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Miss Universe 1994

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Miss Universe 1994
Sushmita Sen, Miss Universe 1994
Date21 May 1994
Presenters
Entertainment
VenuePhilippine International Convention Center, Pasay City, Metro Manila, Philippines
BroadcasterCBS (international)
ABS-CBN (DWWX-TV) (official broadcaster)
Entrants77
Placements10
Debuts
  • Russia
  • Slovakia
  • Zimbabwe
Withdrawals
  • Austria
  • Belize
  • Czech Republic
  • Ghana
  • Lebanon
  • Nicaragua
  • Suriname
  • United States Virgin Islands
Returns
  • Cook Islands
  • Egypt
  • Republic of China
WinnerSushmita Sen
 India
CongenialityBarbara Kahatjipara
 Namibia
Best National CostumeCharlene Gonzales
 Philippines
PhotogenicMinorka Mercado
 Venezuela[1]
Best in Philippine Terno Gown
← 1993
1995 →

Miss Universe 1994 was the 43rd Miss Universe pageant, held on 21 May 1994[a] at the Plenary Hall of the Philippine International Convention Center in Pasay City, Philippines. Seventy-seven contestants competed during this year.

Outgoing titleholder Dayanara Torres of Puerto Rico crowned Sushmita Sen of India at the end of the event, marking the first time India has won Miss Universe, which they would later win again in 2000 and in 2021.

Background

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Location and date

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Manila was announced as host city for the pageant in October 1993.[2] It was the second time the pageant was held in the Philippines, after it was staged at the nearby Folk Arts Theater in 1974.[2] The country expected to make 10 million (US$357,000) profit out of the pageant, as well as the accompanying media exposure.[3] The ₱150 million ($5.3 million) spent on hosting the pageant was funded from the private sectors, with sponsors such as Nestlé, Kodak and Hertz.[3] Some of the expected sponsorship money did not materialize, leading the shortfall to be covered by the government.[4] In the midst of power shortages around the time of the pageant, the Philippine government promised to ensure that the weekend of the pageant's coronation night would be "blackout-free".[5] By mid May, as the contestants were already in Manila, organizers confirmed that they were short of money and were unsure whether a profit would be made from the event.[6] There was also a probe by the Commission on Human Rights during May as to whether a police round-up of street children was intended to improve Manila's international image during the pageant events.[7] This was also criticised by Miss Thailand, Areeya Chumsai, even though the same incident occurred in Thailand in the Miss Universe 1992 pageant.[8]

During rehearsal on the day prior to the pageant, a small homemade bomb exploded outside the pageant venue where the contestants had earlier been rehearsing, though it caused minimal damage and there were no injuries.[9] As a result, more than 3000 Filipino police officers were involved in protecting the delegates, as well as dozens of policewomen assigned as personal or group bodyguards.[10]

The pageant came under public attack from the Nationalist Movement of New Women, a branch of the National Democratic Front, which claimed that it was being used to promote sex tourism.[11] The cost of the event was also criticized by the Philippine Congress, despite it being endorsed by President Fidel V. Ramos.[11] A social function attended by the delegates held prior to the final broadcast was picketed by the women's group, who opposed the nature of the pageant and the lavish spending.[12]

Controversies

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Miss Malaysia, Liza Koh, made a public apology on behalf of her country about the arrest of 1200 Filipina domestic helpers in Kuala Lumpur.[13] As a result, the Malaysian Foreign Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi admonished her not to make any further political remarks.[14]

Miss Philippines Charlene Gonzales, gained criticism for winning the Best National Costume award, as the judges were also criticized for allegedly favouring the host nation's delegate. Miss British Virgin Islands, Delia Jon Baptiste, publicly declared that Gonzales won the award, because of Filipino favouritism, and that the other delegates disagreed with the choice. Miss Venezuela Minorka Mercado, won the Philippine costume Terno award, followed by Slovakia, who was also celebrating her birthday, and Miss Mexico by their respective placements.[15]

Results

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Placements

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Placement Contestant
Miss Universe 1994
1st runner-up
2nd runner-up
Top 6
Top 10

Special awards

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Award Winner
Best National Costume
Miss Congeniality
Miss Photogenic

Pageant

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Format

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Prior to the final telecast, all contestants competed in pre-pageant shows including the national costume and opening show held at the Araneta Coliseum, and swimsuit and evening gown during the preliminary competition held at its main venue, the Philippine International Convention Center. They also participated in interviews with the judges.

During the final competition, the ten semifinalists competed in the swimsuit, evening gown and interview. The top six contestants participated in a final round of on-stage interviews, and cut to the final top three before the runners-up were announced and the new Miss Universe named.

Selection committee

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Final telecast

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Contestants

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Miss Universe 1994 participating countries and territories

Seventy-seven contestants competed for the title.

