Miss World 2008

Miss World 2008
Ksenia Sukhinova
Date	13 December 2008
Presenters	Tumisho Masha Angela Chow
Entertainment	Alesha Dixon McFly
Venue	Sanndton Convention Centre, Johannesburg, South Africa
Broadcaster	E! SABC 3 Challenge
Entrants	109
Placements	15
Withdrawals	Estonia Grenada Macedonia Nepal Panama Romania Slovenia Suriname
Returns	Antigua and Barbuda Barbados Democratic Republic of the Congo Egypt Honduras Portugal Saint Lucia Seychelles Taiwan Uruguay Zambia
Winner	Ksenia Sukhinova [1] [2] Russia
←  2007 2009  →

Miss World 2008 was the 58th edition of the Miss World pageant, held at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg, South Africa, on 13 December 2008.

Zhang Zilin of China crowned Ksenia Sukhinova of Russia as her successor at the end of the event. ^{[1] [2]} This is the second time Russia has won the title.

Background

Date and location

Originally, the pageant was going to take place in Kyiv, Ukraine, but because of the ongoing 2008 Russo-Georgian diplomatic crisis in neighbouring South Ossetia, the Miss World Organization decided to move the pageant away from Eastern Europe. ^[3]

Selection of participants

Replacements

Janina San Miguel was replaced by first Runner-up of Binibining Pilipinas, Danielle Castaño due to Janina's personal decision to give up her crown. ^[4]

Returns, and, withdrawals

This edition saw the return of Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Honduras, Portugal, Saint Lucia, Seychelles, Taiwan, Uruguay and Zambia; Seychelles, which last competed in 1999, Antigua and Barbuda, Egypt and Honduras in 2004, Taiwan in 2005 and Barbados, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Portugal, Saint Lucia, Uruguay and Zambia in 2006.

Estonia, Grenada, Macedonia, Nepal, Panama, Romania, Slovenia and Suriname, withdrew from the competition.

Results

Placements

Placement	Contestant
Miss World 2008	Russia – Ksenia Sukhinova
1st Runner-Up	India – Parvathy Omanakuttan
2nd Runner-Up	Trinidad and Tobago – Gabrielle Walcott
Top 5	Angola – Birgite dos Santos  South Africa – Tansey Coetzee
Top 15	Barbados – Natalie Griffith  Brazil – Tamara Almeida  Croatia – Josipa Kusić  Iceland – Alexandra Ívarsdóttir  Kazakhstan – Alfina Nasyrova  Mexico – Anagabriela Espinoza  Puerto Rico – Ivonne Orsini  Spain – Patricia Rodríguez  Ukraine – Iryna Zhuravska  Venezuela – Hannelly Quintero

Continental Queens of Beauty

Winners were as follows: ^[5]

Continental Group	Contestant
Africa	Angola – Birgite dos Santos
Americas	Venezuela – Hannelly Quintero
Asia & Oceania	India – Parvathy Omanakuttan
Caribbean	Trinidad and Tobago – Gabrielle Walcott
Europe	Spain – Patricia Yurena Rodríguez

Order of Announcements

Top 15

1.  Russia
2.  Mexico
3.  Barbados
4.  Iceland
5.  Trinidad and Tobago
6.  Venezuela
7.  Ukraine
8.  Croatia
9.  Brazil
10.  Angola
11.  Kazakhstan
12.  Puerto Rico
13.  Spain
14.  South Africa
15.  India

Top 5

1.  India
2.  Trinidad and Tobago
3.  Angola
4.  Russia
5.  South Africa

Contestants

Countries and territories which sent delegates and results for Miss World 2008

Miss World 2008 had a total of 109 contestants. ^[3]

