Miss World 2003

Miss World 2003
Rosanna Davison, Miss World 2003
Date	6 December 2003
Presenters	Phil Keoghan Amanda Byram Angela Chow
Entertainment	Luis Fonsi Bryan Ferry
Venue	Crown of Beauty Theatre, Sanya, China
Broadcaster	E! CCTV
Entrants	106
Placements	20
Debuts	Andorra Ethiopia Georgia Guadeloupe Northern Mariana Islands
Withdrawals	Algeria French Polynesia Ghana United States Virgin Islands
Returns	Belarus Cayman Islands Costa Rica Denmark Dominican Republic Guatemala Iceland Lesotho Mauritius Moldova Nepal Paraguay Portugal South Korea Sri Lanka Switzerland Zambia
Winner	Rosanna Davison Ireland
←  2002 2004  →

Miss World 2003 was the 53rd edition of the Miss World pageant, held at the Crown of Beauty Theatre in Sanya, China, on December 6, 2003. ^[1] It was the first time that the Miss World pageant held in China.

Azra Akın of Turkey crowned Rosanna Davison of Ireland as her successor at the end of the event. ^[2] It is Ireland's first victory in the history of the pageant. ^[3]

Contestants 106 contestants competed in this year's pageant, surpassing the previous record of 95 contestants in 2000. The pageant was hosted by Phil Keoghan, Amanda Byram, and Angela Chow. Luis Fonsi and Bryan Ferry performed in this year's pageant.

Debuts, returns, and, withdrawals

This edition saw the debut of Andorra, Ethiopia, Georgia, Guadeloupe and Northern Mariana Islands, and the return of Belarus, Cayman Islands, Costa Rica, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Iceland, Lesotho, Mauritius, Moldova, Nepal, Paraguay, Portugal, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Switzerland and Zambia; Lesotho, which last competed in 1981, Mauritius in 1998, Zambia in 1999, Belarus, Denmark, Guatemala, Moldova, Nepal, Paraguay and Sri Lanka in 2000 and Cayman Islands, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Iceland, Portugal, South Korea and Switzerland in 2001 .

Algeria, French Polynesia, Ghana, and the United States Virgin Islands, withdrew from the competition.

Results

Placements

Placement	Contestant
Miss World 2003	Ireland – Rosanna Davison [4]
1st Runner-Up	Canada – Nazanin Afshin-Jam [4]
2nd Runner-Up	China – Guan Qi [4]
Top 5	India – Ami Vashi  Philippines – Maria Rafaela Yunon
Top 20	Australia – Olivia Stratton  Bolivia – Helen Aponte  Dominican Republic – María Vargas  Ethiopia – Hayat Ahmed  Georgia – Irina Onashvili  Greece – Vasiliki Tsekoura  Jamaica – Jade Fulford  Lebanon – Marie-José Hnein  New Zealand – Melanie Paul  Norway – Elisabeth Wathne  Peru – Claudia Hernández  Puerto Rico – Joyceline Montero   Switzerland – Bianca Sissing  Trinidad and Tobago – Magdalene Walcott  Venezuela – Valentina Patruno

Continental Queens of Beauty

Continent	Contestant
Africa	Ethiopia – Hayat Ahmed
Americas	Canada – Nazanin Afshin-Jam
Asia and Oceania	China – Guan Qi
Caribbean	Jamaica – Jade Fulford
Europe	Ireland – Rosanna Davison

Judges

Miss World 2003 had nine judges. ^[5]

• Candace Bushnell ^[6]
• Jackie Chan ^{[7] [8]}
• Agbani Darego – Miss World 2001 from Nigeria ^[9]
• Bruce Forsyth† ^[10]
• Gustavo Gianetti ^[5]
• Julia Morley – Chairwoman of the Miss World Organisation ^[10]
• Krish Naidoo ^[10]
• Clive Robertson ^[11]
• Dick Zimmermann ^[6]

Contestants

Countries and territories which sent delegates and results for Miss World 2003

106 contestants competed for the title. ^[12]

