Miss Universe 1997

Miss Universe 1997
Date	16 May 1997
Presenters	George Hamilton, Marla Maples Trump
Entertainment	Enrique Iglesias
Venue	Miami Beach Convention Center, Miami Beach, Florida, USA
Broadcaster	CBS
Entrants	74
Placements	10
Debuts	Croatia
Withdrawals	Cayman Islands, Denmark, Great Britain, Indonesia, Netherlands, Nicaragua, Norway, Sri Lanka, Western Samoa
Returns	Bermuda, Mauritius, U.S. Virgin Islands
Winner	Brook Lee  USA
Congeniality	Laura Csortan  Australia
Best National Costume	Claudia Vásquez  Colombia
Photogenic	Abbygale Arenas  Philippines

Miss Universe 1997, the 46th Miss Universe pageant, was held on 16 May 1997 at the Miami Beach Convention Center in Miami Beach, Florida, USA. Brook Lee of the USA crowned by Alicia Machado of Venezuela. Seventy-four delegates competed in this year. One of the contestants, Nafisa Joseph, is no longer alive.

Results

Countries and territories which sent delegates and results

Miami Beach Convention Center

Placements

Final rresults	Contestant
Miss Universe 1997	USA - Brook Lee
1st runner-up	Venezuela - Marena Bencomo
2nd runner-up	Trinidad & Tobago - Margot Bourgeois
Top 6	Curaçao - Verna Vasquez  Italy - Denny Méndez  Panama - Lía Victoria Borrero
Top 10	Estonia - Kristiina Heinmets  Puerto Rico - Ana Rosa Brito  Sweden - Victoria Lagerström  India - Nafisa Joseph †

Special awards

Awards	Contestant
Best National Costume	Colombia - Claudia Vásquez  Honduras - Joselina García  Peru - Claudia Dopf
Miss Congeniality	Australia - Laura Csortan
Miss Photogenic	Philippines - Abbygale Arenas
Jantzen Best in Swimsuit	Curaçao - Verna Vasquez

Semi-final scores

Delegate Interview Swimsuit Evening Gown Average Top 6 Finalists Finalist Average  Italy 9.543 (2) 9.614 (2) 9.764 (2) 9.640 (1) 9.450 (5) 9.545 (4)  Curaçao 9.443 (3) 9.623 (1) 9.799 (1) 9.621 (2) 9.629 (4) 9.625 (2)  USA 9.614 (1) 9.500 (3) 9.683 (4) 9.599 (3) 9.881 (1) 9.740 (1)  Venezuela 9.060 (10) 9.471 (4) 9.729 (3) 9.420 (4) 9.829 (2) 9.625 (2)  Trinidad & Tobago 9.343 (5) 9.271 (6) 9.600 (5) 9.405 (5) 9.643 (3) 9.524 (5)  Panama 9.386 (4) 9.229 (7) 9.443 (7) 9.352 (6) 9.143 (6) 9.248 (6)  Estonia 9.143 (9) 9.357 (5) 9.417 (8) 9.306 (7)  Puerto Rico 9.271 (6) 9.043 (8) 9.471 (6) 9.262 (8)  Sweden 9.229 (7) 8.929 (10) 9.271 (9) 9.143 (9)  India 9.157 (8) 9.043 (8) 9.129 (10) 9.110 (10)

Winner      First runner-up      Second runner-up      Top 6 finalist      Top 10 semi-finalist (#) Rank in each round of competition