Country/Territory Contestant Age[b] Hometown
 Argentina Solange Magnano 22 Santa Fe
 Aruba Alexandra Ochoa[17] 18 Oranjestad
 Australia Michelle van Eimeren[18] 22 Brisbane
 Bahamas Meka Knowles 18 Nassau
 Belgium Christelle Roelandts[19] 19 Waremme
 Bolivia Cecilia O'Connor-d'Arlach[20] 23 La Paz
 Brazil Valéria Melo Peris[21] 23 Conchal
 British Virgin Islands Delia Jon Baptiste[22] 18 Road Town
 Bulgaria Nevena Marinova 20 Sofia
 Canada Susanne Rothfos[23] 18 Dawson Creek
 Cayman Islands Audrey Ebanks 20 Grand Cayman
 Chile Constanza Barbieri 18 Santiago
 Colombia Carolina Gómez[24] 19 Bogotá
 Cook Islands Leilani Brown[25] 18 Rarotonga
 Costa Rica Yasmin Camacho[26] 23 San José
 Curaçao Jasmin Clifton[27] 26 Willemstad
 Cyprus Maria Vasiliou 19 Nicosia
 Denmark Gitte Andersen[28] 25 Copenhagen
 Dominican Republic Vielka Valenzuela 21 Concepción de la Vega
 Ecuador Mafalda Arboleda[29] 18 Guayaquil
 Egypt Ghada El-Salem[30] 20 Cairo
 El Salvador Claudia Méndez[31] 22 San Salvador
 Estonia Eva-Maria Laan[32] 19 Tallinn
 Finland Henna Meriläinen[33] 19 Tohmajärvi
 France Valerie Claisse[34] 21 Saint-Nazaire
 Germany Tanja Wild 21 Baden-Württemberg
 Great Britain Michaela Pyke[30] 22 Kent
 Greece Rea Toutounzi 20 Athens
 Guam Christina Perez 20 Agana
 Guatemala Katya Schoenstedt 20 Guatemala City
 Honduras Jem Haylock 23 Guanaja
 Hong Kong Mok Hoi-Yan 24 Hong Kong
 Hungary Szilvia Forian 21 Karcag
 Iceland Svala Björk Arnardóttir 18 Reykjavík
 India Sushmita Sen[35] 18 New Delhi
 Ireland Pamela Flood 22 Dublin
 Israel Ravit Yarkoni 21 Givatayim
 Italy Arianna David 20 Rome
 Jamaica Angelie Martin 19 Saint James
 Japan Chiaki Kawahito 21 Tokyo
 Luxembourg Sandy Wagner 20 Luxembourg City
 Malaysia Liza Koh[36] 20 Kuala Lumpur
 Malta Paola Camilleri 19 Fleur-de-Lys
 Mauritius Viveka Babajee[37] 20 Port Louis
 Mexico Fabiola Pérez 18 Chihuahua
 Namibia Barbara Kahatjipara 21 Windhoek
 Netherlands Irene van der Laar[38] 25 Leiden
 New Zealand Nicola Brighty[30] 21 Auckland
 Nigeria Suzan Hart 18 Benue
 Northern Mariana Islands Elizabeth Tomokane[39] 21 Saipan
 Norway Caroline Saetre[40] 18 Møre og Romsdal
 Panama María Sofía Velásquez 23 Panama City
 Paraguay Liliana González 23 Asunción
 Peru Karina Calmet 24 La Molina
 Philippines Charlene Gonzales[41] 20 Quezon City
 Poland Joanna Brykczynska 21 Western Pomerania
 Portugal Mónica Pereira 20 Lisbon
 Puerto Rico Brenda Robles[42] 18 Isabela
 Republic of China Joanne Wu 25 Taipei
 Romania Mihaela Ciolacu 20 Bucharest
 Russia Inna Zobova 20 Khimki
 Singapore Alien Sun[43] 21 Singapore
 Slovakia Silvia Lakatošová 20 Bratislava
 South Korea Goong Sun-young 21 Seoul
 Spain Raquel Rodríguez 20 Córdoba
 Sri Lanka Nushara Pramali 19 Colombo
 Swaziland Nicola Smith 20 Mbabane
 Sweden Domenique Forsberg 25 Kiruna
 Switzerland Patricia Fässler 19 Zürich
 Thailand Areeya Chumsai 22 Bangkok
 Trinidad and Tobago Lorca Gatcliffe 24 Port of Spain
 Turkey Banu Usluer 19 Istanbul
 Turks and Caicos Eulease Walkin 23 Providenciales
 United States Lu Parker[44] 26 Charleston
 Uruguay Leonora Dibueno[28] 27 Montevideo
 Venezuela Minorka Mercado 22 Caracas
 Zimbabwe Yvette D'Almeida-Chakras[45] 22 Harare

Contestants Notes

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Debuts

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Returns

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Last competed in 1992:

  •  Cook Islands
  •  Egypt
  •  Republic of China — Joanne Wu was allowed to wear Republic of China sash while she was off-staged. There were two sashes for her, one was written (Taiwan) R.O.C., and the other was written Republic of China as stated above.

