Our journey on celebrating Miss World 60th anniversary continues with the last 20 years of history and trivia!
1991
The 1991 edition was initially scheduled to be held in Dominican Republic. However, due to scheduling difficulties, the venue was moved to Atlanta, United States. It was the only edition of Miss World so far to be held in America continent.
1992
The first Miss World edition held in South Africa. South Africa is one of the only 3 nations, aside United Kingdom, who have become Miss World host more than once. It has served as Miss World host for 8 times (1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 2001, 2008, and 2009). The other 2 nations are China who has served as Miss World host 5 times (2003, 2004, 2005, 2007, and 2010) and Seychelles who has served as Miss World host twice (1997 and 1998).
1993
The 1993 edition brings another controversy when Tamara Porat from Israel and Ghada Turk from Lebanon were photographed side by side each other. The said photos caused uproar in their respective countries.
1994
Aishwarya Rai started her career as an international actress and top model by winning this edition of Miss World. At that time she was only 21 years old. Up until now Aishwarya is often considered as the most beautiful Miss World winner ever and also as one of the most beautiful woman alive.
1995
Best in Evening Gown and Best in Swimsuit were awarded for the first time. The very first winners of the two awards were Manuela Medie from Ghana and Miri Bohadana from Israel respectively.
1996
Due to feminist protest against the pageant, the preliminary round of Miss World 1996 was moved from host nation India to Seychelles. The final event still took place in Bangalore, India but under a heavy security. About 10.000 policemen, many armed with rifles, batons and shields, were deployed to prevent violence, making the 1996 show, according to organizers, the most well guarded Miss World since the pageants began.
1997
Mpule Kwelagobe from Botswana competed in this edition Miss World. She was unplaced but later she competed and won Miss Universe in 1999. Mpule is one of 3 Miss Universe winners who have been previously unplaced while competing at Miss World. The other two are Angela Visser from Holland (unplaced at Miss World 1989 but won Miss Universe 1989 ) and Georgina Rizk from Lebanon (unplaced at Miss World 1970 but won Miss Universe 1971).
1998
Linor Abargail from Israel is perhaps one of the most controversial and memorable Miss World ever. Just 7 weeks before being crowned Miss World, she was raped by Uri Shlomo, an Israeli citizen working as a travel agent in Milan. She made her case public and Shlomo was arrested in Israel, charged with and found guilty of rape. Since then, she has become a global advocate in the fight against sexual violence.
1999
After several years traveling the world, Miss World returned to London, United Kingdom. This year however was the last time United Kingdom compete as an entity at Miss World. Since 2000, the four countries of United Kingdom (England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland) competed individually at Miss World.
2000
The first edition of Miss World without its founder. Eric Morley passed away at 9 November 2000, just 3 weeks before the final night. His widow, Julia Morley, took over his position as the chairman of Miss World Organization.
2001
Agbani Darego from Nigeria became the very first black African to win Miss World title. She was also a semifinalist at Miss Universe 2001 pageant.
2002
Perhaps the most controversial edition of the pageant. The pageant was initially slated for Abuja, Nigeria but due to a riot in the city of Kaduna arising from a publication of an article in a Lagos based newspaper the pageant was relocated to London, United Kingdom. A number of contestants decided to withdraw from the pageant and were replaced by their national Runner Up.
2003
The very first Miss World edition to be held at a communist nation and the very first one to feature fast Track events. Rosanna Davison became the very first Fast Track winner after she won Beach Beauty competition on 27 November 2003. She would eventually go on to win the 2003 crown.
2004
The only edition where the winner and the finalists were entirely decided by voting public. Just like in World Idol reality show, the world held the power to decide the winner while the judges only served as commentators. Maria Julia Mantilla from Peru won the most votes from the world and was crowned Miss World 2004.
2005
The format of the competition was changed again with the introduction of 6 regional groups. From each group, 2 contestants with the most votes will become semifinalist, and joined by 3 Fast Track winners, making a total of 15 semifinalists. In addition the 6 finalists were each the best contestant from her respective group. This format was used until the 2006 edition.
2006
The Miss World 2006 pageant was held earlier than usual with the final night held in September rather than in December like usual. This resulting in Miss World 2005 Unnur Birna from Iceland as the Miss World with the shortest reign period. She only reigned 294 days (less than 10 month) by the time she crowned Tatana Kucharova from Czech Republic as Miss World 2006.
2007
Zhang Zilin from China became the very first East Asian to win Miss World title. She was also the tallest Miss World winner ever at 6’1” (184 cm).
2008
The pageant was initially planned to be held in Kiev, Ukraine, but a crisis between Georgia and Russia forced the venue to be relocated to Johannesburg, South Africa. Also a sixth Fast Track event, People’s Choice, was initially planned for the event but was cancelled at last minute due to technical problem. If only it was not cancelled, Duong Truong Ly from Vietnam would have been a semifinalist in this edition.
2009
The longest Miss World edition ever, lasting for more than 5 weeks. The pageant was held in 3 different nations (United Kingdom, United Arab Emirates, and South Africa) at 3 different continents (Eurpe, Asia, Africa). Kaiane Aldorino from Gibraltar won the event and is currently the reigning Miss World.
2010
Miss World once again breaks the record with 115 contestants competing for the title. This year also marks the largest number of semifinalists ever with 25 spots reserved for the final round.
By the time the new Miss World crowned on 30 October 2010, she will be a milestone of 60 years history of this pageant. It is quite amazing how a pageant could survive those years even with a lot of turmoils, oppositions, and difficulties. And we certainly hope Miss World will still last for another 60 years, and even more.
Happy 60th anniversary Miss World!
Source : Wikipedia & Pageantopolis