Preliminary scores

Rank Delegate Swimsuit Interview Evening Gown Average 01 Curaçao 9.36 9.37 9.53 9.420 02 Panama 8.98 9.62 9.40 9.333 03 USA 9.11 9.56 9.04 9.237 04 Italy 9.31 8.73 9.47 9.170 05 Trinidad & Tobago 8.61 9.59 9.19 9.130 06 Venezuela 8.44 9.50 9.31 9.083 07 Estonia 9.19 8.79 9.23 9.070 08 Sweden 8.59 9.26 9.10 8.983 09 Puerto Rico 8.44 9.42 9.05 8.970 10 India 8.86 9.25 8.79 8.967 11 Philippines 8.73 9.31 8.81 8.950 12 Costa Rica 8.76 9.06 9.01 8.943 13 Australia 8.58 9.29 8.85 8.907 14 Czech Republic 8.63 9.15 8.86 8.880 15 New Zealand 8.67 9.32 8.59 8.860 16 Mexico 8.26 9.26 9.04 8.853 17 Switzerland 8.68 9.29 8.59 8.853 18 Finland 8.75 8.82 8.98 8.850 19 Iceland 8.71 8.69 9.07 8.823 20 Colombia 8.18 9.45 8.81 8.813 21 Israel 8.81 8.74 8.85 8.800 22 Poland 8.40 8.83 8.77 8.667 23 Ukraine 8.08 8.95 8.88 8.637 24 Thailand 8.21 9.16 8.54 8.637 25 South Africa 7.97 9.29 8.62 8.627 26 Ireland 8.46 9.16 8.23 8.617 27 Germany 8.52 8.73 8.54 8.597 28 Turkey 8.23 8.83 8.67 8.577 29 Hungary 8.55 8.72 8.46 8.577 30 Jamaica 7.96 9.21 8.43 8.533 31 Honduras 8.05 8.88 8.66 8.530 32 El Salvador 8.00 9.22 8.31 8.510 33 Spain 8.09 8.93 8.46 8.493 34 Malaysia 8.00 8.96 8.39 8.450 35 Zimbabwe 8.09 9.03 8.23 8.450 36 France 8.36 8.57 8.39 8.440 37 Portugal 7.94 9.01 8.34 8.430 38 Chile 8.26 8.69 8.32 8.423 39 Ecuador 7.95 8.93 8.33 8.403 40 Cyprus 8.06 8.72 8.42 8.400 41 U.S. Virgin Islands 7.73 9.23 8.24 8.400 42 Dominican Republic 7.66 9.40 8.12 8.393 43 Slovak Republic 8.40 8.04 8.72 8.387 44 Lebanon 7.86 8.70 8.49 8.350 45 Hong Kong 7.88 8.96 8.15 8.330 46 Russia 8.23 8.73 8.00 8.320 47 Guatemala 7.57 8.98 8.40 8.317 48 Bolivia 7.92 8.89 8.11 8.307 49 Belgium 8.34 8.23 8.19 8.253 50 Singapore 7.81 8.58 8.23 8.207 51 Peru 7.59 8.82 8.15 8.187 52 Belize 7.83 8.54 8.19 8.187 53 Romania 8.15 8.37 7.99 8.170 54 Namibia 7.78 8.74 7.98 8.167 55 Taiwan R.O.C. 7.68 8.48 8.29 8.150 56 Brazil 7.67 8.81 7.95 8.143 57 Paraguay 7.29 9.04 7.98 8.103 58 Uruguay 7.45 8.53 8.31 8.097 59 Croatia 7.96 7.89 8.39 8.080 60 Canada 7.54 8.67 7.99 8.067 61 Aruba 7.57 8.56 8.05 8.060 62 Korea 7.67 8.26 8.23 8.053 63 Argentina 7.39 8.73 8.00 8.040 64 Greece 7.54 8.46 7.94 7.980 65 Bulgaria 8.19 7.39 8.15 7.910 66 Egypt 7.31 8.58 7.80 7.897 67 Bahamas 7.58 8.19 7.90 7.890 68 Bonaire 7.69 8.29 7.64 7.873 69 British Virgin Islands 7.36 8.33 7.64 7.777 70 Malta 7.19 8.28 7.83 7.767 71 Northern Marianas 7.08 8.61 7.57 7.753 72 Turks & Caicos 7.26 8.61 7.32 7.730 73 Mauritius 7.48 8.15 7.54 7.723 74 Bermuda 7.14 8.29 7.46 7.630

Winner      First runner-up      Second runner-up      Top 6 finalist      Top 10 semi-finalist

Order of announcements

Top 10 India Venezuela Puerto Rico Trinidad & Tobago USA Italy Sweden Curaçao Panama Estonia

Top 6 Italy Panama Curaçao Venezuela Trinidad & Tobago USA Top 3 Venezuela USA Trinidad & Tobago

Judges

Final telecast

• Cristina Saralegui – Cuban talk show host
• Tommy Ford – African-American actor
• Eva Herzigova – Czech model and actress
• Pat O'Brien – Sportscaster
• Monique Pillard – Modeling agent
• James E. Billie – Former Seminole leader
• Ingrid Seynhaeve – Belgian model
• Mike Love – American singer/songwriter
• Carolina Herrera – Fashion designer

Contestants

Argentina - Nazarena Almada  Aruba - Karen-Ann Peterson  Australia - Laura Csortan  Bahamas - Nestaea Sealy  Belgium - Laurence Borremans  Belize - Sharon Dominguez  Bermuda - Naomi Darrell  Bolivia - Helga Bauer  Bonaire - Jhane Landwier  Brazil - Nayla Micherif  British Virgin Islands - Melinda Penn  Bulgaria - Krassmira Todorova  Canada - Carmen Kempt  Chile - Claudia Delpin  Colombia - Claudia Elena Vásquez Ángel  Costa Rica - Gabriela Aguilar  Croatia - Kristina Cherina  Curaçao - Verna Vasquez  Cyprus - Korina Nikolaou  Czech Republic - Petra Minářová  Dominican Republic - Cesarina Mejia  Ecuador - María José López  Egypt - Eiman Thakeb  El Salvador - Carmen Carrillo  Estonia - Kristiina Heinmets  Finland - Karita Tuomola  France - Patricia Spehar  Germany - Agathe Neuner  Greece - Elina Zisi  Guatemala - Carol Aquino  Honduras - Joselina García  Hong Kong - Lee San-san  Hungary - Ildikó Kecan  Iceland - Solveig Guðmundsdóttir  India - Nafisa Joseph †  Ireland - Fiona Mullally  Israel - Dikla Hamdy

