Miss England - Latest News
2010 - Miss World celebrates 60 years!
Monday, 15 March 2010 14:48
2010 ~ Celebrate 60 years of Miss World!
The Miss England Competition has been organised as a separate event since the year 2000
The current organiser, Angie Beasley became the England licence holder for Miss World in April 2002. Before this, Angie had organised the Miss United Kingdom contest on behalf of Miss World in the 90s. She then went on a maternity break until she resumed running Miss England in 2002.
In 2000, Miss World decided to split the UK countries in to 4, giving a Miss England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales entry to Miss World giving 4 opportunities for the UK girls to participate in the Miss World pageant.
A brief history of the Miss World pageant:
The Miss World Organisation owns and manages the annual Miss World Finals, a competition that has grown into one of the World's biggest. Since its launch in 1951, the Miss World Organisation has raised more than £250 million for children's charities.
Miss World started as the Festival Bikini Contest, in honour of the recently introduced swim wear of the time, but was called "Miss World" by the media. It was originally planned as a one-off event. Upon learning about the upcoming Miss Universe pageant, Eric Morley decided to make the pageant an annual event.
Opposition to the wearing of bikinis led to their replacement with more modest swimwear after the first contest. In 1959, the BBC started broadcasting the competition. The pageant's popularity grew with the advent of television.
In the 1980s, the pageant repositioned itself with the slogan "Beauty With a Purpose", with added tests of intelligence and personality. However, the competition by then has been seen as old-fashioned and rather politically incorrect in native Britain. It was during the 80s that the company was owned by Transworld Communications, albeit for a short time. Despite the global appeal, the show was not broadcast on any major terrestrial British TV network for several years, until Channel 5 aired it in 1998.
Miss World in the 21st Century
In 2000, founder of Miss World Eric Morley died as the pageant entered the new century. His wife, Julia, succeeded as chairwoman of the Miss World Organization.
The century saw its first black African winner, Agbani Darego, in 2001. As part of its marketing strategy, Miss World came up with a "You Decide" television special during that edition, featuring the delegates behind the scenes and on the beach, and allowing viewers to either phone in or vote online for their favorites. It also sells its Talent, Beach Beauty and Sports events as television specials to broadcasters.
In 2002, the pageant was slated for choosing Abuja, the capital city of Nigeria to host its final. This choice was controversial.
Miss World Fast Track Events
Since 2003 Miss World pageant also features Fast Track events during the preliminary round. The winners of Fast Track events are automatically qualified to enter the final round. Fast Track events which have been used since 2003 are:
Beach Beauty (2003-present) Miss Talent (2003-present) Miss Sports (2003-present) Beauty With A Purpose (2005-present) Top Model (2004, 2007-present) People's Choice (2003) Personality (2003) Contestant's Choice (2004)
Mexico has the best record for any country: as of 2009 it has consecutive placements from 2004-2009, two Top Model winners (2004 and 2009), one Beach Beauty winner (2008), two 1st runner-ups (2005 and 2009), one 2nd runner-up (2007), and three Continental Queens of Beauty (2005, 2007, 2009).
Aside from raising millions of pounds for charities around the globe under the banner of its 'Beauty with a Purpose' program, Miss World is also credited with directly influencing a dramatic increase in tourism in Sanya, China, host of the Miss World finals from 2003-05.
Venezuela has won the Miss Photogenic award four times:(1984,1990,1995,1996). Four Miss World winners were awarded Miss Photogenic: Astrid Carolina Herrera (Venezuela, 1984), Aishwarya Rai (India, 1994), Jacqueline Aguilera (Venezuela, 1995) and Diana Hayden (India, 1997).
Two Miss World winners were awarded Miss World Beach Beauty: Rosanna Davison (Ireland, 2003), Kaiane Aldorino (Gibraltar, 2009).
Two titleholders have also won Miss World Top Model: Zhang Zilin (China, 2007), Ksenia Sukhinova (Russia, 2008) .