Country/Territory	Contestant	Age [a]	Hometown
Albania	Denisa Kola [13]	21	Peshkopi
Andorra	María José Girol Jumenez	19	Andorra la Vella
Angola	Celma Katia Carlos	20	Lubango
Antigua and Barbuda	Anne-Marie Browne	24	St. John's
Argentina	Grisel Hitoff	24	Buenos Aires
Aruba	Nathalie Biermanns	21	Oranjestad
Australia	Olivia Stratton	22	Adelaide
Bahamas	Shantell Hall [14]	19	Freeport
Barbados	Raquel Wilkinson	23	Bridgetown
Belarus	Volha Nevdakh [15]	23	Minsk
Belgium	Julie Taton	19	Jambes
Belize	Dalila Vanzie	25	Dangriga
Bolivia	Helen Aponte	19	Beni
Bosnia and Herzegovina	Irna Smaka	19	Sarajevo
Botswana	Boingotlo Motlalekgosi	19	Gaborone
Brazil	Lara Brito	24	Goiânia
Bulgaria	Rajna Naldzhieva	17	Sofia
Canada	Nazanin Afshin-Jam	24	Vancouver
Cayman Islands	Nichelle Welcome	24	George Town
Chile	Alejandra Soler	25	La Serena
China	Guan Qi	21	Changchun
Colombia	Claudia Molina	18	Barranquilla
Costa Rica	Shirley Álvarez	23	Desamparados
Croatia	Aleksandra Grdić	24	Virovitica
Curaçao	Angeline da Silva Goes	19	Willemstad
Cyprus	Stella Stylianou	18	Nicosia
Czech Republic	Lucie Váchová	19	Příbram
Denmark	Maj Buchholtz Pedersen	20	Skagen
Dominican Republic	María Eugenia Vargas	19	Santiago
Ecuador	Mayra Rentería	18	Esmeraldas
England	Jacqueline Turner	25	Dorset
Estonia	Kriistina Gabor	19	Pärnu
Ethiopia	Hayat Ahmed	21	Addis Ababa
Finland	Katri Johanna Hynninen	20	Naantali
France	Virginie Dubois	19	Paris
Georgia	Irina Onashvili	18	Tbilisi
Germany	Babette Konau	25	Kiel
Gibraltar	Kim Marie Falzun	20	Gibraltar
Greece	Vasiliki Tsekoura	23	Athens
Guadeloupe	Lauranza Doliman	23	Goyave
Guatemala	Dulce María Duarte	21	Chiquimula
Guyana	Alexis Glasgow	22	New Amsterdam
Holland	Sanne de Regt	21	Goes
Hong Kong	Rabee'a Yeung	22	Hong Kong
Hungary	Eszter Tóth [16]	19	Tatabánya
Iceland	Regína Jónsdóttir	20	Reykjavík
India	Ami Vashi	23	Mumbai
Ireland	Rosanna Davison [2]	19	Enniskerry
Israel	Miri Levy	20	Haifa
Italy	Silvia Cannas	21	Cagliari
Jamaica	Jade Fulford	21	Kingston
Japan	Kaoru Nishide	25	Kyoto
Kazakhstan	Saule Zhunosova	17	Pavlodar
Kenya	Janet Kibugu	18	Nairobi
Latvia	Irina Askolska	23	Riga
Lebanon	Marie-José Hnein	19	Baabda
Lesotho	Makuena Lepolesa	20	Maseru
Lithuania	Vaida Grikšaitė	20	Klaipėda
Macedonia	Marija Vašik	19	Skopje
Malaysia	Wong Sze Zen	23	Kuala Lumpur
Malta	Rachel Xuereb	22	Gwardamanġa
Mauritius	Marie Aimee Bergicourt	24	Pamplemousses
Mexico	Erika Honstein	22	Hermosillo
Moldova	Elena Danilciuc	18	Chișinău
Namibia	Petrina Thomas	22	Keetmanshoop
Nepal	Priti Sitoula	21	Kathmandu
New Zealand	Melanie Paul	23	Auckland
Nicaragua	Hailey Britton Brooks	22	Bluefields
Nigeria	Ohumotu Bissong	20	Calabar
Northern Ireland	Diana Sayers	22	Saintfield
Northern Mariana Islands	Kimberly Castro Reyes	19	Saipan
Norway	Elisabeth Wathne	21	Mandal
Panama	Ivy Ruth Ortega	19	Panama City
Paraguay	Karina Buttner	21	Asunción
Peru	Claudia Hernández	22	Lima
Philippines	Maria Rafaela Yunon [17]	22	Tarlac
Poland	Karolina Gorazda	23	Kraków
Portugal	Vanessa Job	20	Oeiras
Puerto Rico	Joyceline Montero	21	Bayamón
Romania	Patricia Filomena Chifor	17	Satu Mare
Russia	Svetlana Goreva	21	Tula
Scotland	Nicci Jolly	22	Inverbervie
Serbia and Montenegro [b]	Bojana Vujadinović	23	Belgrade
Singapore	Corine Kanmani	24	Singapore
Slovakia	Adriana Pospíšilová	20	Bratislava
Slovenia	Tina Zajc	20	Ljubljana
South Africa	Cindy Nell	22	Pretoria
South Korea [c]	Park Ji-yea	24	North Jeolla
Spain	María Teresa Martín	23	Antequera
Sri Lanka	Sachini Stanley	21	Kandy
Swaziland	Thembelihle Zwane	18	Mbabane
Sweden	Ida Söfringsgärd	19	Växjö
Switzerland	Bianca Sissing	24	Lucerne
Tanzania	Sylvia Bahame	20	Dar es Salaam
Thailand	Janejira Keardprasop [18]	22	Bangkok
Trinidad and Tobago	Magdalene Walcott	21	Tunapuna–Piarco
Turkey	Tuğba Karaca [19]	24	Ankara
Uganda	Aysha Nassanga	20	Kampala
Ukraine	Ilona Yakovleva	22	Kharkiv
United States	Kimberly Ann Harlan	20	Atlanta
Uruguay	Natalia Rodríguez	24	Montevideo
Venezuela	Valentina Patruno	21	Caracas
Vietnam	Nguyễn Đình Thụy Quân [20]	17	Ho Chi Minh City
Wales	Imogen Thomas	21	Llanelli
Zambia	Cynthia Kanema	22	Kabwe
Zimbabwe	Phoebe Monjane	21	Marondera

