Miss World 2002

Miss World 2002
Miss World 2002 Titlecard
Date	7 December 2002
Presenters	Sean Kanan,[1] Claire Elizabeth Smith
Entertainment	Chayanne, BBMak
Venue	Alexandra Palace, London, UK
Broadcaster	E!, Channel 5
Entrants	88
Placements	20
Winner	Azra Akın [2]  Turkey

Miss World 2002, the 52nd edition of the Miss World pageant, was held on 7 December 2002 at the Alexandra Palace in London, UK. It was initially intended to be staged in Abuja, Nigeria, but due to religious riots in the nearby city of Kaduna the pageant was relocated to London.

A total of 88 contestants from all over the world competed for the crown, several contestants boycotted the pageant in protest for the death sentence by stoning determined by an Islamic Sharia court to Amina Lawal, a Nigerian woman accused of adultery. It was the first time that audience participation through text messaging together with the scores of the judges helped in determining the results for the Top 20.^[3] Azra Akın from Turkey won the pageant,^[2] becoming the first ever representative from her country to be crowned Miss World. She was crowned by Agbani Darego of Nigeria. Show organizers stated that the event had a global viewership of over 2 billion people, and that it was broadcast in 137 countries.^[2]

Results

Countries and territories which sent delegates and results^[2][3]

Placements

Final results	Contestant
Miss World 2002	Turkey – Azra Akın [2][4]
1st runner-up	Colombia – Natalia Peralta [2][4]
2nd runner-up	Peru – Marina Mora [2][4]
Top 5	Norway – Kathrine Sørland  China PR – Wu Ying Na
Top 10	Australia – Nicole-Rita Ghazal  Nigeria – Chinenye Ochuba  Philippines – Katherine Ann Manalo  United States – Rebekah Chantay Revels  Venezuela – Goizeder Azúa
Top 20	Aruba – Rachelle Oduber  Bosnia & Herzegovina – Danijela Vins  Curaçao – Ayannette Mary Ann Statia  Holland – Elise Boulogne  India – Shruti Sharma  Italy – Susanne Zuber  Puerto Rico – Cassandra Polo Berrios  Russia – Anna Tatarintseva  Vietnam – Pham Thi Mai Phuong  Yugoslavia – Ana Sargic

Continental Queens of Beauty

Continental Group	Contestant
Africa	Nigeria – Chinenye Ochuba
Americas	Colombia – Natalia Peralta
Asia & Oceania	China PR – Wu Ying Na
Caribbean	Aruba – Rachelle Oduber
Europe	Turkey – Azra Akın

Contestants

88 contestants participated in Miss World 2002.^[3]

Albania – Anjeza Maja  Algeria – Lamia Saoudi  Antigua & Barbuda – Anne-Marie Browne  Angola – Rosa Mujinga Muxito  Argentina – Tamara Henriksen  Aruba – Rachelle Oduber  Australia – Nicole-Rita Ghazal  Bahamas – T’Shura Ambrose  Barbados – Natalie Webb-Howell  Belgium – Sylvie Doclot  Belize – Karen Anita Russell  Bolivia – Alejandra Montero Chávez  Bosnia & Herzegovina – Danijela Vins  Botswana – Lomaswati Dlamini  Brazil – Taísa Thomsen Severina  Bulgaria – Desislava Antoniya Guleva  Canada – Lynsey Bennett  Chile – Daniela Casanova Müller  China PR – Wu Ying Na  Colombia – Natalia Peralta Castro  Costa Rica – Shirley Álvarez  Croatia – Nina Slamic  Curaçao – Ayannette Mary Ann Statia  Cyprus – Anjela Drousiotou  Czech Republic – Katerina Smrzova  Ecuador – Jessica Angulo  England – Danielle Luan  Estonia – Triin Sommer  Finland – Hanne Hynynen  France – Caroline Chamorand  Germany – Indira Selmic  Ghana – Shaida Buari  Gibraltar – Damaris Hollands  Greece – Katerina Georgiadou  Guyana – Odessa Phillips  Holland – Elise Boulogne  Hong Kong –Victoria Jane Jolly  India – Shruti Sharma  Ireland – Lynda Duffy  Israel – Karol Lowenstein  Italy – Susanne Zuber  Jamaica – Danielle O'Hayon  Japan – Yuko Nabeta  Kazakhstan – Olga Sidorenko  Kenya – Marianne Nyambura Kariuki  Latvia – Baiba Svarca  Lebanon – Bethany Kehdy  Lithuania – Oksana Semenishina  Macedonia FYRO – Jasna Spasovska  Malaysia – Mabel Ng Chin Mei  Malta – Rachel Xuereb  Mauritius – Joyce Gatt  Mexico – Blanca Rosalía Zumárraga Contreras  Namibia – Ndapewa Alfons  New Zealand – Rachel Maree Huljich  Nicaragua – Hazel Calderón Chavarría  Nigeria – Chinenye Ochuba  Northern Ireland – Gayle Williamson  Norway – Katrine Sørland  Panama – Yoselin Sánchez Espino  Peru – Marina Mora  Philippines – Katherine Anne Manalo  Poland – Marta Matyjasik  Puerto Rico – Cassandra Polo Berrios  Romania – Cleopatra Popescu  Russia – Anna Tatarintseva  Scotland – Paula Murphy  Singapore – Sharon Cintamani  Slovakia – Eva Veresova  Slovenia – Nataša Krajnc  South Africa – Claire Sabbagha  Spain – Lola Alcocer  Swaziland – Nozipho Shabangu  Sweden – Sophia Hedmark  Tahiti – Rava Maiarii  Tanzania – Angela Damas Mtalima  Thailand – Ticha "Kang" Lueng-Pairoj  Trinidad & Tobago – Janelle Denice Rajnauth  Turkey – Azra Akın  Uganda – Rehema Ni Nakuya  Ukraine – Irina Udovenko  United States – Rebekah Chantay Revels  US Virgin Islands – Hailey Cagan  Uruguay – Natalia Figueras Cabezas  Venezuela – Goizeder Azúa  Vietnam – Pham Thi Mai Phuong  Wales – Michelle Bush  Yugoslavia – Ana Sargic  Zimbabwe – Linda Van Beek

