Miss Universe 1997

Miss Universe 1997
Miss Universe 1997, Brook Lee
Date16 May 1997
Presenters
Entertainment
VenueMiami Beach Convention Center, Miami Beach, Florida, United States
Broadcaster
Entrants74
Placements10
Debuts
  • Croatia
Withdrawals
  • Cayman Islands
  • Cook Islands
  • Denmark
  • Ghana
  • Great Britain
  • Indonesia
  • Netherlands
  • Norway
  • Sri Lanka
Returns
  • Bermuda
  • Mauritius
  • United States Virgin Islands
WinnerBrook Lee
United States

Miss Universe 1997 was the 46th Miss Universe pageant, held at the Miami Beach Convention Center in Miami Beach, Florida, United States, on 16 May 1997.

Brook Lee of the United States was crowned by Alicia Machado of Venezuela at the conclusion of the event. Seventy-four delegates competed in this year.[1]

This is the first Miss Universe edition produced by Donald Trump.[2]

Background

Selection of participants

Replacements

The winner of Miss Universe Chile 1997, Hetu'u Rapu, from Easter Island, was replaced by her first runner-up, Claudia Delpín, because Hetu'u did not meet the age requirement to take part at Miss Universe 1997 by seventeen days.[3][4]

Results

Placements

Placement Contestant
Miss Universe 1997
1st Runner-Up
2nd Runner-Up
  •  Trinidad and Tobago – Margot Bourgeois
Top 6
Top 10
  •  Estonia – Kristiina Heinmets
  •  India – Nafisa Joseph
  •  Puerto Rico – Ana Rosa Brito Suarez
  •  Sweden – Victoria Lagerström

Contestants

Seventy-four contestants competed for the title.

Country/Territory Contestant Age[a] Hometown
 Argentina Nazarena Vanesa González 22 Buenos Aires
 Aruba Karen-Ann Peterson 20 Piedra Plat
 Australia Laura Csortan 20 Brisbane
 Bahamas Nestaea Sealy[5] 18 Nassau
 Belgium Laurence Borremans 19 Wavre
 Belize Sharon Dominguez 22 Orange Walk
 Bermuda Naomi Darrell 20 Warwick Parish
 Bolivia Helga Bauer[6] 19 Santa Cruz dela Sierra
 Bonaire Jhane-Louise Landwier 18 Kralendijk
 Brazil Nayla Micherif 21 Ubá
 British Virgin Islands Melinda Penn[7] Tortola
 Bulgaria Krassmira Todorova Varna
 Canada Carmen Kempt 18 Red Deer
 Chile Claudia Delpín 18 Iquique
 Colombia Claudia Elena Vásquez 22 Medellin
 Costa Rica Gabriela Aguilar 19 Santa Ana
 Croatia Kristina Cherina[8] 18 Split
 Curaçao Verna Vasquez 23 Willemstad
Cyprus Korina Nikolaou 18 Larnaca
 Czech Republic Petra Minářová 19 Prague
 Dominican Republic Cesarina Mejía 20 Azua
 Ecuador María José López 19 Quito
 Egypt Eiman Abdallah Thakeb Cairo
 El Salvador Carmen Carrillo 19 San Salvador
 Estonia Kristiina Heinmets 18 Tallinn
 Finland Karita Tuomola 20 Kuopio
 France Patricia Spéhar 21 Paris
 Germany Agathe Neuner[9] 22 Munich
 Greece Elina Zisi 21 Athens
 Guatemala Carol Aquino 19 Chiquimula
Honduras Joselina García 18 La Ceiba
Hong Kong Lee San-san 19 Hong Kong
 Hungary Ildikó Kecan 19 Debrecen
 Iceland Solveig Lilja Guðmundsdóttir 20 Reykjavík
 India Nafisa Joseph 19 Bangalore
 Ireland Fiona Mullally 24 Limerick
 Israel Dikla Hamdy Beersheba
 Italy Denny Méndez 18 Florence
 Jamaica Nadine Julian Thomas[10] 21 Saint Catherine Parish
 Lebanon Dalida Chammai 23 Beirut
 Malaysia Trincy Low 21 George Town
 Malta Claire Grech 21 San Ġwann
 Mauritius Cindy Cesar 20 Central de Flacq
 Mexico Rebeca Tamez 21 Ciudad Victoria
 Namibia Sheya Shipanga 22 Windhoek
 New Zealand Marina McCartney 20 Auckland
 Northern Mariana Islands Melanie Sibetang 20 Saipan
 Panama Lía Borrero 20 Las Tablas
Paraguay Rosanna Jiménez Encarnación
 Peru Claudia Maria Dopf[11] 20 Lima
Philippines Abbygale Arenas 22 Angeles City
 Poland Agnieszka Zielińska 21 Poznań
 Portugal Lara Antunes 19 Lisbon
 Puerto Rico Ana Rosa Brito 26 San Juan
 Romania Diana Maria Urdareanu 20 Timișoara
 Russia Anna Baitchik 20 Saint Petersburg
 Singapore Tricia Tan 24 Singapore
Slovakia Lucia Povrazníková 18 Banská Bystrica
 South Africa Mbali Gasa 21 Durban
South Korea Lee Eun-hee 19 Seoul
 Spain Inés Sáinz Esteban 21 Bilbao
 Sweden Victoria Lagerström 24 Stockholm
 Switzerland Melanie Winiger 18 Locarno
 Taiwan Chio Hai Ta 24 Taichung
Thailand Sueangsuda Lawanprasert[12] 19 Bangkok
 Trinidad and Tobago Margot Bourgeois 24 Arouca
 Turkey Yeşim Çetin 20 Istanbul
 Turks and Caicos Islands Keisha Delancy 23 Grand Turk
 Ukraine Natalia Nadtochiy 21 Kharkiv
 United States Brook Lee 26 Pearl City
 United States Virgin Islands Vania Thomas 27 Charlotte Amalie
 Uruguay Adriana Cano 20 Montevideo
Venezuela Marena Bencomo 23 Valencia
 Zimbabwe Lorraine Magwenzi 22 Harare