Notes

1. Ages at the time of the pageant
2. Yugoslavia changed its name to Serbia and Montenegro.
3. competed as Korea in the pageant

Did not compete

•   Armenia – Lusine Tovmasyan - She withdrew due to financial problems.
•   Fiji – Aishwarya Sukhdeo - She withdrew at the last minute for unknown reasons. however, she competed in Miss World a year later.

No Shows

•   Algeria – Mounia Achlaf
•   Austria – Miss Austria 2003, Tanja Duhovich did not compete due to not meeting the age requirements, she was just 17. Then the Miss Austria corporation decided to appoint the Miss Austria 2003 second runner up, Bianca Zudrell at the last minute with no time to prepare her visa.
•   British Virgin Islands – No contest
•   Haiti - No Contest
•   Malawi – Mable Pulu
•   Tahiti - Heitiare Tribondeau
•   Turks and Caicos Islands - No contest
•   Ghana – Did not compete because of a shift in the Miss Ghana calendar. Organizers held the national final, Miss Ghana 2003, on the same day Miss World 2003 was held. This is the reason Ghanaian delegates to Miss World have their titles dating back by a year.
•   United States Virgin Islands – Alexandrya Evans. She competed at Miss Universe 2011 8 years later.

Replacements

•   Latvia – Agnese Eiduka
•   Sweden – Isabelle Jonsson - She was the first runner up of Fröken Sverige 2003, but the organization just lost the MW licence that year to the newly Miss World Sweden contest.
•   Venezuela – Amara Barroeta Seijas.