Country	Contestant	Age [a]	Hometown	Regional
Albania	Egla Harxhi [6]	17	Tirana	Europe
Angola	Birgite dos Santos [7]	18	Luanda	Africa
Antigua and Barbuda	Athina James	18	St. John's	Caribbean
Argentina	Agustina Quinteros [8]	18	Santa Rosa	Americas
Aruba	Christina Trejo [9]	20	Tanki Flip	Caribbean
Australia	Katie Richardson [10]	20	Albion Park	Asia & Oceania
Austria	Kathrin Krahfuss [11]	23	Graz	Europe
Bahamas	Tinnyse Johnson	21	Nassau	Caribbean
Barbados	Natalie Griffith [12]	18	Bridgetown	Caribbean
Belarus	Volha Khizhynkova [13]	21	Vitebsk	Europe
Belgium	Alizée Poulicek [14]	21	Brussels	Europe
Belize	Charmaine Chinapen	21	Belize City	Americas
Bolivia	Jackelin Arias	18	Santa Cruz	Americas
Bosnia and Herzegovina	Tanja Vujičić	18	Nevesinje	Europe
Botswana	Itseng Kgomotso [15]	19	Gaborone	Africa
Brazil	Tamara Almeida	23	Ipatinga	Americas
Bulgaria	Julia Yurevich	19	Kozloduy	Europe
Canada	Leah Ryerse	20	Hamilton	Americas
Cayman Islands	Nicosia Lawson	25	George Town	Caribbean
Chile	Nataly Chilet	23	Santiago	Americas
China	Mei Yan Ling [16]	25	Dalian	Asia & Oceania
Colombia	Katherine Medina	18	Medellín	Americas
Costa Rica	Amalia Matamoros	19	Naranjo	Americas
Croatia	Josipa Kusić [17]	20	Zagreb	Europe
Curaçao	Norayla Francisco [18]	23	Willemstad	Caribbean
Cyprus	Mari Vasileiou	18	Larnaca	Europe
Czech Republic	Zuzana Jandová [19]	20	Karviná	Europe
Democratic Republic of the Congo	Christelle Mbila [20]	18	Kinshasa	Africa
Denmark	Lisa Lents [21]	21	Copenhagen	Europe
Dominican Republic	Geisha Montes De Oca	21	Santo Domingo	Caribbean
Ecuador	Marjorie Cevallos [22]	22	Guayaquil	Americas
Egypt	Sanaa Ismail Hamed [23]	24	Alexandria	Africa
El Salvador	Gabriela Gavidia	18	La Libertad	Americas
England	Laura Coleman	22	Leicester	Europe
Ethiopia	Hibret Fekadu	18	Addis Abeba	Africa
Finland	Linda Wikstedt	19	Helsinki	Europe
France	Laura Tanguy [24]	20	Angers	Europe
Georgia	Khatuna Skhirtladze	18	Tbilisi	Europe
Germany	Anne Katrin Walter	21	Dahme-Spreewald	Europe
Ghana	Frances Takyi-Mensah [25]	22	Elmina	Africa
Gibraltar	Krystel Robba	22	Gibraltar	Europe
Greece	Aggeliki Kalaitzi [26]	24	Thessaloniki	Europe
Guadeloupe	Frédérika Charpentier	23	Basse-Terre	Caribbean
Guatemala	Maribel Arana	23	Guatemala City	Americas
Guyana	Christa Simmons	23	Georgetown	Americas
Honduras	Gabriela Zavala	23	San Pedro Sula	Americas
Hong Kong	Skye Chan	24	Hong Kong	Asia & Oceania
Hungary	Szilvia Freire	24	Budapest	Europe
Iceland	Alexandra Ívarsdóttir [27]	18	Reykjavík	Europe
India	Parvathy Omanakuttan [28] [29]	21	Kottayam	Asia & Oceania
Indonesia	Sandra Angelia Hadisiswantoro [30]	22	Surabaya	Asia & Oceania
Ireland	Sinéad Noonan [31]	21	County Meath	Europe
Israel	Tamar Ziskind	23	Haifa	Asia & Oceania
Italy	Claudia Russo [32]	25	Messina	Europe
Jamaica	Brittany Lyons	19	Kingston	Caribbean
Japan	Mizuki Kubodera [33]	21	Kanagawa	Asia & Oceania
Kazakhstan	Alfina Nassyrova [34]	20	Almaty	Asia & Oceania
Kenya	Ruth Kinuthia [35]	22	Nairobi	Africa
Latvia	Ina Avlasēviča [36] [37]	20	Dobele	Europe
Lebanon	Rosarita Tawil	20	Beirut	Asia & Oceania
Lithuania	Gabrielė Martirosianaitė	18	Kaunas	Europe
Malaysia	Soo Wincci [38]	23	Selangor	Asia & Oceania
Malta	Martha Fenech	18	St. Julian's	Europe
Martinique	Élodie Delor	18	Fort-de-France	Caribbean
Mauritius	Olivia Carey [39]	19	Vacoas	Africa
Mexico	Anagabriela Espinoza [40]	20	Monterrey	Americas
Moldova	Iana Varnacova	17	Chişinău	Europe
Mongolia	Chinbatyn Anun	23	Ulan Bator	Asia & Oceania
Montenegro	Mariana Mihajlović	18	Plavnica	Europe
Namibia	Marelize Robberts [41]	21	Windhoek	Africa
Netherlands	Carmen Kool	22	Arnhem	Europe
New Zealand	Kahurangi Taylor [42]	18	Auckland	Asia & Oceania
Nigeria	Adaeze Igwe [43]	18	Awka	Africa
Northern Ireland	Judith Wilson	23	Enniskillen	Europe
Norway	Lene Egeli [44]	21	Stavanger	Europe
Paraguay	Gabriela Rejala [45]	19	Ñemby	Americas
Peru	Annmarie Dehainaut [46]	18	Lima	Americas
Philippines	Danielle Castaño [47]	19	Quezon City	Asia & Oceania
Poland	Klaudia Ungerman	20	Wysieradz	Europe
Portugal	Andreia Rodrigues	24	Lisbon	Europe
Puerto Rico	Ivonne Orsini [48]	20	Bayamón	Caribbean
Russia	Ksenia Sukhinova [1]	21	Tyumen	Europe
Saint Lucia	Joy-Ann Biscette	22	Castries	Caribbean
Scotland	Stephanie Willemse [49]	19	Glasgow	Europe
Serbia	Nevena Lipovac	19	Belgrade	Europe
Seychelles	Elena Angione	22	Mahé	Africa
Sierra Leone	Tyrilla Gouldson [50]	24	Freetown	Africa
Singapore	Faraliza Tan	22	Singapore	Asia & Oceania
Slovakia	Edita Krešáková [51]	19	Seňa	Europe
South Africa	Tansey Coetzee [52]	23	Johannesburg	Africa
South Korea [b]	Choi Bo-in	22	Seoul	Asia & Oceania
Spain	Patricia Rodríguez [53]	18	Granadilla de Abona	Europe
Sri Lanka	Rochelle Correa	24	Colombo	Asia & Oceania
Swaziland	Tiffany Simelane † [54]	20	Mhlambanyatsi	Africa
Sweden	Jennifer Palm Lundberg	22	Sigtuna	Europe
Taiwan [c]	Jamie Lin	24	Taichung	Asia & Oceania
Tanzania	Nasreen Karim [55]	22	Mwanza	Africa
Thailand	Ummarapas Jullakasian [56]	23	Nonthaburi	Asia & Oceania
Trinidad and Tobago	Gabrielle Walcott [57]	23	Petit Valley	Caribbean
Turkey	Leyla Lydia Tuğutlu [58] [59]	19	Istanbul	Europe
Uganda	Dora Mwima	18	Tororo	Africa
Ukraine	Iryna Zhuravska [60]	18	Kyiv	Europe
United States	Lane Lindell	18	Tampa	Americas
Uruguay	Fatimih Dávila	20	Montevideo	Americas
Venezuela	Hannelly Quintero [61]	23	Ocumare del Tuy	Americas
Vietnam	Dương Trương Thiên Lý [62]	19	Đồng Tháp	Asia & Oceania
Wales	Chloe-Beth Morgan [63]	22	Cwmbran	Europe
Zambia	Winfridah Mofu	19	Lusaka	Africa
Zimbabwe	Cynthia Muvirimi [64]	25	Harare	Africa

