Miss Universe 1977

Miss Universe 1977
Janelle Commissiong
Date16 July 1977
Presenters
Entertainment
  • Trío Los Juglares
  • Fernando Casado
VenueNational Theater, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
Broadcaster
Entrants80
Placements12
Debuts
  • Antigua
  • British Virgin Islands
  • French Guiana
  • Guadeloupe
  • Réunion
  • Saint Christopher-Nevis-Anguilla
  • Saint Lucia
Withdrawals
  • Guatemala
  • Luxembourg
  • Turkey
Returns
  • Belize
  • Haiti
  • Lebanon
  • Tahiti
WinnerJanelle Commissiong
Trinidad and Tobago
CongenialityPamela Mercer (Canada)
Best National CostumeKim Sung-hee (South Korea)
PhotogenicJanelle Commissiong (Trinidad and Tobago)

Miss Universe 1977 was the 26th Miss Universe pageant, held at the National Theater in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, on 16 July 1977.

At the conclusion of the event, Rina Messinger of Israel crowned Janelle Commissiong of Trinidad and Tobago as Miss Universe 1977. This was the first time a black woman won Miss Universe.[1] It is also the first victory of Trinidad and Tobago in the pageant's history.

Contestants from eighty countries and territories participated in this year's pageant. The pageant was hosted by Bob Barker in his eleventh consecutive year, while Helen O'Connell provided commentary and analysis throughout the event.

Background

Location and date

On 16 January 1977, Miss Universe Inc. announced that the 26th edition of the competition would be held at the National Theater in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic on 16 July 1977. The reason why Miss Universe was held in the Dominican Republic was to "open the Dominican Republic to the world".[2][3]

Selection of participants

Contestants from eighty countries and territories were selected to compete in the pageant. One candidate was selected to replace the original dethroned winner.

Replacements

Femina Miss India 1977 runner-up Bineeta Bose was selected to represent India after the father of Femina Miss India 1977, Nalini Vishwanathan, did not allow his daughter to participate in Miss Universe.[4]

Debuts, returns, and, withdrawals

This edition saw the debuts of Antigua, the British Virgin Islands, French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Réunion, Saint Christopher-Nevis-Anguilla, and Saint Lucia, and the returns of Tahiti which last competed in 1962; and Belize, Haiti, and Lebanon which last competed in 1975.

Marta Elisa Tirado of Guatemala and Jeannette Colling of Luxembourg withdrew for undisclosed reasons. Manolya Onur of Turkey withdrew because she had already participated twice.[5][6] Patricia Vatble of Martinique was supposed to competed in this edition. However, Vatble was disqualified from the competition because she did not meet the age requirement.[7][8]

Results

Placements

Placement Contestant
Miss Universe 1977
1st runner-up
2nd runner-up
  •  Scotland – Sandra Bell[1]
3rd runner-up
  •  Colombia – Aura María Mojica[1]
4th runner-up
  •  West Germany – Marie-Luise Gassen[1]
Top 12[9]
  •  Argentina – Maritza Jurado
  •  Dominican Republic – Blanca Sardiñas
  •  Holland – Ineke Berends
  •  Nicaragua – Beatriz Obregón
  •  Spain – Luz Hernández
  •  United States – Kimberly Tomes
  •  Venezuela – Cristal Montañez

Special awards

Award Contestant
Miss Amity
  •  Canada – Pamela Mercer
Miss Photogenic

Best National Costume

Placement Contestant
Winner
  •  South Korea – Sung-hee Kim[10]
1st runner-up
  •  Uruguay – Adriana Umpierre[11]
2nd runner-up
  •  Lebanon – Hyam Saadé[11]

Pageant

Format

Same with 1971, twelve semi-finalists were chosen at the preliminary competition that consists of the swimsuit and evening gown competition. The twelve semi-finalists participated in the casual interview, swimsuit, and evening gown competitions. From twelve, five finalists were shortlisted to advance to the final interview.[12]

Selection committee

Contestants

Eighty contestants competed for the title.