Miss World Winners Facts:
- Kiki Håkansson of Sweden: Miss World 1951
Reigned for the longest period in Miss World history: 475 days (almost 16 months) from the time she was crowned on 29 July, 1951 in London, UK.
- Unnur Birna Vilhjálmsdóttir of Iceland: Miss World 2005
Reigned for the shortest period in Miss World history: for just 294 days (less than 10 months) by the time she crowned Taťána Kuchařová of the Czech Republic on 30 September 2006.
- There were three times back to back victories in Miss World history: May Louise Flodin of Sweden, was crowned Miss World 1952 by Miss World 1951 Kicki Håkansson of Sweden. Lesley Langley of United Kingdom, was crowned Miss World 1965 by Miss World 1964 Ann Sidney of United Kingdom. Priyanka Chopra of India, was crowned Miss World 2000 by Miss World 1999 Yukta Mookhey of India.
- The largest interval between a nation winning Miss World is Peru; Madeline Hartog-Bel won the title in 1967 and, 37 years later, María Julia Mantilla became the second recipient from Peru. The shortest gap has been India (1997-1999).
- The first black African to win Miss World was Agbani Darego of Nigeria, crowned in 2001 at Sun City, South Africa. The first Miss World of East Asian is Miss World 2007 Zhang Zilin of China.
6 winners have been crowned Miss World on their home turf
1961: Rosemarie Frankland (UK) was crowned in London, UK
1964: Ann Sidney (United Kingdom) was crowned in London, UK
1965: Lesley Langley (United Kingdom) was crowned in London, UK.
1974: Helen Morgan (United Kingdom) was crowned in London, UK. (Subsequently resigned)
1983: Sarah-Jane Hutt (United Kingdom) was crowned in London, UK.
2007: Zhang Zilin (China) was crowned in Sanya, China.
5 winners have crowned their succesors on their home turf:
1961: Rosemarie Frankland (United Kingdom) crowned 1962:Catharina Lodders (Holland) in London, UK.
1964: Ann Sidney (United Kingdom) crowned 1965: Lesley Langley (United Kingdom) in London, UK. 1965: Lesley Langley (United Kingdom) crowned 1966: Reita Faria (India) in London, UK.
1983: Sarah-Jane Hutt (United Kingdom) crowned 1984: Astrid Carolina Herrera (Venezuela) in London, UK.
1990: Gina Tolleson (United States) crowned 1991: Ninibeth Leal (Venezuela) in Georgia, USA.
Outside United Kingdom, South Africa has hosted the most Miss World pageants, with seven.
The various locations were: South Africa: Sun City (1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 2001), Johannesburg (2008, 2009) Apart from the United Kingdom and South Africa, the other states to host the pageant more than once were: China: Sanya (2003, 2004, 2005, 2007) Seychelles: Mahé (1997, 1998)
Miss World Titleholders 1999 - 2009
The following is a list of winners from 1999 to 2009.
2009: Kaiane Aldorino of Gibraltar
2008: Ksenia Sukhinova of Russia
2007: Zhang Zilin of China
2006: Taťána Kuchařová of Czech Republic
2005: Unnur Birna Vilhjálmsdóttir of Iceland
2004: María Julia Mantilla of Peru
2003: Rosanna Davison of Ireland
2002: Azra Akın of Turkey
2001: Agbani Darego of Nigeria
2000: Priyanka Chopra of India
1999: Yukta Mookhey of India
Best Performances by Country
Miss World-winning countries as of 2009:
India and Venezuela - 5
United Kingdom - 4
Iceland - 3
Jamaica and Sweden - 2
Argentina, Australia, Austria, Netherlands, Russia, South Africa and United States, Bermuda, Brazil, China, Czech Republic, Dominican Republic, Egypt, Finland, France, Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Grenada, Guam, Ireland, Israel, Nigeria, Poland, Puerto Rico, Trinidad and Tobago and Turkey - 1