Replacements

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  •  El Salvador - Eleonora Carrillo, Miss El Salvador 1994 couldn't take part due she was underage before February 1.[46] Her 1st—Runner up, Claudia Méndez was sent for the event, although Carrillo competed the following year at the Miss Universe 1995 finishing in the Top 10.[31]

Withdrawals

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Did not compete

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Observations

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  •  Indonesia - Venna Melinda was not allowed to compete in the pageant because of her country's conservative Islamic prejudice towards the swimsuit competition, though she eventually traveled to Manila to watch the pageant instead.[48]

Notes

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  1. ^ The event was held at 8:00 am Philippine Standard Time (UTC+08:00); for the Americas, this was May 20 in their local times.
  2. ^ Ages at the time of the pageant

References

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  1. ^ Came with $500USD cash prize and 10,000PHP worth value of Philippine-made products.
  2. ^ a b "Philippines to host Miss Universe pageant". Reuters. October 24, 1993.
  3. ^ a b "Philippines expects to profit from Miss Universe". Agence France-Press. March 16, 1994.
  4. ^ Gosh, Nirmal (April 27, 1994). "Row in Manila over cost of Miss Universe pageant". Straits Times.
  5. ^ "Manila says no blackouts for Miss Universe pageant". Agence France-Presse. April 5, 1994.
  6. ^ "Miss Universe organisers short of cash - official". Reuters. May 17, 1994.
  7. ^ "Police roundup of Manila street children under probe". Straits Times. May 2, 1994.
  8. ^ "Miss Thailand : Don't hide street kids". Straits Times. May 12, 1994.
  9. ^ "Miss Universe pageant site bombed". Agence France-Press. May 20, 1994.
  10. ^ "Manila deploys 3,000 policemen for beauties". Reuters. April 26, 1994.
  11. ^ a b "Communist insurgents say Miss Universe promotes sex tourism". Agence France-Press. April 29, 1994.
  12. ^ "Feminists picket Miss Universe social function". Agence France-Press. May 1, 1994.
  13. ^ "Hi, I am sorry". Straits Times. April 28, 1994.
  14. ^ "Miss Malaysia told not to make political remarks". Straits Times. April 29, 1994.
  15. ^ "Ms Universe pageant slammed for hometown verdict". Reuters. May 9, 1994.
  16. ^ a b c d e f g "Miss Universe 1994 judges announced - UPI Archives". UPI.
  17. ^ "Voorbereiding miss--verkiezing" [Miss pageant preparation]. Amigoe (in Dutch). April 19, 1994. p. 5. Retrieved November 14, 2023 – via Delpher.
  18. ^ "Michelle Van Eimeren in Miss Universe 1994". GMA Network. February 19, 2020 [28 Enero 2017]. Retrieved November 14, 2023.
  19. ^ Sampayan, Anj (August 2, 2016). "Miss Belgium, Miss Colombia, and other Miss Universe 1994 beauties: where are they now?". PEP.ph. Retrieved November 14, 2023.
  20. ^ "El título les dio alegrías, trabajo y fama que aún saborean" [The title gave them joy, work and fame that they still savor.]. El Deber (in European Spanish). July 29, 2017. Retrieved October 17, 2023.
  21. ^ "Miss Valéria Péris casa-se em Campinas" [Miss Valéria Péris gets married in Campinas]. Revista CARAS (in Brazilian Portuguese). August 20, 2009. Retrieved November 14, 2023.
  22. ^ Hull, Kareem-Nelson (2018). The Virgin Islands Dictionary: A Collection of Words and Phrases so You Could Say It Like We. Bloomington, Indiana: AuthorHouse. ISBN 9781546226109.
  23. ^ "People & places". Herald-Journal. May 6, 1994. pp. A2. Retrieved November 14, 2023 – via Google News Archive.
  24. ^ Gonzalez, Daniela (March 2, 2023). "Carolina Gómez: Así se veía la mujer cuando fue señorita en Miss Universo" [Carolina Gómez: This is what the woman looked like when she was a miss in Miss Universe]. Revista ALO (in Spanish). Retrieved November 14, 2023.
  25. ^ "'Not even a little picture of me in the papers'". The Straits Times. May 21, 1994. p. 6. Retrieved November 14, 2023 – via National Library Board.
  26. ^ "Habla la ex Miss Costa Rica que acusa al ex presidente Óscar Arias de abuso sexual" [The former Miss Costa Rica speaks who accuses former president Óscar Arias of sexual abuse]. El Comercio (in Spanish). February 10, 2019. ISSN 1605-3052. Retrieved November 14, 2023.
