestants competed in the pageant. Deborah Carthy-Deu of Puerto Rico was crowned by Yvonne Ryding of Sweden. [1]

Contents

Background

Location and date

In October 1984, the owners of the newly expanded West Edmonton Mall in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada showed an interest in hosting the Miss Universe 1985 pageant there. [2] This followed an unsuccessful attempt to host the Miss Universe 1984 pageant in Calgary, Alberta, Canada the previous year.

Pageant organizers chose to host the pageant in Miami, Florida for the second consecutive year. George Honchar, president of Miss Universe Inc., expressed disappointment at a lack of local support for the event, which cost the city $2 million. [1]

Selection of participants

In April, 1985 the city of Miami requested that the Miss Universe organization insist that South Africa should not send a representative to pageant, due to the threat of demonstrations over her country's Apartheid policy. [3] In mid May the nation announced that they would not send their titleholder, Andrea Steltzer, to the pageant because of fears for her safety. [4] This was the first time since 1975 that the country did not participate in the pageant; they would not return to the event until 1995. [5] Andrea Steltzer (half South African and half German) took part as Miss Germany in the 1989 Miss Universe pageant where she was a semi-finalist.

Results

Miss Universe 1985 participating nations and results Miss Universe 1985 Map.PNG
Miss Universe 1985 participating nations and results

Placements

PlacementContestant
Miss Universe 1985
1st runner-up
2nd runner-up
  • Flag of Zaire (1971-1997).svg Zaire – Benita Murekatete
3rd runner-up
4th runner-up
Top 10

Contestants

References

  1. 1 2 "79 Women Vie For Miss Universe Crown". Associated Press. 1985-07-15.
  2. "Edmonton's new focus". The Globe and Mail. 1984-10-23. p. M1.
  3. "Miami Worried About Miss South Africa". The San Francisco Chronicle. Reuters. 1985-04-02.
  4. "Protest Fears Force Miss South Africa Out Of Miss Universe Pageant". Associated Press. 1985-05-19.
  5. "South African representatives to Miss Universe". Pageant Almanac. Archived from the original on February 21, 2006. Retrieved 2007-04-21.
  6. Gomez, Shirley (11 August 2025). "Victoria Kjaer crowns Jennifer Ventura as Miss Dominican Republic Universe 2025: What happened to Celinee Santos?" [Victoria Kjaer crowns Jennifer Ventura as Miss Dominican Republic Universe 2025: What happened to Celinee Santos?]. Hola! . Archived from the original on 14 August 2025. Retrieved 14 August 2025.
  7. Leisner, Pat (1985-05-13). "Miss Texas, the New Miss USA, Will Represent USA in Miss Universe Pageant". Associated Press.