Italy - Denny Méndez  Jamaica - Nadine Thomas  Korea - Lee Eun-hee  Lebanon - Dalida Chammai  Malaysia - Trincy Low  Malta - Claire Grech  Mauritius - Cindy Cesar  Mexico - Rebeca Tamez  Namibia - Sheya Shipanga  New Zealand - Marina McCartney  Northern Marianas - Melanie Sibetang  Panama - Lía Borrero  Paraguay - Rosanna Jiménez Pereira  Peru - Claudia Dopf  Philippines - Abbygale Williamson Arenas  Poland - Agnieszka Zielinska  Portugal - Lara Antunes  Puerto Rico - Ana Rosa Brito  Romania - Diana Maria Urdareanu  Russia - Anna Baitchik  Singapore - Tricia Tan  Slovak Republic - Lucia Povrazníková  South Africa - Mbali Gasa  Spain - Inés Sáinz  Sweden - Victoria Lagerström   Switzerland - Melanie Winiger  Taiwan R.O.C. - Chio Hai Ta  Thailand - Suangsuda Rodprasert  Trinidad & Tobago - Margot Bourgeois  Turkey - Yeşim Çetin  Turks & Caicos - Keisha Delancy  Ukraine - Natalia Nadtochey  Uruguay - Adriana Cano  USA - Brook Lee  U.S. Virgin Islands - Vania Thomas  Venezuela - Marena Bencomo  Zimbabwe - Lorraine Magwenzi

Notes

Withdrawals

•  Denmark - Sabine Sorensen
•  Nicaragua - Luz Maria Sanchez Herdocia
•  Western Samoa - Maryjane McKibben

Crossovers

Miss World 1989:  U.S. Virgin Islands - Vania Thomas (Semi-finalist, Queen of Caribbean, as American Virgin Islands) 1993:  Puerto Rico - Ana Rosa Brito 1995:  Malaysia - Trincy Low 1996:  Belgium - Laurence Borremans (Semi-finalist) 1996:  Bonaire - Jhane Landwier 1996:  Czech Republic - Petra Minářová 1996:  Poland - Agnieszka Zielinska 1996:   Switzerland - Melanie Winiger 1997:  Australia - Laura Csortan (Semi-finalist) 1997:  Namibia - Sheya Shipanga 1998:  Ukraine - Natalia Nadtochey Miss International 1990:  Puerto Rico - Ana Rosa Brito 1993:  Argentina - Nazarena Almada 1998:  Panama - Lía Borrero (Winner) 1998:  France - Patricia Spehar (Semi-finalist) Miss Globe International 1996:  Ukraine - Natalia Nadtochey Queen of the World 1997:  Guatemala - Carol Aquino World Miss University 1997:  Poland - Agnieszka Zielinska (1st runner-up) Reina Sudamericana 1997:  Argentina - Nazarena Almada (Best Eyes) 1997:  Paraguay - Rosanna Jiménez Pereira Miss Sudamérica 1996:  Venezuela - Marena Bencomo (Semi-finalist) 1996:  Argentina - Nazarena Almada Reina Mundial del Banano 1995:  Costa Rica - Gabriela Aguilar (Winner) 1997:  Argentina - Nazarena Almada

Reinado Internacional del Café 1997:  Venezuela - Marena Bencomo (1st runner-up) 1997:  Bolivia - Helga Bauer 1997:  Honduras - Joselina García 1998:  Argentina - Nazarena Almada (Best Hairstyle) 1998:  Guatemala - Carol Aquino 1998:  Paraguay - Rosanna Jiménez Pereira Maja Internacional 1995:  Guatemala - Carol Aquino Nuestra Belleza Internacional 1994:  Belize - Sharon Dominguez 1996:  Argentina - Nazarena Almada 1997:  Brazil - Nayla Micherif 1997:  El Salvador - Carmen Carrillo 1997:  Guatemala - Carol Aquino Miss Europe 1996:  Iceland - Solveig Guðmundsdóttir 1997:  Poland - Agnieszka Zielinska (1st runner-up) 1997:  Portugal - Lara Antunes (Semi-finalist) 1997:  Ukraine - Natalia Nadtochey (Semi-finalist) Miss Baltic Sea 1998:  Finland - Karita Tuomola (Winner, Audience's Favorite) 1998:  Estonia - Kristiina Heinmets (2nd runner-up) Miss Scandinavia 1998:  Finland - Karita Tuomola (1st runner-up, Miss Press, Finnish TV Viewers' Choice) Miss Asia Pacific 1996:  Costa Rica - Gabriela Aguilar (Winner, Photogenic, Best in Swimwear) Miss Chinese International Pageant 1997:  Hong Kong - Lee San-san (1st runner-up)

References