Country Changes

• Yugoslavia changed its name to Serbia and Montenegro.

Other notes

• Northern Mariana Islands was originally crowned for the Miss Universe pageant but was sent to Miss World instead.

References

1. "The Victoria Advocate - Google News Archive Search" . Retrieved 27 January 2016.
2. "Ireland wins Miss World". The Sydney Morning Herald . 7 December 2003. Retrieved 19 January 2016.
3. "Herald-Journal" . Retrieved 27 January 2016.
4. "Miss Ireland takes Sanya crown". Taipei Times. 8 December 2003. Archived from the original on 6 May 2025. Retrieved 6 May 2025.
5. "Top judges for Miss World". News24 . Retrieved 19 January 2016.
6. Brown, Frederic J. (5 December 2003). "Candace Bushnell". Getty Images . Retrieved 19 January 2016.
7. Getty Images (6 December 2003). "Miss World Contest In China". Getty Images. Retrieved 19 January 2016.
8. "Irish Miss World begins reign". ABC . 7 December 2003. Retrieved 19 January 2016.
9. "China set for Miss World contest". BBC News . 6 December 2003. Retrieved 19 January 2016.
10. "Miss World contest rigged?". News24. Retrieved 19 January 2016.
11. Brown, Frederic J. (5 December 2003). "Candace Bushnell". Getty Images. Retrieved 19 January 2016.
12. "New Straits Times" . Retrieved 27 January 2016.
13. Loodtz, Ann-Kristin; Pettersson, Carin (8 December 2003). "Ireland won Miss World". Nettavisen (in Norwegian). Archived from the original on 21 March 2025. Retrieved 6 May 2025.
14. "6 beauties named to select winner of Manhunt International Bahamas". The Bahamas Weekly. 17 September 2012. Archived from the original on 31 August 2012. Retrieved 28 April 2025.
15. Kucherova, Maria (2 June 2002). "Честная победа красоты. "Мисс Беларусь-2002" признана Ольга Невдах из Дрогичина" [An honest victory of beauty. "Miss Belarus-2002" is Olga Nevdakh from Drogichin]. Belarus Today (in Russian). Archived from the original on 1 April 2024. Retrieved 6 May 2025.
16. "Világszépségverseny Hajnan szigetén" [World beauty pageant on Hainan Island]. ORIGO (in Hungarian). Archived from the original on 22 April 2025. Retrieved 23 April 2025.
17. Sto. Domingo, Joseph (17 March 2003). "Brains before beauty: In this year's Bb. Pilipinas, the smart ones win the titles". Manila Standard . pp. 17–18. Retrieved 16 September 2021.
18. "มิกซ์ เจนจิรา เกิดประสพ อดีตมิสไทยแลนด์เวิลด์ แต่งงานกับนักบอลมอลโดวา" [Mix Janejira Keardprasop, former Miss Thailand World, marries Moldovan footballer]. Sanook (in Thai). 6 September 2012. Archived from the original on 16 May 2021. Retrieved 23 April 2025.
19. Üyesi, Onedio (13 February 2019). "Hepsi Zirveye Çıktı Ama Orada Kalamadı: Türkiye'nin Son 25 Yıldaki Türkiye Güzelleri Şimdi Ne Yapıyor?" [They All Reached the Top But Couldn't Stay There: What Are Türkiye's Beauties of the Last 25 Years Doing Now?]. Onedio (in Turkish). Archived from the original on 24 July 2024. Retrieved 25 April 2025.
20. "Cuộc sống 18 hoa hậu Việt từng chinh chiến Miss World" [18 Vietnamese beauty queens compete in Miss World: Lan Khue is fulfilled, Tieu Vy - Luong Thuy Linh shine brightly]. Tạp chí điện tử Saostar.vn (in Vietnamese). 20 June 2020. Archived from the original on 29 September 2022. Retrieved 6 May 2025.

External links

• Miss World 2003 at IMDb
• http://www.grahamecurtis.com/irishconnectionsmag/archives/v5i1/missworld.htm