Country/Territory Contestant Age[a] Hometown
American Samoa Virginia Suka 17 Pago Pago
Antigua Sheryl Gibbons[13] 20 St. John's
Argentina Maritza Jurado[14] 24 La Plata
Aruba Eldrith Oduber[15] 22 Oranjestad
Australia Jill Minaham[16] 19 Melbourne
Austria Eva Düringer[17] 18 Bodensee
Bahamas Paulette Borghardt[18] 20 Nassau
Barbados Margaret Rouse 18 Saint James
Belgium Claudine Vasseur[19] 18 Brussels
Belize Dora Phillips[20] 18 Belmopan
Bermuda Connie Frith[20] 23 St. George's Parish
Bolivia Liliana Gutiérrez[21] 18 Santa Cruz de la Sierra
Brazil Cássia Janys Silveira[22] 21 Indaiatuba
British Virgin Islands Andria Norman[23] 21 Road Town
Canada Pamela Mercer[24] 20 Burnaby
Chile Priscilla Brenner[25] 18 Santiago
Colombia Aura María Mojica[26] 18 Valle de Cauca
Costa Rica Claudia Garnier[27] 18 San José
Curaçao Regine Tromp[28] 22 Willemstad
Denmark Inge Erlandsen[29] 23 Copenhagen
Dominican Republic Blanca Sardiñas[30] 23 Santo Domingo
Ecuador Lucía del Carmen Hernández[31] 18 Chone
El Salvador Altagracia Arévalo[32] 19 San Salvador
England Sarah Long[33] 19 Bristol
Finland Armi Aavikko[34] 18 Helsinki
France Véronique Fagot[35] 17 Poitou
French Guiana Evelyne Randel 17 Cayenne
French Polynesia Donna Aunoa[36] 20 Papeete
Greece Maria Spantidaki[37] 22 Athens
Guadeloupe Catherine Reinette 18 Basse-Terre
Guam Lisa Ann Caso 20 Agana
Haiti Françoise Elie[38] 19 Port-au-Prince
Holland Ineke Berends[39] 25 Amsterdam
Honduras Carolina Rauscher[40] 19 Siguatepeque
Hong Kong Loletta Chu[41] 18 Hong Kong
Iceland Kristjana Þrainsdóttir[42] 24 Reykjavík
India Bineeta Bose 18 Delhi
Indonesia Siti Mirza Nuria Arifin[43] 24 Palembang
Ireland Jakki Moore[44] 18 Dublin
Israel Zehava Vardi[45] 21 Haifa
Italy Paola Biasini[46] 22 Milan
Japan Kyoko Sato[47] 19 Tokyo
Lebanon Hyam Saadé[36] 18 Beirut
Liberia Welma Campbell[36] 21 Monrovia
Malaysia Leong Li Ping[48] 23 Ipoh
Malta Jane Saliba[49] 19 Żurrieq
Mauritius Danielle Marie Bouic[50] 22 Port Louis
Mexico Felicia Mercado[51] 17 Baja California
New Zealand Donna Schultze[52] 20 Auckland
Nicaragua Beatriz Obregón[53] 18 Rivas
Northern Mariana Islands Margarita Camacho 19 Saipan
Norway Åshild Ottesen[54] 22 Oslo
Panama Marina Valenciano[55] 19 Panama City
Papua New Guinea Sayah Karakuru[56] 24 Port Moresby
Paraguay María Leticia Zarza[57] 17 Concepción
Peru María Isabel Frías[58] 22 Lima
Philippines Anna Lorraine Kier[59] 17 Baguio
Puerto Rico Maria del Mar Rivera[60] 20 Ponce
Réunion Yolaine Morel 22 Saint-Denis
Saint Christopher-Nevis-Anguilla Annette Frank 20 Basseterre
Saint Lucia Iva-Lua Mendes[61] 18 Castries
Scotland Sandra Bell[62] 18 Glasgow
Singapore Marilyn Choon[63] 17 Singapore
Sint Maarten Marie Boirard[64] 19 Marigot
South Africa Glynis Fester[16] 19 Cape Town
South Korea Sung-hee Kim[65] 18 Seoul
Spain Luz María Polegre[66] 19 Tenerife
Sri Lanka Sobodhini Nagesan[67] 19 Colombo
Suriname Marlene Saimo[68] 19 Paramaribo
Sweden Birgitta Lindvall 21 Luleå
Switzerland Anja Terzi[16] 17 Geneva
Thailand Laddawan Intriya 19 Bangkok
Trinidad and Tobago Janelle Commissiong[69] 24 Port of Spain
United States Kimberly Tomes[70] 21 Houston
United States Virgin Islands Denise George[71] 17 Charlotte Amalie
Uruguay Adriana Umpierre[72] 19 Salto
Venezuela Cristal Montañez[73] 17 Caracas
Wales Christine Murphy[74] 23 Swansea
West Germany Marie-Luise Gassen[75] 24 Munich
Yugoslavia Ljiljana Sobajić 22 Belgrade

Notes

  1. ^ Ages at the time of the pageant

References

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