Historical significance

In the year leading up the finals in Nigeria, several European title holders lobbied their governments and the EU parliament to support Amina's cause.^[5][6] A number of contestants followed the lead of Kathrine Sørland of Norway in boycotting the contest (despite the controversy Sørland went on to become a semi-finalist in both the Miss World and Miss Universe contest), while others such as Costa Rica were instructed by their national governments and parliaments not to attend the contest. Among the other boycotting nations were Denmark, Spain, Switzerland, Panama, Belgium and Kenya. There was further controversy over the possibly suspended participation of France and South Africa, which may or may not have been due to the boycott.^[7] For her part, Lawal asked that contestants not suspend their participation in the contest, saying that it was for the good of her country and that they could, as the representative of Sweden had earlier remarked, make a much stronger case for her on the ground in Nigeria.^[8]

Despite the increasing international profile the boycott was garnering in the world press, the contest went ahead in Nigeria after being rescheduled to avoid taking place during Ramadan, with many prominent nations sending delegates. Osmel Sousa of Venezuela, one of the world's most influential national directors, famously said "there is no question about it (the participation of Miss Venezuela in the contest)." The trouble did not end there, however. A Thisday (Lagos, Nigeria) newspaper editorial suggesting that Muhammad would probably have chosen one of his wives from among the contestants had he been alive to see it, resulted in inter-religious riots that started on 22 November in which over 200 people were killed in the city of Kaduna, along with many houses of worship being burned by religious zealots.^[9] Because of these "Miss World riots", the 2002 pageant was moved to London, following widely circulated reports that the representatives of Canada and Korea had withdrawn from the contest and returned to their respective countries out of safety concerns. A fatwa urging the beheading of the woman who wrote the offending words, Isioma Daniel, was issued in Nigeria, but was declared null and void by the relevant Saudi Arabian authorities.^{[10][11][12][13]} Upon the pageant's return to England, many of the boycotting contestants chose to attend, including Miss Norway, Kathrine Sørland, who was ironically tipped in the last few days as the number one favourite for the crown she had previously boycotted.^{[14][15][16][17][18]}

References

1. "The Tuscaloosa News". Retrieved 27 January 2016.
2. "Daily News". Retrieved 27 January 2016.
3. "Philippine Daily Inquirer". Retrieved 27 January 2016.
4. "Star-News". Retrieved 27 January 2016.
5. "As Miss World Turns". The Nation. Retrieved 4 December 2011.
6. "CNN.com - Miss World boycott over Nigerian stoning - September 8, 2002". archive.is. Archived from the original on 7 July 2012. Retrieved 27 January 2016.
7. "Miss World 2002". Pageantopolis. Retrieved 4 December 2011.
8. "Woman sentenced to stoning freed". CNN. 25 September 2003.
9. "Nigeria riots toll 'passes 200'". BBC News. 24 November 2002. Retrieved 4 December 2011.
10. "Miss World 2002 – The World at their Feet". Isioma.net. Retrieved 4 December 2011.
11. Isioma Daniel (17 February 2003). "Nigerian journalist Isioma Daniel tells her story". The Guardian (UK). Retrieved 4 December 2011.
12. "Nigeria's journalist on the run". BBC News. 27 November 2002. Retrieved 4 December 2011.
13. "Miss World and Islam: "Fatwa" and Isioma Daniel a Nigerian "Fatwa"". Nigeria World. 26 November 2002. Retrieved 4 December 2011.
14. Modern Gent. "Contestants boycott Miss World". Modern Gent. Retrieved 4 December 2011.
15. "News". Telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 27 January 2016.
16. "News". Telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 27 January 2016.
17. "Nigeria faces Miss World boycott threat". BBC News. 27 August 2002. Retrieved 4 December 2011.
18. "Miss World Nigeria boycott spreads". BBC News. 6 September 2002. Retrieved 4 December 2011.

External links

• Pageantopolis – Miss World 2002