Judges

Miss World 2008 contestants were judged based upon the criteria of glamour, beauty, intelligence and poise. ^{[3] [65]} Some of the judges were representatives of the Miss World Organization. ^[3] Some of the contestants, such as Ksenia Sukhinova, communicated with the judges using a translator. ^[1] Judges for the event were:

• Julia Morley – Chairwoman of the Miss World Organization.
• Wilnelia Merced – Miss World 1975 from Puerto Rico
• Aminurta Kang – Theatre stage director, China and North America
• Krish Naidoo – International ambassador for Miss World
• Pearl Luthuli – Group executive public commercial services SABC
• Lindiwe Mahlangu – Chief executive of the Joburg Tourism Company
• Precious Moloi-Motsepe – Chairperson of African Fashion International
• Graham Cooke – President of World Travel

Notes

1. Ages at the time of the pageant
2. Competed as Korea in the pageant
3. Also know as the Republic of China

Designations

•   Thailand – Miss Thailand World was not held this year due to the death of Princess Galyani Vadhana, the elder sister of then King Bhumibol Adulyadej, so the previous year's 1st runner-up, Ummarapas Jullakasian represented Thailand.

Replacements

•   Egypt – Meriam George was replaced by Sanaa Ismail Hamed at the last minute for some undisclosed reasons.
•   Hong Kong – Miss Hong Kong 2008 winner Edelweiss Cheung was replaced by the 1st runner-up, Skye Chan.
•   Sweden – Jennifer Palm Lundberg placed 3rd Runner-up in the Miss World Sweden pageant, but won the title when each of the original top three placers declined the crown after disagreements over the winner's contract.
•   Vietnam – Miss Vietnam 2008 Trần Thị Thùy Dung was not allowed to compete after she was found ineligible. The 1st Runner-up Phan Hoàng Minh Thư and the 2nd Runner-up Nguyễn Thụy Vân also were not allowed to compete. After that, Dương Trương Thiên Lý, the 2nd Runner-up of Miss Universe Vietnam 2008 was designated to represent Vietnam.^{[ citation needed ]}

Withdrawals

•   Estonia – Due to lack of funding and sponsorship
•   Macedonia – Suzana Al-Salkini withdrew due to lack of funding and sponsorship, but she did compete the following year at Miss World 2009.
•     Nepal – The organiser of the Miss Nepal pageant said it was postponing the contest scheduled for 23 August 2008 to an unknown date, after the Maoist women's wing, which has trained its sights on Miss Nepal, announced a Kathmandu Valley shutdown on the day to prevent the event.
•   Panama – Kathya Saldaña had problems with the regional organisation and didn't obtain a South African visa in time.
•   Romania – Due to lack of funding and sponsorship
•   Slovenia – Due to lack of funding and sponsorship
•   Suriname – Mireille Nederbiel was not allowed to compete in Miss World by the decision of pageant organizers.

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