Miss Universe 2007 Date: 28 May 2007
Presenters: Vanessa Minnillo and Mario Lopez
Entertainment: RBD
Venue: Auditorio Nacional, Mexico City, Mexico
Broadcaster: NBC, Telemundo, Televisa
Entrants: 77
Debuts: Montenegro, Serbia, Tanzania
Withdraws: Cayman Islands, Chile, Ethiopia, Ghana, Iceland, Ireland, Latvia, Namibia, Northern Marianas, Sri Lanka, St. Martin, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, Sweden, Trinidad & Tobago, Turkey, United Kingdom
Returns: Barbados, Belize, Curacao, Honduras, Italy
Winner: Riyo Mori
Represented: Japan
Congeniality: Ning Ning Zhang
China
Photogenic: Anna Theresa Licaros Philippines
Miss Universe 2007, the 56th Miss Universe pageant, was won by Riyo Mori of Japan. It took place on 28 May 2007 at the National Auditorium in Mexico City, Mexico. 77 delegates competed for the title, previously held by Puerto Rico's Zuleyka Rivera.
The pageant was held almost two months prior to when it was held in 2006, although the event had generally been staged between late May and early June since 2001. Miss Universe 2006 Zuleyka Rivera reigned for little more than ten months, one of the shortest in the history of the title. Contestants began to arrive in Mexico on 30 April 2007 and were to be involved in a number of appearances and events prior to the final competition.
This is the fourth time Mexico has been the host country and the second time Mexico City the host city of the Miss Universe pageant. Mexico first hosted the pageant in Acapulco in 1978. Miss Universe 1989 was then staged in Cancún and Miss Universe 1993 was held in Mexico City.
The pageant was co-hosted by Mario Lopez and Vanessa Minnillo, both first-time hosts of the Miss Universe pageant.[1] Minnillo, an Entertainment Tonight correspondent and former Miss Teen USA 1998, previously hosted the Miss Teen USA 2004 pageant. Lopez hosted the Miss Teen USA 1998 pageant (won by Minnillo) and also co-hosted Miss Teen USA 2003.
As Zuleyka Rivera was crowning Riyo Mori with the official Mikimoto crown, it slipped from her grasp and nearly fell to the floor. Mori was able to catch the crown, which is made of diamonds and pearls and is valued at over $250,000
Areas of competition
Prior to the final telecast, all contestants competed in swimsuit and evening gown during the preliminary competition. They also participated in interviews with the judges.
During the final competition, the top fifteen contestants (based on their preliminary scores) competed in the swimsuit competition, and the top ten competed in evening gown. The final five contestants participated in a final round of on-stage interviews, before the runners-up were announced and the new Miss Universe named.
This was the second year since 2002 that the judges' average scores were shown on television.
It was also the first time since 2002 that the final question posed on the ladies came from the judges. The previous pageants had final questions coming from the current Miss Universe and the delegates participating in the final five themselves.
Crowd response
Rachel Smith, Miss USA, was booed during and loudly jeered during her final interview. As she answered her question, there were loud shouts of "Mexico! Mexico!", which continued until she answered in Spanish. This followed a similar incident during Miss Universe 1993, when that year's Miss USA, Kenya Moore, was also booed. This may have been due to Miss USA making the top five despite slipping and falling during the evening gown competition, whilst home crowd favourite Mexico did not. It has also been attributed to political issues between the two countries, such as the illegal immigration policy as well as the War On Terror.
Smith had also been booed during the National Costume competition, an open-air event held prior to the final competition where admission was free to the public.
Results.Miss Universe 2007: Riyo Mori (Japan)
The runners-up were:
1st runner-up: Natália Guimarães (Brazil)
2nd runner-up: Ly Jonaitis (Venezuela)
3rd runner-up: Honey Lee (Korea)
4th runner-up: Rachel Smith (USA)
The following contestants placed in the top ten and competed in both swimsuit and evening gown (in order of placement): Flaviana Matata (Tanzania), Micaela Reis (Angola), Rosa Maria Ojeda (Mexico), Puja Gupta (India), Xiomara Blandino (Nicaragua)
The following contestants placed in the top fifteen and competed in the swimsuit competition (in order of placement): Tjaša Kokalj (Slovenia), Lucie Hadasová (Czech Republic), Žaklina Šojić (Denmark), Farung Yuthithum (Thailand), Lyudmila Bikmullina (Ukraine)
Special awards
Miss Congeniality: Ning Ning Zhang (China)
Miss Photogenic: Anna Theresa Licaros (Philippines)
For the first time since the award's inception, no Best National Costume Award was given.
Final competition scores
Country Swimsuit Evening Gown
Japan 9.599 8.943
Brazil 9.560 9.599
Venezuela 8.971 9.510
Korea 9.458 9.183
USA 8.995 8.754
Tanzania 9.223 8.488
Angola 9.150 8.363
Mexico 8.527 7.850
India 8.548 7.825
Nicaragua 8.171 7.674
Slovenia 8.163
Czech Republic 8.113
Denmark 7.969
Thailand 7.940
Ukraine 7.900
Top Fifteen, Eliminated after competing in the swimsuit competition.
In a strong showing not witnessed since Miss Universe 1988, Asian delegates fared well at this year's edition, with four Asian delegates (Japan, Korea, India, and Thailand) making it to the Top 15. The two special awards were also won by delegates of Asian nations (Philippines and China). Of the 125 semi-finalists named in the past ten years, only 14 were from Asia
Japan won the pageant for the second time since Akiko Kojima won Japan's first Miss Universe title in 1959.[citation needed]
Puerto Rico was first 1st runner-up in 2005 and won in 2006. Japan followed the same trend for 2006-2007.
Thailand, Denmark, Ukraine, India, Brazil and Japan made the cut for the second consecutive year. This was the first time since the 1960s that Denmark and Thailand recorded two consecutive placements.
Mexico placed for the 4th consecutive year.
USA placed for the 5th consecutive year.
Slovenia and Tanzania placed for the first time. This was the first year that Tanzania participated in the pageant. Slovenia debuted in 2001.
Angola and Nicaragua reached their highest placement in Miss Universe history, 7th and 10th place respectively breaking their previous records.
Countries that made the semi-finals after a long period without placement were Nicaragua, which last placed in 1977, and Korea which last placed in 1988.
Czech Republic placed for only the 3rd time, it placed in the top 10 in 1993 when it debuted in the pageant and in 2003.
Philippines won the Miss Photogenic award for the seventh time (it has won this award three years in a row since 2005).
China won the Miss Congeniality award for the first time.
Judges
The following celebrities judged the final competition. Martel was added as a judge the day prior to the final competition.
James Kyson Lee - actor on Heroes
Lindsay Clubine - Deal or No Deal briefcase model
Tony Romo - Dallas Cowboys quarterback
Dave Navarro - rock star
Michelle Kwan - World and Olympic figure skating champion
Mauricio Islas - Mexican actor
Marc Bouwer - fashion designer
Nina Garcia - Project Runway judge and Elle magazine fashion director
Dayanara Torres - Miss Universe 1993
Christiane Martel - Miss Universe 1953
Background Music
National Costume presentation: "Say It Right" by Nelly Furtado
Swimsuit Competition: "Wanna Play", "Cariño Mio" and "Money Money" by R.B.D.
Evening Gown Competition: "Give It Up To Me" by Sean Paul (featuring Keyshia Cole)