Notes

  1. ^ Ages at the time of the pageant

References

  1. ^ "Miss Universe 1997 Brook Lee -- Straight Ally for LGBT Equality". The Huffington Post. June 12, 2014. Retrieved May 19, 2016.
  2. ^ Archives, L. A. Times (1996-10-24). "OTHER NEWS". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2023-02-21.
  3. ^ "Ganadoras de los años noventa" (in Spanish). Retrieved 2023-08-21.
  4. ^ "Rapa Nui en la historia de la belleza chilena" (in Spanish). Retrieved 2023-08-21.
  5. ^ "The women who would be queen". Sun Sentinel. 15 May 1997. Retrieved 1 September 2023.
  6. ^ "Helga Bauer pone su sello a la agenda del Alcalde" [Helga Bauer puts her stamp on the Mayor's agenda]. El Nuevo Día (in Spanish). 11 June 2004. Retrieved 1 September 2023 – via Bolivia.com.
  7. ^ "Weighing in on Festival". The BVI Beacon. 13 August 2014. Retrieved 1 September 2023.
  8. ^ Plivelić, Petra (17 November 2019). "Koja je prava Miss Hrvatske? Razgovarali smo s tri aktualne misice i vlasnicima direkcija hrvatskih izbora..." [Who is the real Miss Croatia? We talked to three current misses and the owners of the directorates of Croatian elections...]. Jutarnji list (in Croatian). Retrieved 1 September 2023.
  9. ^ "Kür der Miss Bergisch-Land 1999" [Freestyle competition for Miss Bergisch-Land 1999]. Remscheider General-Anzeiger (in German). 13 October 1999. Retrieved 12 September 2023.
  10. ^ "Those Who Went Before". Jamaica Observer. 24 January 2015. Retrieved 1 September 2023.
  11. ^ "Die neue "Miß Peru" stammt aus Würzburg" [The new "Miss Peru" comes from Würzburg]. Die Welt (in German). 15 November 2011. Retrieved 1 September 2023.
  12. ^ "ประวัติ น้ำฝน สรวงสุดา ลาวัณย์ประเสริฐ" [Biography of Namfon Suengsuda Lawanprasert]. Sanook (in Thai). 11 July 2023. Retrieved 24 March 2025.