  27. ^ "Jasmin Clifton wint sobere miss-verkiezing" [Jasmin Clifton wins sober miss pageant]. Amigoe (in Dutch). October 18, 1993. p. 3. Retrieved November 14, 2023 – via Delpher.
  28. ^ a b Caparas, Celso de Guzman (May 30, 2004). "My fond memories of the 1994 Miss Universe Pageant". Philippine Star. Retrieved November 14, 2023.
  29. ^ "Así recordó Gabriela Pazmiño su participación en Miss Ecuador" [This is how Gabriela Pazmiño remembered her participation in Miss Ecuador]. Metro Ecuador (in Spanish). October 7, 2018. Retrieved November 14, 2023.
  30. ^ a b c Lo, Ricky (January 31, 2017). "And the winner is… Steve Harvey!". Philippine Star. Retrieved November 14, 2023.
  31. ^ a b Monge, Osmín (January 27, 2023). "Eleonora Carrillo recordó su clasificación en Miss Universo" [Eleonora Carrillo recalled her classification in Miss Universe 1995]. El Diario de Hoy (in Spanish). Retrieved November 14, 2023.
  32. ^ Veidemann-Makko, Anna-Maria (May 23, 2023). "Sõnasõda: Kibe kõõm ja maakast rasvarull?! Miss Estonia Eva Maria Laan kohtusaagast ekskaasaga: "Olen aastaid kestnud kannatamisest juba tuimaks muutunud!"" [War of words: Bitter scabbing and early fat roll?! Miss Estonia Eva Maria Laan from the legal saga with her ex-husband: "I have already become numb from years of suffering!"]. Õhtuleht (in Estonian). Retrieved November 14, 2023.
  33. ^ Pudas, Mari (May 7, 2020). "Vuonna 1994 missiltä kuultiin toinenkin sammakko – voittajalta lipsahti härski toivotus suorassa lähetyksessä" [In 1994, another frog was heard from the pageant - the winner missed a rude greeting during the live broadcast]. Iltalehti (in Finnish). Retrieved November 14, 2023.
  34. ^ Mathieu, Clement (December 16, 2022). "Miss France 1994 : Valérie Claisse, la vocation d'une reine de beauté" [Miss France 1994: Valérie Claisse, the vocation of a beauty queen]. Paris Match (in French). Retrieved November 14, 2023.
  35. ^ "Did you know Sushmita Sen's gown for Miss India was made out of curtain cloth?". The Times of India. August 6, 2018. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved November 14, 2023.
  36. ^ Yap, Peter (January 26, 1994). "Moment of glory for new Miss Malaysia". New Straits Times. p. 6. Retrieved November 14, 2023 – via Google Books.
  37. ^ Lo, Ricky (June 29, 2010). "Miss Mauritius: I'm also a victim". Philippine Star. Retrieved November 14, 2023.
  38. ^ "Irene de mooiste van Nederland" [Irene the most beautiful in the Netherlands]. De Telegraaf (in Dutch). March 30, 1994. p. 1. Retrieved November 14, 2023 – via Delpher.
  39. ^ De la Torre, Ferdie (March 29, 1994). "Tomokane off to RP in May for Miss Universe". Marianas Variety. p. 3. Retrieved November 14, 2023 – via eVols.
  40. ^ Stave, Amanda (June 24, 2023). "(+) Ein sykkylving i kulissene: – Eg har levd litt i mi eiga verd". Nyss.no (in Norwegian). Retrieved November 14, 2023.
  41. ^ Villano, Alexa (March 17, 2018). "12 Bb Pilipinas titleholders who entered showbiz". Rappler. Retrieved November 14, 2023.
  42. ^ Lopez, Ana Enid (March 17, 2016). "Brenda Robles aclara el escándalo de su reinado" [Brenda Robles clarifies the scandal of her reign]. Primera Hora (in Spanish). Retrieved November 14, 2023.
  43. ^ "Rojak helped Paulyn win title". The Straits Times. March 22, 1994. p. 26. Retrieved November 14, 2023 – via National Library Board.
  44. ^ Lemieux, Josh (February 12, 1994). "S.C.'s Parker crowned Miss USA". Anderson Independent-Mail. p. 2. Retrieved November 14, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  45. ^ "Zimbabwe returns to Miss Universe pageant". The Herald. May 10, 2023. Retrieved November 14, 2023 – via PressReader.
  46. ^ https://iberoeconomia.es/emprendedores/eleonora-carrillo-la-miss-salvador-imparte-justicia-espana/ Eleonora Carrillo, la Miss El Salvador que imparte justicia en España
  47. ^ http://www.pinoyexchange.com/forums/showthread.php? t=325916&page=147 [bare URL]
  48. ^ "Miss Indonesia to watch but not take part". Straits Times. May 19, 1994.

General references

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